Kenya

agricultural land:

48.1%;

• arable land 9.8%;
• permanent crops 0.9%;
• permanent pasture 37.4%

forest:

6.1%

other:

45.8% (2011 est.)

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• 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

noun:

Kenyan(s)

adjective:

Kenyan

at birth:

1.02 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.84 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria, dengue fever, and Rift Valley fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2016)

conventional long form:

Republic of Kenya

conventional short form:

Kenya

local long form:

Republic of Kenya/Jamhuri ya Kenya

local short form:

Kenya

former:

British East Africa

etymolgy:

named for Mount Kenya; the meaning of the name is unclear but may derive from the Kikuyu, Embu, and Kamba words "kirinyaga," "kirenyaa," and "kiinyaa" - all of which mean "God's resting place"

name:

Nairobi

geographic coordinates:

1 17 S, 36 49 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• Independence Day, 12 December (1963);
• Madaraka Day, 1 June (1963);
• Mashujaa Day (or Heroes' Day), 20 October (2010)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Kenya

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

4 out of the previous 7 years

chief of state:

• President Uhuru KENYATTA (since 9 April 2013);
• Deputy President William RUTO (since 9 April 2013);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President Uhuru KENYATTA (since 9 April 2013);
• Deputy President William RUTO (since 9 April 2013);
• note - position of the prime minister abolished after the March 2013 elections

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president, subject to confirmation by the Natioal Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president and deputy president directly elected on the same ballot by qualified majority popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• in addition to receiving an absolute majority popular vote, the presidential candidate must also win at least 25% of the votes cast in each of more than half of the 47 counties to avoid a runoff;
• election last held on 4 March 2013 (next to be held in 2017)

election results:

• Uhuru KENYATTA elected president in first round;
• percent of vote - Uhuru KENYATTA (TNA) 50.1%, Raila ODINGA (ODM) 43.7%, Musalia MUDAVADI (UDF) 4.0%, other 2.2%

description:

bicameral parliament consists of the Senate (67 seats; 47 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 20 directly elected by proportional representation vote - 16 women, 2 representing youth, and 2 representing the disabled; members serve 5-year terms) and the National Assembly (349 seats; 290 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 47 women in single-seat constituencies elected by simple majority vote, and 12 members nominated by the National Assembly - 6 representing youth and 6 representing the disabled; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

last held on 4 March 2013 (next to be held in 2017)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA;
• seats by party/coalition - Jubilee Alliance 30 (TNA 17, URP 12, NARC 1);
• CORD Coalition 28 (ODM 17, FORD-K 5, WDM-K 5, other 1);
• Amani Coalition 6 (KANU 3, UDF 3), APK 3;
• National Assembly - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA;
• seats by party/coalition - Jubilee Alliance 167 (TNA 89, URP 75, NARC 3), CORD Coalition 141 (ODM 96, WDM-K 26, FORD-K 10, other 9), Amani Coalition 24 (UDF 12, KANU 6, NFK 6), Eagle Coalition 2 (KNC 2), APK 5, FORD-P 4, independent 4, other 2

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of chief and deputy chief justices and 5 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• chief and deputy chief justices nominated by Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and appointed by president with approval of the National Assembly;
• other judges nominated by the JSC and appointed by president;
• chief justice serves a nonrenewable 10-year term or till age 70 whichever comes first;
• other judges serve till age 70

subordinate courts:

• High Court;
• Court of Appeal;
• military courts;
• magistrates' courts;
• religious courts

• Alliance Party of Kenya or APK [Kiraitu MURUNGI]
• Amani National Congress [Musalia MUDAVADI]
• Coalition for Reforms and Democracy or CORD (includes ODM, WDM-K, FORD-K) [Raila ODINGA]
• Federal Party of Kenya or FPK [Cyrus JIRONGA]
• Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya or FORD-K [Moses WETANGULA]
• Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-P [Henry OBWOCHA]
• Jubilee Alliance (includes TNA, URP, NARC) [Uhuru KENYATTA]
• Kenya African National Union or KANU [Gideon MOI]
• National Rainbow Coalition or NARC [Charity NGILU]
• New Ford Kenya or NFK [Eugene WAMALWA]
• Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya or ODM [Raila ODINGA]
• The National Alliance or TNA [Uhuru KENYATTA]
• United Republican Party or URP [William RUTO]
• Wiper Democratic Movement-K or WDM-K (formerly Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya or ODM-K) [Kalonzo MUSYOKA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robinson GITHAE (since 18 November 2014)

chancery:

2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 387-6101

FAX:

[1] (202) 462-3829

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles

consulate(s):

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert F. GODEC (since 16 January 2013)

embassy:

United Nations Avenue, Nairobi; P.O. Box 606 Village Market, Nairobi 00621

mailing address:

