Kenyaofficially Republic of Kenya, Swahili Jamhuri ya Kenya, strategically located country of East Africa. Bisected horizontally by the equator and vertically by the 38th meridian (east), it is bordered on the north by Ethiopia and The Sudan, on the west by Uganda and Lake Victoria, on the south by Tanzania, and on the east by the Indian Ocean and Somalia. Kenya has an area of 224,961 square miles (582,646 square kilometres). The capital is Nairobi.

Kenya’s present boundaries, the product of rivalries between colonial European powers, contain a number of ethnically diverse peoples who are independent and proud of their cultural heritage. Yet Kenyans are also acutely aware of the need to forge a strong national identity, of which cooperation is a basic ingredient. Since independence in 1963, the government has rallied the people under a national motto of “Harambee,” or “Pulling together.” Postcolonial development has been a mixture of pragmatic economic policy and of communal effort based on the principle of self-help. In this way the republic has tried to strengthen its traditional agricultural base as a foundation for industrialization. In addition, it continues to promote tourism, for the beauty and variety of Kenya’s landscape, the pleasant and sunny climate, and the impressive dances and music of the Kenyan people are among the sure foundations that attract a growing stream of tourists to the country.







Bisected horizontally by the Equator and vertically by longitude 38° E, Kenya is bordered to the north by The Sudan and Ethiopia, to the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean, to the south by Tanzania, and to the west by Lake Victoria and Uganda.


The 38th meridian divides Kenya into two halves of striking diversitycontrast. While the eastern half slopes gently to the coral-backed seashore, the western portion rises more abruptly through a series of hills and plateaus to the Eastern Rift Valley, known in Kenya as the Central Rift. West of the Rift is a westward-sloping plateau, the lowest part of which is occupied by Lake Victoria. Within this basic divisionframework, Kenya is divided into the following geographic regions: the Lake Victoria basin, the Rift Valley and associated highlands, the eastern plateau forelands, the semiarid and arid areas of the north and south, and the coast.

The Lake Victoria basin is part of a plateau rising eastward from the lakeshore to the Central Rift highlands. The lower part, forming the lake basin proper, is itself a plateau area lying between 3,000 and 4,000 feet (900 and 1,200 metres) above sea level. The rolling grassland of this plateau is cut almost in half by the Kano Rift ValleyPlain, into which an arm of the lake known as Winam , or Kavirondo, Bay Gulf (Kavirondo Gulf) extends eastward for 50 miles (80 kilometreskm). The floor of the Kano Rift Valley, called the Kano Plain , merges north and south into highlands characterized by a number of extinct volcanoes. These include Mount Elgon, rising to 14,178 feet (4,321 metres) at the Ugandan border on the extreme north of the basin.

The Central Rift Valley splits the highlands highland region into two sections: the Mau Escarpment to the west and the Aberdare Range to the east. The valley itself is from 30 to 80 miles (50 to 130 km) wide, and its floor rises from about 1,500 feet (450 metres) in the north around Lake Rudolf Turkana (in Kenya called Lake TurkanaRudolf) to over 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) at Lake Naivasha but then drops to 2,000 feet (600 metres) at the Tanzanian border in the south. The floor of the rift Rift is occupied by a chain of shallow lakes separated by extinct volcanoes. Lake Naivasha is the largest of these, ; the others including lakes include Lakes Magadi, Nakuru, Bogoria, and Baringo. West of the valley , the diverse highland area runs from the thick lava block of the Mau Escarpment–Mount Tinderet complex northward to the Uasin Gishu Plateau. East of the Rift , the Aberdare Range rises to nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). The eastern highlands extend from the Ngong Hills and the uplands bordering Tanzania northward to the Laikipia PlateauEscarpment. Farther east they are linked by the Nyeri saddle to Mount Kenya, the country’s highest peak, at 17,058 feet (5,199 metres). The relief of both highlands is complex and includes plains, deep valleys, and mountains. Important in the history historic and economic development of Kenya, the region was the focus of European settlement.

The eastern plateau forelands, located just east of the Rift highlands, are constitute a vast plateau of ancient rocks gently sloping gently to the coastal plain. They are a region of scattered hills and striking elevated formations, the most prominent being the hills of Taita, Kasigau, Machakos, and Kitui hills. These hills form islands , containing the area of more favourable climatic regimes and climate, are surrounded by regions of greater aridity that make up the traditional famine areashistorically prone to famine.

The semiarid and arid areas in the north and northeast are part of a vast arid region extending from the Ugandan border to include through Lake Rudolf and much of to the plateau area between the Ethiopian and Kenyan highlands. (The area from Lake Magadi southward, though not as arid, shares has the same characteristics.) There is scanty Although tree and grass cover hereis scanty there, but the areas of true desert are limited to the Chalbi Desert east of Lake Rudolf. The movement of people and livestock is strictly limited by the availability of water.

The coastal plain proper, which runs for about 250 miles (400 km) along the Indian Ocean, is a narrow strip only about 10 miles (16 km) wide in the south, but in the Tana River lowlands to the north it broadens to about 100 miles (160 km). Farther northeast , it merges into the lowlands of Somalia. The coast has excellent natural harbours include that of Mombasa, of which Mombasa is one of the best in East Africa.


The major features of the drainage pattern of Kenya were created by the ancient crustal deformation of a great oval dome that Kenya’s drainage pattern originated when a large oval dome of rock arose in the west-central part of the country and created the Central Rift. This dome produced a primeval watershed from which rivers once drained eastward to the Indian Ocean and westward to the Congo River system and the Atlantic Ocean. Still following this ancient pattern are the Tana and Galana rivers, which arise rise in the eastern highlands and flow roughly southeast to the Indian Ocean. West of the Central Rift, however, the major streams now drain into Lake Victoria. These include the Nzoia, Yala, Mara, and Nyando rivers. Between the eastern and western systems, the rifting of the dome’s crust has created a complex pattern of internal streams that feed the major lakes.

