Republic of Kenya (in)
Kenya Jamhuri ago (sw)
Republic of Kenya (en)
( Flag of Kenya ) ( Arms of Kenya )
National motto : Harambee ( Swahili : "work together")
Official Languages	Swahili , English
Capital	Nairobi 1 16'S 36 48'E / 1267, 36.8
Largest cities, ranked by urban population	Nairobi , Mombasa , Kisumu
Form of State	Republic
- President - Prime Minister	Mwai Kibaki Raila Odinga
Area - Total - Water (%)	Ranked 48 th 580 367 km 2 2,3
Population - Total ( 2009 ) - Density	Ranked 33 th 39,002,772 (estimate) (2.10%) ( 83 th )
HDI ( 2008 )	0,541 (Medium) ( 147th )
Currency	Kenyan shilling ( KES )
Time Zone	UTC 3
National anthem	Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu (O God of all creation)
Internet domain	. Ke
Indicative Telephone	+254

Kenya, long form in the Republic of Kenya, Swahili English is a country in East Africa. It borders of Sudan and of Ethiopia to the north of Somalia in the east of Uganda to the west and Tanzania to the south-west. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the southeast.

See also the article " Mount Kenya ", section" Geographical Names and etymology "

Its name originates from its highest peak, Mount Kenya that the Kamba call Kiinyaa which means "mountain of the ostrich." This last name refers to the color of the peaks are white with snow and rocks with black, resembling the plumage of the male.

The current spelling is derived from a series of developments since Johann Ludwig Krapf was noticed in 1849. Deforming the word Kiinyaa, ll gave him the name of Kegnia (ki nj in pronunciation phonetic English ).
When Kenya gained independence, Jomo Kenyatta was elected first president. The coincidence of the spelling of his name causes the change in the pronunciation of Kenya, who became knj in English phonetic pronunciation.

History

Pre-colonial

The Great Rift Valley is often referred to as the "cradle of humanity" because of the many fossils of hominids that have been found. The oldest, Proconsul dating from the Miocene , were discovered on the volcanic island of Rusinga by Louis Leakey. Other findings indicate that hominids like Homo habilis and Homo erectus lived in Kenya there are 2.6 million years ( Plaisancian ).

People from the north, speaking a Cushitic language , arrived in the region around 2000 ' ave. AD. At the end of the ^1st millennium , arrived from the west, peoples Bantu. Finally, from 1500 " AD. AD "reached the people of Nilotic languages from the north-west.

Colonial

The colonial history of Kenya started from the ^eighth century with the establishment of settlements Arab and Persian along the coast.

In the early ^sixteenth century arrived in the wake of Vasco de Gama , the Portuguese whose dominance will be eclipsed by that of the sultans of Oman in 1698. However, these settlements are confined to the coast of Zanzibar without desire of exploration to the interior of the continent with the aim of controlling the sea route to India.

Following the explorers , like Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer , the complete colonization of Kenya began first by what was a protectorate German on what was formerly part of possessions of the Sultan of Zanzibar. In 1895 , she was transferred from Berlin to the UK following the arrival in the interior, in 1888 , the British company Imperial East Africa.

The new protectorate called British East Africa. In 1902 , white settlers are allowed to access the high fertile plains. These settlers were allowed a voice in government even before it was officially declared a crown colony in 1920 , but Africans were excluded from direct political participation until 1944.

From October 1952 to December 1959, the rebel Mau Mau fight British colonial rule. British policymakers did then participate more and more Africans in government processes, to cut the rebels of their support. The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957.

Although the British hoped to hand over power to a moderated group, it was the Kenya African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta , a member of the tribe of Kikuyu and former prisoner under martial law, which formed the first government shortly after the independence on 12 December 1963.

Post-colonial

A year later, Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic.

In 1964 , the minority party, Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU), a coalition of small tribes fear the dominance of larger s'autodissout and joined KANU.

In 1966 was created the Kenya People's Union (KPU), but small leftist party playing a role. It was led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga , former Vice-President and wise Luo. After an eventful visit to Kenyatta's Nyanza province, the KPU was banned and its leader detained.

At Kenyatta's death on 22 August 1978 , Vice-President Daniel arap Moi became interim president and then president officially on October 14 after being elected head of KANU and designated as its sole candidate. It is Kalenjin and non-Kikuyu.

