Kenya ( British East Africa) is a country in Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania. Kenya geographic coordinates 1 00 N, 38 00 E; area 569,250 sq km; area comparative slightly more than twice the size of Nevada; land boundaries Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km; coastline 536 km; maritime claims exclusive economic zone:<; climate varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior; terrain low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west; elevation extremes Mount Kenya 5,199 m; natural resources gold, limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower; land use 90.94% (2001); irrigated land 670 sq km (1998 est.); natural hazards recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons; environment current issues water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching; environment international agreements none of the selected agreements; geography note the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value;

introduction

Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud, but are viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December of 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition, defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. government type republic; capital Nairobi; administrative divisions 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western; independence 12 December 1963 (from UK); national holiday Independence Day, 12 December (1963); constitution 12 December 1963; amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, and 2001; legal system based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991; suffrage 18 years of age; universal;

people

Kenya population 33,829,590 estimates for this country explici; age structure 2.3% (male 356,116/female 423,466) (2005 est.); median age 18.08 years; population growth rate 2.56% (2005 est.); birth rate 40.13 births/1,000 population (2005 est.); death rate 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.); net migration rate 0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population according to UNHCR, by the end of 2001 Kenya was; sex ratio 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.); infant mortality rate 64.26 deaths/1,000 live births; life expectancy at birth 47.09 years (2005 est.); total fertility rate 4.96 children born/woman (2005 est.); hiv adult rate 6.7% (2003 est.); hiv people with aids 1.2 million (2003 est.); hiv deaths 150,000 (2003 est.); major infectious diseases malaria is a high risk; nationality Kenyan; ethnic groups Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1%; religions Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, indigenous beliefs 10%, Muslim 10%, other 2% a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but est; languages English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages; literacy 79.7% (2003 est.);

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