Apart There are no major groundwater basins, and, apart from the Tana River, most of the rivers of in Kenya are short or ephemeral, disappearing in dry seasons. There are no major groundwater basins. Lake Victoria, extending over and often disappear during the dry season. Lake Victoria, with a surface area of 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km), is the largest lake in Africa and , the second largest freshwater body in the world, and a major reservoir of the Nile River. Lake Rudolf, some 150 miles (240 km) long and 20 miles (30 km) wide, is the largest of the country’s Rift Valley lakes. Other lakes are rather small, and suffer large fluctuations in surface areatheir surface areas fluctuate considerably.


In the Lake Victoria basin, lava deposits have produced fertile loam and sandy loam soils in the plateaus north and south of Winam Bay, while the volcanic pile of Mount Elgon is responsible for very produces highly fertile volcanic soils well - known for coffee and tea production. The Central Rift Valley and associated highlands compose a distinct region are composed of fertile , dark brown loams developed on younger volcanic deposits.

The most widespread soils in Kenya, however, are the sandy soils of the semiarid regions between the coast and the Rift highlands. To the north of the Rift are vast areas covered by red desert soils, mainly sandy loams. Because Kenya is very poorly forested, much of the soil is naturally exposed to widespread erosion. Erosion is stimulated as well by Kenya’s soils are subject to widespread erosion largely because of the lack of forest cover; overgrazing and cultivation, especially in the arid and semiarid regions, and by encroachment of the limited forest areasalso contribute to soil loss.


Seasonal climatic changes are controlled by the large-scale pressure systems of the western Indian Ocean and adjacent landmasses. From December to March, northeast winds predominate north of the equator and Equator, while south to southeast winds dominate south of the equatorit. These months are fairly dry, although rain may occur locally. The rainy season extends from late March to May, with air flowing from the east in both hemispheres. From June to August there is a season of little rainfall in which southeast winds gradually prevail in the south little precipitation, and southwest winds blow prevail north of the equator. October marks the beginning of a transition period ending with a return of the northeast and southeast windsEquator as southeast winds prevail in the south.

In the Lake Victoria basin, mean annual rainfall precipitation varies from 40 inches (1,000 millimetresmm) around the lakeshore to well over more than 70 inches (1,800 mm) in the more elevated higher elevations in the eastern areas. The lakeshore has excellent agricultural potential because it can expect 20 to 35 inches in 19 years out of 20(500 to 900 mm) in most years. Daily maximum temperatures range from about 80° F (27° C80 °F (27 °C) in July to 90° F (32° C90 °F (32 °C) in October and February.

In the Central Rift Valley, mean annual average temperatures decrease from about 84° F (29° C84 °F (29 °C) in the north to just over 61° F (16° C61 °F (16 °C) around Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha in the south. The bordering adjacent highlands are generally moderate, with mean annual average temperatures ranging between 56° 56 and 65° F 65 °F (13° 13 and 18° C18 °C). In general, the The floor of the Rift Valley is generally dry, while the highland areas receive more than 30 inches (760 mm) of rain per year. In the Mau Escarpment, reliable rainfall The reliable precipitation and fertile soils of the Mau Escarpment form the basis of for a thriving modern agricultureagricultural sector.

In most parts of the eastern plateau forelandsregion, annual rainfall precipitation in most areas averages 20 to 30 inches , and (500 to 760 mm), although agriculture is hampered by extremely uncertain rainfallvariable precipitation. The semiarid and arid regions of northern, northeastern, and southern Kenya have very high temperatures and also suffer extremely erratic rainfallbut very erratic precipitation. Most places experience mean annual average temperatures of 85° F (29° C85 °F (29 °C) or more. Mean , while annual rainfall precipitation is only about 10 inches (250 mm) in the north and is less than 20 inches (500 mm) in the south.

Most In most parts of the coast experience mean annual temperatures in excess of 80° F (27° C) and high relative humidity , average temperatures exceed 80 °F (27 °C) and relative humidity is high year-round. From the humid coast, where mean annual rainfall precipitation is between 30 and 50 inches (760 and 1,270 mm), precipitation decreases westward to about 20 inches (500 mm) per year. Only in on the southern coast is rainfall precipitation reliable enough for prosperous agriculture.

Plant and animal life

In the highland area highlands between elevations of 7,000 and 9,000 feet (2,100 and 2,700 metres), the characteristic landscape consists of patches of evergreen forest separated by wide expanses of short grass. Where the forest has survived human encroachment, it includes economically valuable trees such as cedar (Juniperus procera) and podo wood (Podocarpus milanjianus and P. gracilior). varieties of podo. Above the forest, a zone of bamboo extends to about 10,000 feet (3,000 metres), beyond which there is mountain moorland bearing tree heaths, tree groundsel (a foundation timber of the genus Senecio), and giant lobelia (a widely distributed herbaceous plant). East and west of the highlands, forests give way to low trees scattered through an even cover of short grass.


Almost one-third of Kenya, particularly the western regions and the coastal belt, is infested with tsetse flies and mosquitoes. These insects , which are responsible for the prevalence spread of, respectively, sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) and malaria in both the lake basin and the coastal region..


There is a close link between a region’s the vegetation of each region and the differentiation and distribution of its wildlife. The highland rain forests rainforests support a variety of large wildlife mammals, dominated by elephant elephants and rhinocerosrhinoceroses, although these large animals both species have been much reduced by significantly because of poaching and deforestation. Bushbuck, colobus monkeys, and occasional bushbabies , occasionally, galagos (bush babies) are also found. In the The bamboo zone are found contains varieties of the duiker . Predatory highland animals and some species of birds. Highland predators include lions, leopards, and wildcats. Birdlife is scanty.

