Portal:Kenya

Introduction

Location of Kenya

Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country in East Africa. With a population of more than 47.6 million in the 2019 census, Kenya is the 27th most populous country in the world and 7th most populous in Africa. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest, currently second largest 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. As of 2020, Kenya is the third-largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and South Africa. Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast. Its geography, climate and population vary widely, ranging from cold snow-capped mountaintops (Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana on Mount Kenya) with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural regions to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties and dry less fertile arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts (Chalbi Desert and Nyiri Desert).

Kenya's earliest inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, like the present-day Hadza people. According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material, Cushitic speakers first settled in Kenya's lowlands between 3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase known as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic. Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) began migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC. Bantu people settled at the coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD. European contact began in 1500 AD with the Portuguese Empire, and 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 the subsequent Kenya Colony, which began in 1920. Numerous disputes between the UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution, which began in 1952, and the declaration of independence in 1963. After independence, Kenya remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The current constitution was adopted in 2010 and replaced the 1963 independence constitution.

Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic, in which elected officials represent the people and the president is the head of state and government. Kenya is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, COMESA, International Criminal Court, as well as other international organisations. With a GNI of 1,840, Kenya is a lower-middle-income economy. 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 European Union. (Full article...)

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The Aberdare Range (formerly the Sattima Range, Kikuyu: Nyandarua) is a 160 km (99 mi) long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of 3,500 metres (11,480 ft). It straddles across the counties of Nyandarua, Nyeri, Muranga, Kiambu and Laikipia. The mountain range is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and lies just south of the Equator. The mountain range is called Nyandarua among the Agikuyu people in whose territory this forest and mountain range is located. The name Nyandarua comes from the Kikuyu word rwandarua meaning a drying hide, due to the distinctive fold of its silhouette. (Full article...)

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Shore of Mombasa Marine Park, Mombasa County, Kenya.

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Kitui County is a county of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kitui, although Mwingi is also another major urban centre. The county has a population of 1,012,709 (2009 census) and an area of 20,402 km². (Read more...)

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Msambweni (meaning "land of Msambwe") in Swahili) is a small fishing town and constituency in Kwale County of southeastern Kenya, formerly in Kwale District of Coast Province. The origin of the name, Msambwe (plural Misambwe) is a hardy and wild fruits (sambwe) tree indigenous to Msambweni. A few remnants of the Msambwe trees are still existing at Mkunguni Beach, Sawa Sawa Village. By road, Msambweni is 55.4 kilometres (34.4 mi) south of Mombasa and 46.5 kilometres (28.9 mi) northeast of Lunga Lunga on the Tanzanian border. As of 2009, the town had a population of 11,985 people.

Fishing is the primary source of income, although coconut palm, buxa coloring, cashew nuts and fruits are produced for trade. Because of its reef and extensive beaches, the snorkeling industry is gaining in popularity in Msambweni, and holiday cottages and hotels have sprung up in the area, such as the Msambweni Beach House. The town is noted for its leprosarium and contains the Msambweni District Hospital. The Koromojo Dam is immediately north of the town. (Full article...)

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Kenya Airways Mount Kenya Nairobi National Park Ruins of Gedi Lamu Fort Kenya at the 2006 Winter Olympics 2013 CECAFA Cup

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David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from the 2011 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics, and world record holder at the event with a time of 1:40.91 set at the 2012 London Games on 9 August 2012. Rudisha is the first and only person to ever run 800 metres under 1:41, and he holds the three fastest, six of the eight fastest, and half of the twenty fastest times ever run in this event.

Rudisha established his running career at the St. Francis Kimuron High School in Elgeyo-Marakwet County. He won 800 m titles at the 2006 World Junior Championships as well as the 2008 and 2010 African Championships, and earned the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medal. He also holds the world's best time in the 500 metres and the African best for the 600 metres. He is a two-time Diamond League 800 m winner. Rudisha has won IAAF World Athlete of the Year award in 2010 and three consecutive Track & Field News Athlete of the Year awards. (Full article...)

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... that the first Olympic volleyball match in more than 16 years for Kenya's Malkia Strikers is being played today in Tokyo against Japan?
... that Kenyan coffee farmer "Pinkie" Jackson amassed Africa's largest collection of native butterflies?
... that Kenyan theologian Mary Getui was named a Moran of the Burning Spear?
... that after Berry Boswell Brooks took his 14-year-old daughter hunting in Kenya in 1947, it was featured in Life magazine?
... that in 2009, Doreen Nabwire became the first Kenyan woman to play professional football in Europe?
... that a European settler in Kenya who tortured a black employee to death in 1920 was sentenced to just two years' imprisonment?

Archive

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In the news

Wikinews Kenya portal

30 March 2023 –: A collision between a Pwani University bus and a minibus in Naivasha, Kenya, kills 14 people. (AA)
18 January 2023 – Spillover of the Somali Civil War: Ten Al-Shabaab militants are killed during a raid by security forces in the village of Galmagala, Garissa County, Kenya, after the group killed five civilians in the region last week. Rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices are recovered. (Al Jazeera)
7 January 2023 –: Twenty-one people are killed and 49 others are injured when a bus heading for Nairobi, Kenya, crashes after crossing the border from Uganda. (AFP via Barron's)
21 December 2022 – Spillover of the Somali Civil War: A vehicle travelling from Hayley Lapsset camp to Garissa, Kenya, hits a roadside bomb planted by Al-Shabaab militants, who then engage in a shootout with the car's occupants, killing two police officers and a civilian, and injuring several others. (Al Jazeera)
15 November 2022 –: At least three people are killed and six others are injured after a multi-storey building collapses in Nairobi, Kenya. (The Washington Post)
2 November 2022 – M23 offensive: Kenya officially deploys troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assist an East African Community peacekeeping mission. (Reuters)

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Credit: Thad K.

Baboon Cliff at Lake Nakuru National Park, Nakuru County.

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The following are images from various Kenya-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1President Daniel arap Moi in 1979 (from History of Kenya)
Image 2A traditional Kenyan drum, similar to the Djembe of West Africa. (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 31911 map (from History of Kenya)
Image 4Maasai woman in traditional headdress and attire. (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 5Orange Democratic Movement leader Prime Minister Omolo Odinga speaking with the Kenyan media. (from History of Kenya)
Image 6BMJ, A US-based award-winning Kenyan actor. His role in South African Post Apartheid play 'Sizwe Bansi is Dead' by Arthol Fugard earned him the best actor award in Oslo, Norway. (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 7Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga speaking to the Kenyan media. (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 8Location of Kenya (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 9Mwai Kibaki and (the late) Mrs. Lucy Kibaki with US President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush at the White House during a state visit in 2003. (from History of Kenya)
Image 10Ugali, served here with beef and sauce, is a mainstay of the cuisine throughout the African Great Lakes region. (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 11Kenya demography (1961–2003) (from History of Kenya)
Image 12Filmmaker Nathan Collett (with camera) shooting feature film Togetherness Supreme in collaboration with Kibera youth trainees. (from Culture of Kenya)
Image 13Kenyan dancers performing a traditional dance (from Culture of Kenya)