In June 1982 , the National Assembly in the Constitution the single party, but this clause is rejected by Parliament in December 1991. In December 1992 , multiparty elections give the KANU and its leader the majority of seats, and Moi was reelected for a term of five years, while opposition parties captured about 45% of parliamentary seats.

The number of political parties grew from 11 to 26 following a liberalization in November 1997. After a narrow victory in the elections of December 1997 , KANU retained its parliamentary majority, and I was again elected.

Constitutionally unable to stand in December 2002 , I tried unsuccessfully to Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's first president, his successor. A disparate coalition of opposition parties won the elections and its leader, Mwai Kibaki , former Vice-President Moi, was elected president by a large majority.

Ally of the United States in the fight against Islamists in Somalia , some of whom have sought refuge in eastern Kenya in early 2007 , the country has experienced serious unrest following the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki in December 2007. Kenya hit by drought and rising prices of basic commodities is undergoing a serious food crisis.

Geography

General Information

Map of Kenya

Kenya is located in eastern Africa and neighboring countries for the Ethiopia , of Uganda , the Somalia , the Sudan and Tanzania. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean about 536 km and an area of 580,367 km ^2. Its capital is Nairobi.

Climate

The climate of Kenya is very diverse. The coasts have a hot and humid while the dry and cold areas are also present.

There are two rainy seasons: - Heavy rains April and May - low rainfall: October-November

Kenya is traversed in its central part by the equator. The areas north of it (or two thirds of the country) have a desert climate and semi-desert. On the coast, subjected to hot and humid monsoon from the Indian Ocean, the average temperature of 24.4 C in June-July to 27.8 C from February to April. The highlands are more temperate (11 C to 21 C in Nairobi in July of 13 C to 26 C in February).
The region of Lake Victoria is, according to the Kppen classification , type Aw .

• Temperature : The lowest averages are between 17 and 19 C, the highest between 27 and 29 C. The nighttime lows recorded occur in August and September with temperatures around 12 C. The daytime highs can reach 37 C between December and April.
• Rainfall : the rainy season occurs between the months of March and May. The precipitation is the most important place in April, with 200 mm. A short rainy season also occurs in November and December with an average of 100 mm and a maximum of 140 mm. The driest month is January (between 48 mm and 79 mm).

Plains

The plains are located on the eastern part of the country and are mainly occupied by savannas.

Lakes and coastal

Flamingos on Lake Nakuru

Through the Rift Valley many lakes formed along the fault, such as Lake Turkana in the north. This lake is bordered by desert Chalbi and is of great ornithological interest, where one can find among other flamingos , marabouts and pelicans. The Lake Victoria , which Kenya shares with Tanzania and Uganda , which is one of the sources of the Nile.

The Indian Ocean bordering over 500 km of coastline Kenya, consisting of sandy beaches. The islands Funzi extend offshore. The town of Mombasa is actually an island connected to the mainland by a causeway to the west, a bridge and a ferry north to south.

All land slightly down on the coast is arable land where they grow lots of bananas , the mangos of coconut and frangipani.

Parks

The Meru National Park is currently full recovery within one integrated development project: restoring and strengthening the ecosystem, relocation of new animal populations, reconstruction of tourism infrastructure. The objective is to enable a rapid financial autonomy and local development that benefits the people of the region ... The Meru Park project is the result of close collaboration between the Kenya Wildlife Service and French organizations, the French Development Agency and the French Fund for Nature and Environment and owes much to the energy and relentlessness of a man: Mark Jenkins.

Safari Park Tsavo

Parks which attract many tourists today, especially with the largest, Tsavo , Amboseli , where everyone has to start his safari at dawn to see the animals on the bottom of Kilimanjaro blushing, and especially the Masai Mara Park. The latter, which takes its name from the Mara River that passes through, is a natural extension of the Serengeti , the other side of the border with Tanzania. You can admire the pride of Kenya, "The Big Five: lion , elephant , buffalo , rhino and leopard. The wildlife refuge center is found in the city of Mombasa. It is used to treat injured animals and to keep them alive artificially for some time. It also serves to conduct health tests on the animals 'attraction', that is to say those on the list of wildlife parks.