The most-prolific wildlife is animal populations are found in the extensive grasslands between the forest zone and lower areas. The principal occupants here are , principally varieties of ungulates, such as the hartebeest, wildebeest (gnu), zebra, and gazelle. Other members Others include waterbucksthe waterbuck, impalasimpala, elandseland, warthogswarthog, and buffalo. Predators living on this grazing wildlife include the lion, spotted hyena, leopard, cheetahThese are preyed on by lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, and wild dogdogs. Without the interference of the forest, birdlife is much richer herethere, and lakes and rivers are occasionally inhabited by hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and numerous fishes.The coastal waters contain a wide variety of abundant fish life, including butterfly fish, angelfish, rock cods, barracuda, and spiny lobsters, while the coastal forest harbours suni antelopes, buffalo, and elephantsswarms of fish and occasionally by hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

In the thornbushes and thickets of the arid regions are elephants and , rhinoceroses, lions and , leopards, and giraffes, gerenuksgerenuk, kudu, impalas, dik-diks, and lesser kudu. In the large rivers, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and fishes may be found.

Settlement patterns

Most of Kenya’s population lives in scattered settlements, the location and concentration of which depend largely on climatic and soil conditions. Before colonization, virtually no villages or towns existed except along the coast, where pre-European urbanization was confined to fishing villages, Arab trading ports, and towns visited by dhows from the Arabian Peninsula and Asia. Mombasa, Lamu, and Malindi are among the few that expanded into modern towns. Other modern towns were established by Europeans at the coast and in the interior as administrative centres, mission stations, and markets.

Since independence, as urban areas have seen greater economic development, the migration from rural to urban areas has accelerated. In 1969 some 10 percent of the national population lived in urban areas of 1,000 or more people; by 1979 the urban population had grown to just under 15 percent. Along the coast, most of the urban population is found in the Mombasa complex, and in the interior the majority lives in the capital city of Nairobi.

The people
Ethnicity, language, and religion


Ethnic groups and languages

The African peoples of Kenya, who account for about 98 percent of the total comprise virtually the entire population, are divided into three main language groups. The largest of these is the Bantu group, which forms about two-thirds of the population and is largely : Bantu, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. Bantu is by far the largest, and its speakers are mainly concentrated in the southern third of the country. Bantu peoples occupying The Kikuyu, Kamba, Meru, and Nyika people occupy the fertile Central Rift highlands include the Kikuyu, Embu, Mbere, Kamba, and Tharaka. In , while the Luhya and Gusii inhabit the Lake Victoria basin they include the Luhya and Gusii.The remainder of Kenyan Africans belong to the Nilotic and Cushitic language groups. The Nilotes, represented by the Luo, Kalenjin, Masai, and related peoples, make up about one-quarter of the total population.

Nilo-Saharan—represented by the languages of Kalenjin, Luo, Maasai, Samburu, and Turkana—is the next largest group. The rural Luo inhabit the lower parts of the western plateau draining into Lake Victoria, while and the Kalenjin-speaking people occupy the higher parts of the plateauit. The Masai Maasai are pastoral nomads in the southern region bordering Tanzania, and the related Samburu and Turkana pursue the same occupation in the arid northwest.

The CushiticAfro-speaking Asiatic peoples, who inhabit the arid and semiarid regions of the north and northeast, constitute only between 3 and 4 percent a tiny fraction of Kenya’s population. They are divided between the Somali, bordering Somalia, and the Oromo, bordering Ethiopia. The Cushitic peoples ; both groups pursue a pastoral livelihood in areas that are subject to famine, drought, and desertification. Apart from the Another Afro-Asiatic people is the Burji, some of whom are descended from workers brought from Ethiopia in the 1930s to build roads in northern Kenya.

In addition to the African population, Kenya is home to various ethnic groups that who immigrated there during British colonial rule. People from India and Pakistan . Referred to in Kenya as Asians, they are divided on the basis of religious affiliation into Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. Although began arriving in the 19th century, although many left after independence, a . A substantial number remain in urban areas such as Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nairobi, and Kisumuwhere they engage in various business activities. European Kenyans, mostly British in origin, are the remnant of the farming and colonial population. At the time of independence, most Europeans emigrated to southern Their numbers were once much larger, but most emigrated at independence to Southern Africa, Europe, and elsewhere. Most of those remaining are to be Those who remain are found in the large urban centres of Mombasa and Nairobi and Mombasa.

Arabs The Swahili (mostly the products of marriages between Arabs and Africans) live along the coast. Although all observe Islām, they are divided between the “old” Arabs, descended from Arabs who arrived before the 16th century, and the “true” Arabs, originating with the establishment of Arab hegemony in Zanzibar in the 19th centuryArabs introduced Islam into Kenya when they entered the area from the Arabian Peninsula about the 8th century AD. Although a wide variety of languages are spoken in Kenya, the lingua franca is Swahili. This multipurpose language, which evolved along the coast from elements of local Bantu languages, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Hindi, and English, is the language of local trade and is also used (along with English) as an official language in the Kenyan legislative body, the National Assembly, and the courts. In 1974 it became the official language, replacing English.

Kenya has no state religion. However, the majority of the Africans are members of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other Protestant churches. These religious affiliations are the outcome of early missionary activities, which assisted in the administrative pacification of the country during colonial times.

Population growthIn the late 20th century an accelerating population growth emerged as a serious constraint on social and economic development in KenyaReligion


Settlement patterns

Most of Kenya’s population is rural and lives in scattered settlements, the location and concentration of which depend largely on climatic and soil conditions. Before European colonization, virtually no villages or towns existed except along the coast, while urbanization was confined to fishing villages, Arab trading ports, and towns visited by dhows from the Arabian Peninsula and Asia. The modern cities of Mombasa, Lamu, and Malindi were among the preexisting urban areas that were expanded during the colonial period. Nairobi, originally a Maasai watering hole, became important because of its connection to the railroad, which came through the area at the beginning of the 20th century. Other towns, such as Eldoret, Embu, Kisumu, and Nakuru, were established by Europeans as administrative centres, mission stations, and markets.