American Embassy Nairobi, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-8900

telephone:

[254] (20) 363-6000

FAX:

[254] (20) 363-6157

• three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green;
• the red band is edged in white;
• a large Maasai warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center;
• black symbolizes the majority population, red the blood shed in the struggle for freedom, green stands for natural wealth, and white for peace;
• the shield and crossed spears symbolize the defense of freedom

name:

"Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu" (Oh God of All Creation)

lyrics/music:

Graham HYSLOP, Thomas KALUME, Peter KIBUKOSYA, Washington OMONDI, and George W. SENOGA-ZAKE/traditional, adapted by Graham HYSLOP, Thomas KALUME, Peter KIBUKOSYA, Washington OMONDI, and George W. SENOGA-ZAKE

note: adopted 1963; based on a traditional Kenyan folk song

• small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, clothing, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products, horticulture, oil refining;
• aluminum, steel, lead;
• cement, commercial ship repair, tourism

agriculture:

75%

industry and services:

25% (2011 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.8%

highest 10%:

37.8% (2005)

general assessment:

• the mobile-cellular system is generally good, especially is urban areas;
• fixed-line telephone system is small and inefficient;
• trunks are primarily microwave radio relay;
• business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system

domestic:

• sole fixed-line provider, Telkom Kenya, privatized and as of 2013 is 70% owned by France Telecom;
• multiple providers in the mobile-cellular segment of the market fostering a boom in mobile-cellular telephone usage with teledensity reaching 80 per 100 persons in 2015

international:

• country code - 254;
• landing point for the EASSy, TEAMS and SEACOM fiber-optic submarine cable systems;
• satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat (2015)

• about a half-dozen large-scale privately owned media companies with TV and radio stations, as well as a state-owned TV broadcaster, provide service nationwide;
• satellite and cable TV subscription services available;
• state-owned radio broadcaster operates 2 national radio channels and provides regional and local radio services in multiple languages;
• many private radio stations broadcast on a national level along with over 100 private and non-profit provincial stations broadcasting in local languages;
• transmissions of several international broadcasters available (2014)

number of registered air carriers:

16; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 106

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

4,874,590

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

286,414,683 mt-km (2015)

total:

3,334 km

narrow gauge:

3,334 km 1.000-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 54

total:

160,878 km

paved:

11,189 km

unpaved:

149,689 km

note: includes 99 km of urban and other roads (2013)

country comparison to the world: 30

• none specifically;
• the only significant inland waterway is the part of Lake Victoria within the boundaries of Kenya;
• Kisumu is the main port and has ferry connections to Uganda and Tanzania (2011)

major seaport(s):

Kisumu, Mombasa

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Mombasa

• 18-26 years of age for male and female voluntary service (under 18 with parental consent), with a 9-year obligation (7 years for Kenyan Navy);
• applicants must be Kenyan citizens and provide a national identity card (obtained at age 18) and a school-leaving certificate;
• women serve under the same terms and conditions as men;
• mandatory retirement at age 55 (2012)

• Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering Sudan's north-south separation in February 2005;
• Kenya provides shelter to an estimated 580,000 refugees, including Ugandans who flee across the border periodically to seek protection from Lord's Resistance Army rebels;
• Kenya works hard to prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading across the border, which has long been open to nomadic pastoralists;
• the boundary that separates Kenya's and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times

refugees (country of origin):

• 334,197 (Somalia);
• 87,912 (South Sudan) (refugees and asylum seekers);
• 27,485 (Democratic Republic of the Congo);
• 21,537 (Ethiopia) (2016)

IDPs:

309,000 (represents people displaced since the 1990s by ethnic and political violence and land disputes and who sought refuge mostly in camps; persons who took refuge in host communities or were evicted in urban areas are not included in the data; data is not available on pastoralists displaced by cattle rustling, violence, natural disasters, and development projects; the largest displacement resulted from 2007-08 post-election violence (2014)

stateless persons:

• 20,000 (2015);
• note - the stateless population consists of Nubians, Kenyan Somalis, and coastal Arabs;
• the Nubians are descendants of Sudanese soldiers recruited by the British to fight for them in East Africa more than a century ago;
• Nubians did not receive Kenyan citizenship when the country became independent in 1963;
• only recently have Nubians become a formally recognized tribe and had less trouble obtaining national IDs;
• Galjeel and other Somalis who have lived in Kenya for decades are included with more recent Somali refugees and denied ID cards

• widespread harvesting of small plots of marijuana;
• transit country for South Asian heroin destined for Europe and North America;
• Indian methaqualone also transits on way to South Africa;
• significant potential for money-laundering activity given the country's status as a regional financial center;
• massive corruption, and relatively high levels of narcotics-associated activities