Administrative Structure

Provinces of Kenya: see caption below cons (officially, the provinces are not numbered)

The local administration is divided into seven provinces plus the area of Nairobi. At the head of each is a Provincial Commissioner appointed by the president. The provinces (Mkoa) are subdivided into districts ( wilaya ), themselves subdivided into divisions (Tarafa). Each division is established in localities (Mtaa) and sub-localities (Kijiji). The area of Nairobi has a special status and not included in any district or province. The government supervises administration of districts and provinces, which are:

1. Central Province
2. Coast Province
3. Eastern Province
4. Nairobi area
5. North Eastern Province
6. Nyanza Province
7. Valley Province Rift
8. Western Province

Politics

The current president is Mwai Kibaki.

At the center, President Mwai Kibaki ^at the 8th summit of the Community of East Africa (2006)

On 21 November 2005 , a draft constitutional reform was rejected by way of referendum.

The presidential election of 27 December 2007 which saw the victory of President Mwai Kibaki has been challenged and provoked violence. Thus, beginning in January 2008 , a church was burned in the west, killing 30 victims. The country at the end of the month, casualties amounting to over a thousand. The government and the opposition led by Raila Odinga , an unsuccessful candidate in the presidential election, accusing each other of genocide, including the opposition accusing the police of firing on the demonstrators.

The Kikuyu , traditional supporters of the president, have been taken to task throughout the country. In the Rift Valley , more than 70,000 of them had to flee the violence has claimed hundreds of victims .

On 13 April 2008 , President Mwai Kibaki appointed Prime Minister on opposition leader Raila Odinga in a coalition cabinet, applying a power-sharing agreement. Mwai Kibaki, also named Musalia Mudavadi, number two in the Orange Democratic Movement of Odinga, as deputy prime minister. Uhuru Kenyatta, a Kibaki ally and son of Jomo Kenyatta, independence hero and Kenya's first president, was also appointed deputy prime minister in the new coalition cabinet. The swearing-in held on 17 April 2008.

On 4 August 2010 , a proposed major reform of the Constitution was accepted by a majority of 72.1% of Kenyans who participated in the referendum, popular (70% in favor against 30% unfavorable).
The public ceremony of the promulgation by President Mwai Kibaki of the modern constitution on 27 August 2010 was marred by the presence of the President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir when he is notified of an international arrest warrant by the Court International Criminal . This invitation directly addressed by President Kibaki evokes emotion and disapproval of Kenyans, their prime minister and parliament. The protests of the international community and particularly those of U.S. President Barack Obama (although his country had not ratified the Rome Statute ) and former Secretary General of UN Kofi Annan (who was driving the reconciliation between the parties after the election violence in 2007 and 2008 ) are fast .
The Constitution shall, by stages, fully operational by the next presidential elections in December 2011.

Diplomatic relations

Kenya has diplomatic missions in 51 countries to cover its bilateral relations with 100 countries and 7 international organizations in the world. These missions are called Embassy (embassy), headed by an ambassador , in most countries except those in the Commonwealth of Nations where they are called Hight Commission ( High Commission ), headed by a High Commissioner.

See also the addresses of diplomatic missions in the section " External Links ".

Economy

img alt = "" src = "http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Kenyan_20_Shilling_Note.jpg/220px-Kenyan_20_Shilling_Note.jpg" width = "220" height = "120" class = "thumbimage" />

Note 20 KES

The national currency is the Kenyan shilling (KES) = 100 Cents
Average exchange rate at 13 May 2010 ^{The phenomenon of mobile}

Access to the network of mobile telephony is available in all urban units and, with rare exceptions (misconfiguration topographic), in the countryside (see the territorial scope of the two main operators Safaricom and Kencell ). The systems used are the DCS that uses the range of 900 and 1800 MHz , the GPRS and 3G. In October 2008 , 83% of the population aged 15 years or more had, and used a mobile phone.

Prices communications ("DCS") are, as everywhere else in the world, rather difficult to compare between different operators. Rates in 2009 vary from 3.50 KSH for SMS National KSH 10.00 for an international SMS KSH and 1.00 second for a national call for the second KSH 14.00 for an international call .

The real problem lies in the fact that Kenya is a country test at the global perspective, the possibilities for mobile telephony, the early hopes are already outdated for the four operators on the territory since the end of 2008 -cons to balance the lack of access to the Internet.
The service M-Pesa " ^, is available to all for the money transfer (M is the original mobile (mobile phone) and weighed means "money" in Swahili). In December 2009 , this service was operated by about 10 million users.
Farmers use the service "DrumNet" to know the market price.
Services such as "Mobile phone" from Facebook or Twitter are widely used by young Kenyans. In June 2009 , Safaricom has launched its first Internet portal providing mobile access to subscribers, an information and entertainment .
Since 18 May 2010 , the account holders' M-Pesa "have the possibility to deposit, withdraw money, get a micro or manage a savings account through the service "M-Kesho" (kesho means "tomorrow" in Swahili).