The migration from rural to urban areas has accelerated since independence, spurred by greater economic development in urban areas. In the late 1960s about one-tenth of the national population lived in urban areas of 1,000 or more people; by the turn of the 21st century the figure had more than doubled. The largest coastal city is Mombasa, while the majority of Kenyans in the interior live in the capital city, Nairobi. The influx of people has placed a major burden on the provision of such services as education, health and sanitation, water, and electricity.

Demographic trends

Kenya’s accelerating population growth from the early 1960s to the early 1980s seriously constrained the country’s social and economic development. During the first quarter of the 20th century, the total population was less fewer than four million, and it was growing at a rate that would have doubled the population in 50 yearslargely because of famines, wars, and disease. By the time of the 1948 census, the population had surpassed five million and was doubling every 30 years. By independence in 1963, the population had exceeded eight million and was doubling every 23 years, and by 1984 it had exceeded 19 million and the doubling time had been reduced to 18 years. late 1940s the population had risen to more than five million, and at independence in 1963 it was more than eight million and growing rapidly. The population exceeded 20 million by the mid-1980s, after which the growth rate began slowing dramatically. Nonetheless, in the early 21st century the rate of natural increase was still above the world average. The pressure of such a population explosion has been felt in produced limited employment opportunities, in the rising cost of ; rising costs for education, health services, and food imports, ; and in the country’s an inability to generate the resources to build housing in both urban and rural areas.

The most important cause causes of this the country’s explosive growth has been in population were a sharp fall in mortality rates—especially infant mortality—and a the traditional preference for large families. The

economyAt the time of independence, Kenya’s economy was characterized by a large traditional sector based on subsistence agriculture and the barter of goods, by a heavy dependence on foreign exchange for agricultural exports such as coffee and tea, and by a strong bond with the international economic system. Since 1963 the government has pursued a policy dedicated to a mixed economy of

slower population growth of the late 20th and early 21st centuries occurred in part because fertility and birth rates were lower but also because the number of deaths from AIDS was increasing. In the early 21st century, life expectancy in Kenya was below the world average.


Since independence was achieved in 1963, Kenya’s economy has contained both privately owned and state-run enterprises. Most of Kenya’s the country’s business is in private hands (with a great deal large amount of foreign investment by foreign firms), but the government also shapes the country’s economic development through various regulatory powers and “parastatals,” or enterprises that it partly or wholly owns. The aim of this mixed economic policy has been is to achieve economic growth and stability, to generate employment, and to maximize foreign earnings by maintaining the important achieving high levels of agricultural exports while substituting domestically produced goods for goods those that are traditionally have been imported. For a decade after independence , the this policy showed great promise as rising wages, employment, and government revenue provided the means for expanding health services, education, and transportation, and communication. But owing to setbacks, beginning problems that arose with the rise of global oil prices in 1973 and have been aggravated since then by periodic drought and accelerating population growth, and Kenya’s economy has proved been unable to maintain a favourable balance of trade while addressing the problems of chronic poverty and growing unemployment.

AgricultureAlthough agriculture continues to dominate Kenya’s economy, its share of the

The country’s ability to industrialize has been hampered by, among other factors, limited domestic purchasing power, shrinking government budgets, increased external and internal debt, poor infrastructure, and massive governmental corruption and mismanagement.

In an effort to decrease its dependence on volatile agricultural markets, Kenya attempted to diversify its exports in the last decade of the 20th century, adding horticultural products, clothing, cement, soda ash, and fluorspar. The country also made the export of manufactured goods such as paper and vehicles a priority. Domestic restrictions on imports have been removed slowly, however, and this policy has been only partially successful. Kenya’s economy, which did not grow at a constant rate during the last two decades of the 20th century, continued to be dominated by the external market; tourism and agricultural exports were still the major source of foreign exchange for the country in the early 21st century.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

Agriculture plays an important role in Kenya’s economy. Although its share of gross domestic product (GDP) declined from 42 percent has declined—from more than two-fifths in 1964 to 30 percent by 1987. Agriculture feeds the less than one-fifth in the early 21st century—agriculture supplies the manufacturing sector with raw materials and supplies generates tax revenue and foreign exchange to that support the rest of the economy.

Coffee and tea have continued to be the key foreign exchange earners. Other products that support external trade are pyrethrum, cotton, sisal, fruits, wattle bark, cashew nuts, and horticultural produce. For domestic consumption, the major farm products are corn (maize), potatoes, sugar, livestock, and poultry. Most of the country’s livestock is raised in the arid regions by nomadic pastoral peoples who tend to keep them as a form of wealth rather than sell them for slaughter. Commercial stock raising is confined to small farms and large ranches, which raise animals for meat, hides, skins, and wool.

Moreover, it employs the majority of the population.

In the first years after independence, the government sought to redistribute the land on which most of the agricultural exports were produced. Although there are now thousands of large farms, ranches, and plantations, the majority of the farms are smaller than five acres (two hectares). Tea and fresh flowers are the key foreign-exchange earners. Sisal, cotton, and fruits and vegetables also are important cash crops. Coffee, historically an important foreign exchange earner, still contributes to the economy but began declining in importance and earnings in the 1990s, owing in part to market instability and deregulation. Kenya supplies the majority of the pyrethrum (a flower used to create the nonsynthetic pesticide pyrethrin) to the world market; demand for this product fluctuates depending upon the level of interest in the United States, which is the largest consumer of this commodity. National boards that controlled key export crops such as coffee, tea, and cotton were deregulated beginning in the early 1990s.

