KENYA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 582,650 km2; land area: 569,250 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Land boundaries: 3,477 km total; Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km,
Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km
Coastline: 536 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: administrative boundary with Sudan does not coincide
with international boundary; possible claim by Somalia based on
unification of ethnic Somalis
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
Natural resources: gold, limestone, soda ash, salt barytes,
rubies, fluorspar, garnets, wildlife
Land use: arable land 3%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
7%; forest and woodland 4%; other 85%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: unique physiography supports abundant and varied
wildlife of scientific and economic value; deforestation; soil erosion;
desertification; glaciers on Mt. Kenya
Note: Kenyan Highlands one of the most successful agricultural
production regions in Africa
PEOPLE
Population: 25,241,978 (July 1991), growth rate 3.6% (1991)
Birth rate: 45 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 69 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 60 years male, 64 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.4 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Kenyan(s); adjective--Kenyan
Ethnic divisions: Kikuyu 21%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 11%,
Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, Asian, European, and Arab 1%
Religion: Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 28%, indigenous beliefs
26%, Muslim 6%
Language: English and Swahili (official); numerous indigenous
languages
Literacy: 69% (male 80%, female 58%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 9.2 million (includes unemployed); the total
employed is 1.37 million (14.8% of the labor force); services
54.8%, industry 26.2%, agriculture 19.0% (1989)
Organized labor: 390,000 (est.)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Kenya
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; formerly British East
Africa)
Constitution: 12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964;
reissued with amendments 1979, 1983, 1986, and 1988
Legal system: based on English common law, tribal law, and Islamic
law; judicial review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations; constitutional amendment in 1982 made Kenya a de jure
one-party state
National holiday: Independence Day, 12 December (1963)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Bunge)
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, High Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Daniel Teroitich
arap MOI (since 14 October 1978); Vice President George SAITOTI
(since 10 May 1989)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Kenya African National
Union (KANU), Daniel T. arap MOI, president
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held on 21 March 1988 (next to be held
by March 1993);
results--President Daniel T. arap MOI was reelected;
National Assembly--last held on 21 March 1988
(next to be held by March 1993); results--KANU is the only party;
seats--(202 total, 188 elected) KANU 200
Communists: may be a few Communists and sympathizers
Other political or pressure groups: labor unions; exile
opposition--Mwakenya and other groups
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG,
UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Denis Daudi AFANDE; Chancery
at 2249 R Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-6101; there
are Kenyan Consulates General in Los Angeles and New York;
US--Ambassador Smith HEMPSTONE, Jr.; Embassy at the corner of Moi
Avenue and Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi (mailing address is P. O. Box
30137, Nairobi or APO New York 09675); telephone 254 (2) 334141; there
is a US Consulate in Mombasa
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green;
the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed
spears is superimposed at the center
ECONOMY
Overview: A serious underlying economic problem is Kenya's 3.6%
annual population growth rate--one of the highest in the world. In the
meantime, GDP growth in the near term has kept slightly ahead of
population--annually averaging 4.9% in the 1986-90 period. Undependable
weather conditions and a shortage of arable land hamper long-term
growth in agriculture, the leading economic sector.
GDP: $8.5 billion, per capita $360; real growth rate 4% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.9% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%, but there is a high level of unemployment
and underemployment
Budget: revenues $2.0 billion; expenditures $2.3 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA billion (FY89)
Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--tea 25%, coffee 21%, petroleum products 7% (1989);
partners--EC 44%, Africa 25%, Asia 5%, US 5%, Middle East 4% (1988)
Imports: $2.4 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--machinery and transportation equipment 29%,
petroleum and petroleum products 15%, iron and steel 7%,
raw materials, food and consumer goods (1989 est.);
partners--EC 45%, Asia 11%, Middle East 12%, US 5% (1988)
External debt: $5.8 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 5.4% (1989 est.); accounts
for 17% of GDP
Electricity: 730,000 kW capacity; 2,700 million kWh produced,
110 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture,
batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural processing,
oil refining, cement, tourism
Agriculture: most important sector, accounting for 29% of GDP,
about 80% of the work force, and over 50% of exports; cash
crops--coffee, tea, sisal, pineapple; food products--corn, wheat,
sugarcane, fruit, vegetables, dairy products; food output not keeping
pace with population growth
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis used mostly for
domestic consumption; widespread cultivation of cannabis and qat on
small plots; transit country for heroin and methaqualone en route
from Southwest Asia to West Africa, Western Europe, and the US
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $839
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $6.7 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $74 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $83 million
Currency: Kenyan shilling (plural--shillings);
1 Kenyan shilling (KSh) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Kenyan shillings (KSh) per US$1--24.427 (January
1991), 22.915 (1990), 20.572 (1989), 17.747 (1988), 16.454 (1987), 16.226
(1986), 16.432 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 2,040 km 1.000-meter gauge
Highways: 64,590 km total; 7,000 km paved, 4,150 km gravel,
remainder improved earth
Inland waterways: part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries
of Kenya; principal inland port is at Kisumu
Pipelines: refined products, 483 km
Ports: Mombasa, Lamu
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
Airports: 249 total, 213 usable; 22 with permanent-surface runways;
2 with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 47 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: in top group of African systems; consists of
radio relay links, open-wire lines, and radiocommunication stations;
260,000 telephones; stations--11 AM, 4 FM, 4 TV; satellite earth
stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTLESAT
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, Air Force, paramilitary General
Service Unit of the Police
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 5,444,247; 3,362,290 fit for
military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: $100 million, 1.0% of GDP (1989 est.)