Demographics

Demographic changes between 1961 and 2003 (figure in FAO , 2005). Population in thousands.

The group ethnicity is the largest original Bantu ( Kikuyu , Luhya , Meru , fullness ).

Almost equally, the original group Nilotic ( Maasai , Luo , Kalenjin , Samburu , Pokot , Turkana ).

Next comes the original group Cushitic ( Ormas , Somali , Borana ).

Some groups, although considered of Bantu origin, have a culture mixed ( Kambas , coast tribes like the Taita , Giryamas , Swahili ).

The country also has minority Indian and European issues of colonization (the 1 ^st, having been recruited by the latter).

He must also cope with the exodus of populations affected by conflict in Somalia or the civil war in Sudan.

The official languages are Swahili and English (s.53 of the Constitution) plus 51 dialects (some endangered).

Education

Since the school year in January 1985 , the Kenyan educational system is based on a 8-4-4 cycle starting at the age of 6 years.

• 8 years of primary education (primary school);
• 4 years of secondary education (High School);
• 4 years of higher education (college or middle-level public university).

However, some international schools use the British education system for children aged between 2 and 18.

The English and Swahili are taught at the same time, in elementary school. Secondly, English is the language reference for learning.
The country has seven public universities, the oldest is the University of Nairobi (Nairobi University) .

Health

The biggest challenges for medical Kenya are the fight against AIDS , the malaria and infections caused by unsafe drinking water that contribute to high rates of infant mortality.

The pandemic of AIDS remains the greatest threat to the health of Kenyans, ensuing a growing population of children orphaned in most cases, themselves suffering from the disease.
According to the findings of a study conducted in 2001 at the request of the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the most alarming results were collected in Nyanza province : the percentage of pregnant women was 25% ^, . Another study conducted in 2004 by the Institute of Statistics of Kenya, the Kisumu district has the highest rate of HIV in the country with 29% of the population, 22% of women aged between 15 and 22 years and 69.1% inpatients. The fact that the people of this province - the Luo - do not practice circumcision increases, according to several studies and details of the WHO , the risk of contamination of about 60% .

The malaria , and diarrhea and typhoid fever are the leading causes of death among children under 5 years. And this, especially during the rainy season and in the slums peri-urban areas that do not receive services drainage system or garbage collection. The 2001 study cited above also reveals that only 25% of children sleeping under a mosquito net.

The situation is aggravated by the high cost of treatment that pushes a majority to resort to traditional medicine or the self-medication.

Culture

Songs and dances of Kuria

* As of 27 August 2010 , the new Constitution abolished the list of holidays Moi Day (Nov. 10) and Kenyatta Day became Mashujaa Day ("Day of the heroes who died for independence").

Gastronomy

Religions

• Protestants: 45%;
• Catholics: 33%;
• Muslims: ~ 10%;
• Ancestor worship: ~ 10%;
• Other: 2% (mostly Hindu) .

Sport

The men's soccer team is 115th in FIFA rankings from 20 October 2010. The team running in middle distance and all other distances, and most powerful of this world and for many years. Riders of such a high level in Kenya, despite tens of selected, many others are in reserve (dozens of which are almost the same level as selected), and others change their nationality and country Kenya to buy receivers that they do not complain, these riders are indeed win these countries.

Miscellaneous

• Corinne Hofmann wrote the bestseller The White Masai which was shot a German film.
• Ngugi wa Thiong'o is the author of the novel Weep not, Child (Child, do not cry) on the Mau Mau rebellion.

Codes

Kenya has for codes:

• EAK , according to the list of international codes of plates ,
• HK , according to the list of prefixes ICAO airport codes ,
• KE , according to the list of country codes used by NATO , alpha-2 code,
• KE , according to the standard ISO 3166-1 , Alpha 2, (list of country codes)
• . Ke , according to the list of Internet TLDs ( top level domain )
• KEN , according to the standard ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 (list of country codes)
• KEN , according to the list of country codes IOC ,
• KEN , according to the list of country codes used by NATO , alpha-3,
• KES , according to the standard ISO 4217 defines three-letter codes for currencies.

References

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