The major crops for domestic consumption are corn (maize) and wheat. Sugarcane was an export crop in the 1970s and ’80s, but by the ’90s domestic demand exceeded the supply, and it had to be imported. Livestock (including cattle and goats) is raised and dairy goods are produced primarily for domestic use, and the government maintains a reserve supply of such commodities as skim milk powder, cheese, and butter. Surplus animal and dairy products are exported.

Despite the importance of agriculture to the economic well-being of the country, there are serious constraints on further expansion—in particular, the scarcity the lack of water, infrastructure, and the high cost of technological inputs.


Although arable land (less than one-tenth of Kenya can be used for agriculture) seriously constrains further expansion. Although the government has made efforts to increase irrigation, it is estimated that only one-fifth to one-fourth of potentially irrigable area has been developed.

Forests occupy only a small portion of the land but are extremely important in the domestic economy, forestry is limited by the extent of forest land. Most of the total area of forest reserves is natural forest wooded bush, bamboo, and grass; the remainder consists of planted softwoods, which now support a domestic paper industry. Forests are important in the conservation of vital for conserving Kenya’s soil and water resources.


Fish and other , but they are increasingly threatened by a fast-growing population that constantly demands more fuel and settlement areas. As fuel, wood is used primarily for domestic cooking, but deforestation threatens the supply. A tree-planting program has been initiated to grow quick-maturing indigenous and exotic species in ecologically suitable areas.

Fish and marine products represent a small but locally important growing portion of Kenya’s natural resourceseconomy and are locally important. Freshwater fish from Lakes Victoria and Rudolf dominate fishery.


The mining industry is limited by the high cost of capital and by the limited market for Kenya’s few mineral resourcesconstitute the bulk of the catch. The encroaching water hyacinth on the surface of Lake Victoria threatened this fishery in the 1990s, although this nuisance was countered by several strategies, including the introduction of weevils into the environment. Most of the weed has been successfully eliminated, although the potential for a resurgence remains.

Resources and power

Soda ash (used in glassmaking) is Kenya’s most valuable mineral export and is quarried at Lake Magadi in the Rift Valley. Limestone deposits at the coast and in the interior are exploited for cement manufacture and agriculture. For the export trade, fluorite (Vermiculite, gold, rubies, topazes, and salt are also important, as is fluorite (also known as fluorspar and used in metallurgy), which is mined along the Kerio River in the north, and soda ash (used in glassmaking) is quarried at Lake Magadi.


Manufacturing activity in Kenya is based on the processing of agricultural products, with agriculturally based industry accounting for about two-thirds of production. The country has a well-developed meat and meat-products industry and a thriving dairy industry. Production of sugar, textiles, paper, and leather has expanded greatly since independence. Exported agricultural products include processed fruits and extracts of pyrethrum (used in insecticides) and wattle bark (used in the tanning of leather).

Kenya’s limited coal production supports several small steel-rolling mills. Petroleum products such as diesel and jet fuel, manufactured from imported crude at government-owned refineries near Mombasa, are important in both domestic and export markets. Also, engineering industries assemble motor vehicles and machinery from imported parts, and components are made from imported raw materials.


Because vast areas of Kenya are home to some of the rarest species of wildlife in the world, tourism is a well-established foreign-exchange earner. The tourist industry revolves around a basic framework of national parks, national game reserves, and national game sanctuaries. The most important national parks are Tsavo East and Tsavo West, Amboseli, Aberdares, Mount Kenya, Meru, Sibiloi, Marsabit, Lake Nakuru, and Nairobi. Game reserves include Dodori and Boni, Tana River, and Shimba Hills along the coast and South Kitui, Masai Mara, North Kitui, Kora, Rahole, Samburu, Losai, Marsabit, and South Island in the interior. National sanctuaries include South, West Mau, and Maralal.


Kenya’s economic development depends largely on the development of energy. Deposits of titanium- and zirconium-bearing sands were found in multiple locations northeast of Mombasa and to the south of the city. Exploration for petroleum has so far met with limited success.

Kenya’s economic development has been tied to its ability to improve energy resources. The emphasis since independence has been on the production of producing hydroelectricity, but this has limitations as an energy source for rural Kenyansaccess to energy is limited in rural areas, since the bulk of electricity is consumed by the two major urban centres of Nairobi and Mombasa. The largest There are hydroelectric plants are located on the Tana River, though the considerable potential of the Turkwel River in the northwest is also under developmentand Turkwel rivers. Geothermal resources in the Central Rift Valley have also been tapped since the early 1980s to generate electricity and now have come to supply a significant amount of Nairobi’s total needs.

Wood fuel, primarily used for domestic cooking, is a vital part of the rural economy, but deforestation threatens the supply. A tree-planting program has been initiated to establish in ecologically suitable areas quick-maturing indigenous and exotic species for the supply of farm households.


The While the expansion of generating capacity continued through grants from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, a severe drought occurred in the northwest part of the country at the end of the 20th century. This led to blackouts that continued into the beginning of the 21st century.


Kenya is the most industrially developed country in East Africa, but it has not yet produced results to match its potential. Manufacturing is based largely on processing imported goods, although the government supports the development of export-oriented industries. Major industries include agricultural processing, publishing and printing, and the manufacture of textiles and clothing, cement, tires, batteries, paper, ceramics, and leather goods. Assembly plants, which utilize imported parts, produce various kinds of commercial and passenger vehicles and even export a small quantity to other African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Steel processing for reexport and for the construction industry is a growing sector, with about a dozen steel mills in operation. The petroleum industry, which was deregulated in 1994, produces diesel and jet fuel from imported crude oil at a refinery near Mombasa and provides a major source of foreign exchange.

