| Republic of Kenya Jamhuri ya Kenya (Swahili) Timeline: German Heritage | ||||||
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| Motto: “Tutainuka pamoja!” (Swahili) "We Will Rise Together!" |
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| Anthem: “Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu” |
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| Capital | Nairobi | |||||
| Official languages | English Swahili |
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| Demonym | Kenyan | |||||
| Government | Federal Parliamentary Republic | |||||
| - | President | Barack Obama Jr. (KPU) | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Kalonzo Musyoka (KPU) | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2016 estimate | ▲ 47,564,296 | ||||
| Currency | Kenyan Shilling (KES) |
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| Date formats | dd.mm.yyyy | |||||
| Drives on the | Right | |||||
| Internet TLD | .ky | |||||
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country in Eastern Africa with 47 semiautonomous counties governed by elected governors. At 580,367 square kilometres (224,081 sq mi), Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa. Kisumu City is the third largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria. Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret. Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Buganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast.
Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) started migrating from present-day southern Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC. European contact began in 1500 with the Portuguese Empire, though effective colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of the interior. Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895 and from the subsequent white-dominated “Dominion of Kenya”. After World War I and the resulting collapse of British colonial authority, white landowners took control of the government and crown land, taking much of Kenya into private ownership. Throughout the 1920s, Kenya became the centre point of British white settlement in Africa - the Kenyan administration offered free land to British settlers, spurring a wave of emigration. However, by the late 1920s, high taxes, unfair practices and left-wing ideological inspirations culminated in a successful African Revolution in 1928, funded by the British Republic and Soviet Union.
Kenya is a member of the League of United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the UIDD and other international organisations. Kenya's economy is the largest in eastern and central Africa, with Nairobi serving as a major regional commercial hub. Agriculture is the largest sector: tea and coffee are traditional cash crops, while fresh flowers are a fast-growing export. The service industry is also a major economic driver, particularly tourism. Kenya is a member of the East African Community trade bloc, though some international trade organisations categorise it as part of the Greater Horn of Africa. Africa is Kenya's largest export market, followed by the British Commonwealth and the European Community.
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