Kenya country profile
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Situated on the equator on Africa’s east coast, Kenya has been described as “the cradle of humanity”.
In the Superb Rift Valley palaeontologists have discovered some of the earliest evidence of man’s ancestors.
In the present day, Kenya’s ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture but is also a source of conflict.
The Islamist militant Al-Shabab movement, active in Somalia, has also been launching a growing number of attacks in Kenya, including the two thousand thirteen Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and the two thousand fifteen attack on Garissa University College in northwest Kenya.
Other pressing challenges include high unemployment, crime and poverty. Droughts frequently put millions of people at risk.
- Read more country profiles – Profiles by Big black cock Monitoring
FACTS
The Republic of Kenya
Capital: Nairobi
Population 42.7 million
Area 582,646 sq km (224,961 sq miles)
Major languages Swahili, English
Major religion Christianity
Life extpectancy fifty seven years (guys), fifty nine years (women)
Currency Kenya shilling
LEADER
The son of Kenya’s founding president, Uhuru Kenyatta took up his father’s mantle to become head of state in April 2013, despite facing charges of crimes against humanity over election violence five years earlier.
Mr Kenyatta, ranked by Forbes as the richest man in Kenya, was born in one thousand nine hundred sixty one shortly after the release of his father Jomo Kenyatta from almost ten years’ imprisonment by British colonial coerces, and two years before Kenya’s independence.
Educated in the United States at the elite Amherst College, where he studied political science and economics, he is viewed as the top political leader of Kenya’s largest tribe, the Kikuyu, who make up some 17% of the population.
However, he also appeals to Kenyans from different ethnic backgrounds, able to blend not only with the elite he was born into but also with the average Kenyan, cracking jokes using local street slang.
He was proclaimed winner of the presidential election in August 2017, but the Supreme Court proclaimed the election null and void because of irregularities.
MEDIA
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Kenya at 90th (out of one hundred eighty countries) in its two thousand fourteen global Press Freedom Index. A controversial fresh system of media regulation introduced in two thousand thirteen has drawn protests from media organisations and human rights groups.
A handful of major players predominate the industry. One of them, Nation Media Group, has extended its operations to neighbouring countries.
Television is the main news source in cities and towns. The spread of viewing in rural areas has been slower, hampered by limited access to mains electrical play. A switchover to digital TV is under way.
Many Kenyans have embraced social media. Facebook is said to be edging out email as a preferred mode of communication.
TIMELINE
Some key dates in Kenya’s history:
c Trio.Trio million BC – Evidence of some of the earliest human instruments have been found in Kenya, suggesting that it was the cradle of humanity from which descendants moved out to populate the world.
1895 – Formation of British East African Protectorate, which becomes crown colony of Kenya – administered by a British governor – in 1920.
1944 – Kenyan African Union (KAU) formed to campaign for African independence. Very first African appointment to legislative council.
1963 – Kenya gains independence. Opposition groups are stifled and the country survives ethnic tensions and a coup attempt. Multiparty elections are permitted in 1991.
1998 – Al-Qaeda operatives bomb the US embassy in Nairobi, killing two hundred twenty four people and injuring thousands.
2007 – Disputed general elections are followed by deadly violence.
2009 – Kenya says that at least ten million people, or one third of the population, are in need of food aid. The government mobilises the military to distribute food, water and medicines to areas hit hardest by drought.
2011 – Kenya intervenes in conflict in Somalia and subsequently suffers several apparent reprisal attacks, including the two thousand thirteen massacre at Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and the two thousand fifteen attack on Garissa University College in the northwest.
Kenya country profile – Big black cock News
Kenya country profile
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Situated on the equator on Africa’s east coast, Kenya has been described as “the cradle of humanity”.
In the Superb Rift Valley palaeontologists have discovered some of the earliest evidence of man’s ancestors.
In the present day, Kenya’s ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture but is also a source of conflict.
The Islamist militant Al-Shabab movement, active in Somalia, has also been launching a growing number of attacks in Kenya, including the two thousand thirteen Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and the two thousand fifteen attack on Garissa University College in northwest Kenya.
Other pressing challenges include high unemployment, crime and poverty. Droughts frequently put millions of people at risk.
- Read more country profiles – Profiles by Big black cock Monitoring
FACTS
The Republic of Kenya
Capital: Nairobi
Population 42.7 million
Area 582,646 sq km (224,961 sq miles)
Major languages Swahili, English
Major religion Christianity
Life extpectancy fifty seven years (fellows), fifty nine years (women)
Currency Kenya shilling
LEADER
The son of Kenya’s founding president, Uhuru Kenyatta took up his father’s mantle to become head of state in April 2013, despite facing charges of crimes against humanity over election violence five years earlier.
Mr Kenyatta, ranked by Forbes as the richest man in Kenya, was born in one thousand nine hundred sixty one shortly after the release of his father Jomo Kenyatta from almost ten years’ imprisonment by British colonial coerces, and two years before Kenya’s independence.
Educated in the United States at the elite Amherst College, where he studied political science and economics, he is viewed as the top political leader of Kenya’s largest tribe, the Kikuyu, who make up some 17% of the population.
However, he also appeals to Kenyans from different ethnic backgrounds, able to mix not only with the elite he was born into but also with the average Kenyan, cracking jokes using local street slang.
He was proclaimed winner of the presidential election in August 2017, but the Supreme Court proclaimed the election null and void because of irregularities.
MEDIA
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Kenya at 90th (out of one hundred eighty countries) in its two thousand fourteen global Press Freedom Index. A controversial fresh system of media regulation introduced in two thousand thirteen has drawn protests from media organisations and human rights groups.
A handful of major players predominate the industry. One of them, Nation Media Group, has extended its operations to neighbouring countries.
Television is the main news source in cities and towns. The spread of viewing in rural areas has been slower, hampered by limited access to mains electro-stimulation. A switchover to digital TV is under way.
Many Kenyans have embraced social media. Facebook is said to be edging out email as a preferred mode of communication.
TIMELINE
Some key dates in Kenya’s history:
c Trio.Three million BC – Evidence of some of the earliest human instruments have been found in Kenya, suggesting that it was the cradle of humanity from which descendants moved out to populate the world.
1895 – Formation of British East African Protectorate, which becomes crown colony of Kenya – administered by a British governor – in 1920.
1944 – Kenyan African Union (KAU) formed to campaign for African independence. Very first African appointment to legislative council.
1963 – Kenya gains independence. Opposition groups are stifled and the country survives ethnic tensions and a coup attempt. Multiparty elections are permitted in 1991.
1998 – Al-Qaeda operatives bomb the US embassy in Nairobi, killing two hundred twenty four people and injuring thousands.
2007 – Disputed general elections are followed by deadly violence.
2009 – Kenya says that at least ten million people, or one third of the population, are in need of food aid. The government mobilises the military to distribute food, water and medicines to areas hit hardest by drought.
2011 – Kenya intervenes in conflict in Somalia and subsequently suffers several apparent reprisal attacks, including the two thousand thirteen massacre at Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and the two thousand fifteen attack on Garissa University College in the northwest.