Finance and trade

The state-run Central Bank of Kenya, established by legislation in 1966, regulates the money supply (the monetary unit is the Kenyan shilling), assists in the development of the monetary, credit, and banking system, acts as banker and financial adviser to the government, and grants short-term or seasonal loans. There are also more than 20 operating commercial banks, with hundreds of branches, sub-branches, agencies, and mobile units, which offer savings deposits and checking accounts.


Coffee and tea constitute about half of Kenya’s exports. Other agricultural products constitute another fourth, and petroleum products make up most of the remainder. Europe is the primary export destination, with the United Kingdom and Germany the leading recipient countries. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, crude petroleum, fertilizers, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and manufactured goods. The main suppliers are the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany, and the United States.


The development, both before and after independence, of its excellent transportation infrastructure has largely made possible the emergence of Kenya as a modern and viable state.

Kenya’s roads, the major form of transport linking the urban areas with their rural hinterlands, also are a large number of commercial, merchant, and foreign banks in Kenya. The Nairobi Stock Exchange, founded in 1954, is one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agricultural products such as tea, fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables, and coffee constitute the greatest proportion of Kenya’s exports. The remainder of the exports consists of petroleum products, cement, hides and skins, and soda ash. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, petroleum and petroleum products, and food and beverages. The chief trading partners are Uganda, the countries of the European Union (notably the United Kingdom), the United Arab Emirates, and Tanzania. Kenya is a member of the East African Community Customs Union.


Kenya is home to some of the rarest and most interesting species of wildlife in the world. Because of this, tourism is one of the country’s major sources of foreign exchange, with visitors coming largely from countries of the European Union. Tourism revolves around a basic framework of national parks, game reserves, and game sanctuaries, where a wide variety of animals and cultural attractions can be enjoyed. The number of tourists began to vary annually in the early 1990s, however, following a period of political unrest and attacks on tourists, and again in the early 2000s, owing partially to the threat of terrorism.

Labour and taxation

Following agriculture, the next largest employment sectors are trade- and service-related industries. Women perform most of the agricultural work, but they participate largely in the informal sector of the economy. The Central Organization of Trade Unions was founded in 1965. Many professions are unionized, including metal workers, airline pilots, game hunting and safari workers, jockeys and betting workers, journalists, and textile workers. Government revenue is derived from taxes on income and profits and on goods and services, from excise duties, and from value-added taxes.

Transportation and telecommunications

The transportation infrastructure that developed both before and after independence allowed Kenya to emerge as a viable state. Roads became the major link between the urban areas and the rural hinterlands, although they were developed in colonial times as a subsidiary of to the railway line running from Mombasa to the western parts of the country. After independence the The heavily utilized trunk and primary roads were upgraded from dirt to bitumen and gravel . With the expansion of this network came a rapid increase in freight traffic carrying goods after independence. As this network was expanded, freight traffic within Kenya as well as to Tanzania, Uganda, The Sudan, and Ethiopia increased rapidly. This The heavy traffic has severely damaged Kenyan roads, necessitating heavy expenditure in requiring expensive repairs.

Railways, the second most important mode of transport after roads, are operated by Kenya Railways. The main line runs northwest from Mombasa through Nairobi, Nakuru, and Eldoret to the Ugandan border. Major branch lines branchlines run from Nakuru to Kisumu on Lake Victoria and from Nairobi to Nanyuki near Mount Kenya, and another goes into Tanzania. Passenger services constitute Privatization of Kenya Railways began early in the 21st century, and efforts were undertaken to make the railways more competitive in the freight market. Passenger service constitutes a very small share of railway business.

The strategic location of Kenya on the western shores of the Indian Ocean, with easy connections to different parts of Africa and , the worldMiddle East, and Asia, has greatly enhanced the role of Kenya’s two the international airports at Nairobi and Mombasa. The state-owned Kenya Airways, established in 1977, is the national carrierAnother international airport is located at Eldoret. There are medium-sized domestic airports at Kisumu and Malindi and many smaller airfields throughout the country. Kenya Airways, established in 1977, privatized its operations and financial control in 1996.

Mombasa, the country’s principal port of Kenya, handles the bulk of the import and export traffic not only of Kenya but of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the northern mainland of Tanzaniaeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The ports of Lamu and Malindi serve mainly the coastal trade and fisheries.

Administration and social conditions

Kenya reached independence Telephone service has greatly expanded since the early 1980s, but, while the number of telephones more than doubled between 1984 and 1995, the great majority of the population still does not have access to local telephone lines. Cellular telephone service experienced rapid growth around the turn of the century, as did Internet access—by the mid-2000s, the country had one of the highest numbers of Internet users in sub-Saharan Africa. Like other industries in Kenya, telecommunications were being privatized at the start of the 21st century.

Government and society
Constitutional framework

Kenya became independent on Dec. 12, 1963, under a constitution that placed the prime minister at the head of a cabinet chosen by a bicameral National Assembly. A great deal of Significant power was granted to assemblies elected in each of the country’s regions, and multiparty contests were allowed. Since independence Beginning in the early 1960s, however, a series of amendments has abolished the regional assemblies in favour of provincial commissions appointed by the national government, made the National Assembly a unicameral body, proclaimed the Kenya African National Union (KANU) the only legal political party, and replaced the prime minister with an executive president who has the power to dismiss at will the attorney general and senior judges. The effect of these changes has been was to establish the central government—in particular, the presidency—as the principal locus of political power in the country. The Although the constitution guarantees a number of rights, such as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship, but it also allows the president to detain without trial persons who have been deemed a threat to public security. Membership in KANU is a requirement for anybody Constitutional reforms allowed multiparty politics once again in 1991 and granted greater freedom to political parties before the December 1997 elections.

Those seeking election or appointment to public office must be members of a political party; presidential appointments are the only exception. Several candidates from the party are often allowed to a party may contest a single office, but any candidate who receives more than 70 percent of the votes vote in a nominating election goes through enters the final election unopposed.

The executive branch consists of the president and the cabinet ministers, all of whom are selected by the president from the National Assembly. The president, who is elected by direct popular vote to a term of five years, must receive a minimum of one-fourth of the votes cast in five of the eight provinces and be a member of the National Assembly. The president is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. (By custom he is also the head of KANU.) He is elected by direct popular vote to a term of five years. Through , appoints the vice president, and, through the cabinet, he controls the passage of legislation as well as the huge bureaucracies directing the economy and provincial affairs. Cabinet ministers frequently change portfolios, leaving the administration of the ministries to civil servants.The National Assembly consists of 188 members elected In the late 1980s the president was given the power to replace the auditor, attorney general, and Court of Appeal and High Court judges.

Most members of the National Assembly are elected to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage; however, 12 members are appointed by the president, and two there are 2 ex officio members: the members—the speaker and the attorney general, the latter having no voting privileges. Terms are five years. Through his appointed legislators, cabinet ministers, and scores of assistant ministers, the president is virtually assured a working majority.The judiciary is headed by the chief justice and of whom only the speaker has voting privileges.

Local government



The High Court, appointed by the president, consists of the chief justice and at least 11 puisne, or associate, justices of the . The High Court , which has full civil and criminal jurisdiction and rules on constitutional matters. The Kenya Court of Appeal, consisting of the chief justice and several at least two associates, is the highest appeals court in the landcountry. At lower levels are resident magistrates’ and district magistrates’ courts. Kenya’s judicial system acknowledges the validity of Islāmic Islamic law and indigenous African customs in many personal areas such as marriage, divorce, and matters affecting dependents.



A single national educational system consists of three educational levels. At the first are eight years of primary education. These are followed by four years of secondary education, and the third level is represented by four years of university education. When primary schooling is completed, entrance to the secondary level is contingent upon passing an examination.

Primary and secondary enrollment have expanded markedly with the growing population, severely straining the government’s ability to provide occupational training for the slower-growing job market. As accommodations in government-built secondary schools are limited, community-built harambee secondary schools, which now outnumber government secondary schools, have taken up much of the expansion. The harambee schools receive liberal government assistance in the provision of teachers and learning materials.

Public universities include Nairobi, Kenyatta, Moi (formerly Eldoret), and Egerton universities as well as Jomo Kenyatta College of Agriculture and Technology.


With support from the World Health Organization and other foreign donors, vaccination programs have wiped out or reduced the incidence of such infectious diseases as smallpox and measles. Together with improved housing, education, sanitation, and nutrition, health-care programs have drastically reduced death rates (especially the infant death rate) and raised life expectancy (which now stands at 57 years for males and 61 years for females).

The continued high incidence of malaria, gastroenteritis, dysentery, trachoma, and schistosomiasis illustrates the difficulty of eradicating mosquitoes and providing clean water, especially in the countryside.

Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi is the chief referral and teaching institution, and there are also provincial and district hospitals. In rural areas, health centres and dispensaries offer diagnostic services, obstetric care, and outpatient treatment. Rural health services suffer from lack of facilities, trained personnel, and medications.

Cultural life

Kenya, a country of diverse and rich cultural traditions, seeks to cultivate and develop those traditions to ensure that its valuable cultural assets are not irretrievably lost and that social cohesion is not undermined in the process of change to newer ways.

A National Archive Service has been established, and it is saving an increasing number of documents. A national library service board has also


Political process




Health and welfare







The national educational system consists of three levels: eight years of compulsory primary education (beginning at age six), four years at the secondary level, and four years of higher education. Entrance into secondary school is contingent upon obtaining the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education by passing a national exam.




Cultural life
Daily life and social customs







The arts



Kenyan literature includes a large body of oral and written folklore, much of the latter collected by British anthropologists. During the colonial era, writers of European origin residing in Kenya, such as Elspeth Huxley (The Flame Trees of Thika, 1959) and Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa, 1937), introduced indigenous themes and settings to broad audiences. The Swahili literary tradition (see also Swahili literature), both oral and written, dates to the 18th century and is represented by authors such as Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassaniy and Kupona Mwana. Contemporary novelists, including Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Grace Ogot, Meja Mwangi, Hilary Ngweno, Margaret Ogola, and R. Mugo Gatheru, address problems in colonial and postcolonial society. Many of these writers publish in English, although Thiong’o has insisted on publishing first in his native Kikuyu, saying:

Only by a return to the roots of our being in the languages and cultures and heroic histories of the Kenyan people can we rise up to the challenge of helping in the creation of a Kenyan patriotic national literature and culture that will be the envy of many foreigners and the pride of Kenyans.


Cultural institutions

Perhaps Kenya’s greatest cultural legacy is in its national parks and reserves. The annual wildebeest migration is best observed at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which also includes a Maasai village. Amboseli National Park, a former home of the Maasai, lies at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Marsabit National Park and Reserve in the north is noted for its populations of large mammals such as lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, zebras, and giraffes. Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks are noted for their abundant wildlife and diverse landscapes. Mzima Springs, found in Tsavo West, are clear pools of fresh water that provide ideal conditions for viewing hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and fish. Sibiloi National Park, in the far northern part of the country, contains sites where scientists from the University of Nairobi (including Richard Leakey) have excavated hominid remains since 1968. Mount Kenya National Park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. The Lake Turkana National Parks, comprising three national parks in Eastern province, were named UNESCO World Heritage sites beginning in 1997. Lamu Old Town, in Coast province, contains beautiful examples of Swahili architecture; it became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.

The Kenya National Archives and Documentation Service in Nairobi, housed in a building that was originally the Bank of India, holds an increasing number of government and historical documents and also contains exhibits of arts and crafts and photographs. A national library service board has been established to equip, maintain, and develop libraries in Kenya, including a branch library service.

Kenya’s national museum contains collections of wildlife, archaeological remains,

The McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi has holdings of books as well as newspapers and a parliamentary archive. The National Museum, also in Nairobi, contains archaeological remains and objects of traditional material culture.

Sports and recreation


Media and publishing


Kenya National Theatre is incorporated in the Kenya Cultural Centre. The National Theatre School was founded in 1968 to provide professional training in theatrical techniques, which include the writing of plays by Kenyan authors and the performance of traditional music and dance. Music and dance play an integral role in social and religious life. Rhythm, all-important, is largely provided by the drum, supplemented by wind and stringed instruments. Swahili literature, both oral and written, is traditional in form and content. Contemporary novelists, including Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Mugo Gatheru, deal with the social frictions between traditional and modern society. Visual arts are largely confined to the mass production of wood sculpture for the tourist trade. Elimo Njau and Ronal Rankin are popular Kenyan painters.
An up-to-date

media have flourished in Kenya as the economy has become more liberalized. Rigid state restrictions on radio and television broadcasting were gradually loosened in the 1990s, and commercial radio has become an integral part of Kenyan popular culture. The Daily Nation and the East African Standard are among the daily newspapers; daily papers are also published in African languages such as Luo and Kikuyu. Kenya has numerous weekly and monthly periodicals.



The 18th and 19th centuries
Maasai and Kikuyu




Control of the interior


The British East Africa Company


The East Africa Protectorate
Resistance to European rule and early administration



The Uganda railway and European settlement





World War I and its aftermath




Kenya colony
Political movements




World War II to independence




The Republic of Kenya
Kenyatta’s rule






Moi’s rule






Kenya in the 21st century

Moi announced in 2002 that he would not run again for the presidency, and Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo Kenyatta, was chosen to be KANU’s presidential candidate. Kibaki, this time representing a coalition of opposition groups, soundly defeated Kenyatta in the 2002 presidential elections, thus ending KANU’s long period of uninterrupted rule.



A useful guide to the country is Joseph Bindloss, Tom Parkinson, and Matt Fletcher, Kenya (2003). A source of general information, Kenya: An Official Handbook (1988), was published by Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the 25th anniversary of independence. Guy Arnold, Modern Kenya (1981), gives a general survey of the country and its politics. Francis F. Ojany and Reuben B. Ogendo, Kenya: A Study in Physical and Human Geography, new ed. (


1988); D.C. Edwards and A.V. Bogdan, Important Grassland Plants of Kenya (1951); and Richard S. Odingo, The Kenya Highlands: Land Use and Agricultural Development (1971), analyze geographic and agricultural features.

Population studies include S.H. Ominde, Land and Population Movements in Kenya (1968), an early comprehensive study on the subject of migration

, and The Population of Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda (1975), the only comprehensive source on the population of what was formerly the East African Community

; S.H. Ominde, Roushdi A. Henin, and David F. Sly (eds.), Population and Development in Kenya (1984), a useful focus on development implications of population growth; and S.H. Ominde (ed.), Kenya’s Population Growth and Development to the Year 2000 (1988), an in-depth study.

Analysis of politics from a socioeconomic perspective is provided in Jennifer Widner, The Rise of the Party-State in Kenya: From “Harambee” to “Nyayo!” (1992); Michael G. Schatzberg (ed.), The Political Economy of Kenya (1987); and Barbara P. Thomas, Politics, Participation, and Poverty: Development Through Self-Help in Kenya (1985). Geoff Sayer, Kenya: Promised Land? (1998), is an account of how individuals deal with the economic, social, and political challenges of everyday life. A contemporary analysis of politics and the process of democratization is provided in Godwin R. Murunga and Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o, Kenya: The Struggle for Democracy (2007).


B.A. Ogot (ed.), Building on the Indigenous: Selected Essays, 1981–1998 (1999), is a collection of essays that provides a good overview of the local struggles to ascertain Kenya’s intellectual culture, and his Kenya Before 1900 (1976) contains essays on aspects of the history of various African peoples from about AD 500. George Bennett, Kenya, a Political History: The Colonial Period (1963), is a brief but scholarly account. Robert L. Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya (1976), recounts the impact of colonial rule on African individuals and societies from 1900 to 1939. G.H. Mungeam, British Rule in Kenya, 1895–1912: The Establishment of Administration in the East Africa Protectorate (1966), is detailed and carefully researched. Marjorie Ruth Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony, 2nd ed. (1966), explains the development of a British administrative philosophy to the mid-1930s. Guy Arnold, Kenyatta and the Politics of Kenya (1974), analyzes the role of Kenyatta in the political development of Kenya from 1922.

Carl G. Rosberg, Jr., and John Nottingham, The Myth of “Mau Mau”: Nationalism in Kenya (1966, reissued 1985), examines the origins and character of the rebellion. David Throup, Economic & Social Origins of Mau Mau 1945–53 (1987), is a thoughtful analysis of the conditions that led to the Mau Mau rebellion. Both Frank Furedi, The Mau Mau War in Perspective (1989); and Robert B. Edgerton, Mau Mau: An African Crucible (1989), address the question of political history as it relates to the Mau Mau and its impact on the formation of the current nation-state in Kenya.

Norman Miller and Rodger Yaeger, Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity, 2nd ed. (1994), studies the politics, economics, and diplomacy of Kenya since independence. Donald Rothchild, Racial Bargaining in Independent Kenya: A Study of Minorities and Decolonization (1973), analyzes the conflict between ethnicity and national identity. Histories of political struggles and their economic implications in both colonial and independent Kenya include Paul Collier and Deepak Lal, Labour and Poverty in Kenya, 1900–1980 (1986); and Marshall S. Clough, Fighting Two Sides: Kenyan Chiefs and Politicians, 1918–1940 (1990).