Kenya Fact Sheet

Kenya

Contributed by Steve Reed on 29 Feb 2012

Geography

National Symbol:

Geographic Area:

224,080 sq mi

Time Zone:

UTC +3

Climate:

Tropical in south, west, and central regions; arid and semi-arid in the north and the northeast.

Population:

41,071,000

Major Cities:

Nairobi, capital
Mombasa
Kisumu

Guidebooks:

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide

Kenya (Lonely Planet)

The Rough Guide to Kenya

U.S. Government Fact Sheets:

State Department

U.S. Government Fact Sheets:

CIA

US Consulate/Embassy Contact Info:

United Nations Avenue Nairobi ( P. O. Box 606), Village Market  00621 Nairobi, Kenya; Tel., +254-20-363-6000; Fax: +254-20-363-6501; ircnairobi@state.gov

US Consulate/Embassy Website:

Link

British Consulate/Embassy Contact Info:

British High Commission, Upper Hill Road, (P.O. Box 30465-00100), Nairobi; Tel., +254-20-284-4000; Email, nairobi.bhc@gmail.com

British Consulate/Embassy Website:

Link

Canadian Consulate/Embassy Contact Info:

High Commission of Canada, Limuru Road, Gigiri, (P.O. Box 1013-00621 Nairobi, Kenya; Tel., +254-20-366-3000; Email, nrobi@international.gc.ca

Canadian Consulate/Embassy Website:

Link

Daily Life

Primary Language, other:

English and Kiswahili are both official languages.

Secondary Languages:

More than 60 languages are spoken in Kenya, three major ones are Kikuyu, Dholuo and Luhya, with each corresponding to a major tribe.
Arabic colloquialisms and Arabic in general are spreading throughout Kenya.
English is the most common international lingua franca, but Kiswahili is spoken as a first language among the Kikuyu tribe, the majority population. Due to the large number of languages in Kenya, however, there is no one language that is universally understood.

Currency:

Shillings

National Dish:

Ugali the local name for corn bread is made of ground maize flour mixed with water and mingled to form solid dough is the national dish. It is eaten by all Kenyans and is normally served with ‘matumbo’ the intestines of a cow or goat, a local delicacy that must be eaten hot. Smoked fish in coconut sauce might be served with ugali. Most meals will come with a side dish of sukuma wiki a vegetable that tastes like spinach or Kachumbari a salad made of diced tomatoes, onions and coriander.

National Beverage:

Tusker the ubiquitous beer will accompany a meal in the evenings. Potent gins brewed from sugar canes and bananas are available, but the best advice is to stick to frothy beverages. Age restrictions exist in name but they are rarely enforced.

Legal Drinking Age:

Legal Driving Age:

Driving Rules:

drive with your national license
international driver’s license required
drive on left side of road
other

Driving Rules, other:

The roads can be in very bad condition and many vehicles are poorly maintained making it dangerous to drive in rural parts of Kenya.

Tipping Customs:

Foreign guests normally tip but it is not mandatory particularly away from the coast and cities. Some hotels and restaurants include a 10% service charge.

Travel

Vaccines Required:

yellow fever

Vaccines Recommended:

hepatitis A
hepatitis B
meningococcal (meningitis)
polio
rabies
typhoid

Health Concerns:

anthrax
cholera
malaria
tuberculosis

Health Concerns, other:

There are frequent and periodical outbreaks of cholera and malaria outside of Nairobi.

Ebola, Rift Valley Fever and anthrax from handling sheep skins also occur frequently.

Tuberculosis is becoming an increasing risk in Kenya

Visa Information:

Both visas and passports are required when visiting Kenya. It is possible for a US citizen to get an airport Visa, although this may cause delays. A permit is required for journalists who work in Kenya. The Media Council of Kenya provides this accreditation to foreign correspondents who must pay $100 to be able to report in Kenya.

Immigration Office:

Director of Immigration Services, Nyayo House (PO Box 30191 - 00100), Nairobi, Kenya: Tel., +254-20-222022; Fax, +254-20-220731; Email, dis@immigration.go.ke, URL, http://www.immigration.go.ke/

Immigration Policy:

One can become a Kenyan citizen if: 1) Are married to a citizen of Kenya (this only applies to women). 2) You can prove one of your parents was a Kenyan citizen. 3) Naturalization: which requires you to have resided in Kenya for 12 months prior to the application and can prove that you have been a resident of Kenya for four to five years prior to the 12-month period. You must have a certificate of good conduct, an adequate knowledge of the Kiswahili language. You must also intend to reside in Kenya after receiving naturalization.

Passport Office:

Passport office, On the ground floor, North Wing ,Nyayo House, P.O.Box 30191, Nairobi; Tel., +254-20-2222022

Communications

Communications, additional information:

Safaricom is the most reliable with more that 16 million subscribers and footprints in Uganda and Tanzania. It uses 3G technology and provides high speed Internet service to a large area. ...... Airtel with approximately 2.9 million subscribers is the second most reliable network. It has a presence in three East African countries but does not have reliable high speed Internet and still operates on 2G technology. ...... YU has about 1.4 million subscribers and no significant presence outside Kenya. It still operates on 2G technologies and does not have high speed Internet available. YU with about 1.4 million subscribers, YU has no significant presence outside Kenya. It still operates on 2G technologies and does not have high speed Internet available.

Mobile Networks:

CDMA
EDGE
GSM

Phone Country Code:

254

Political History

Capital City:

Nairobi

Ruling Party:

Party of National Unity (PNU), Founded by President Mwai Kibaki in 2007 as a coalition party and a replacement of sorts for the founding party of Kenya, NARC.

Minority Parties:

Orange Democratic Movement, the party of Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga
Although Kenya is technically a multi-party state, the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement have grown so powerful that serious politicians must be affiliated with one or the other.

Country Leaders

Primary Imports:

Machinery and transportation equipment
Crude petroleum
Motor vehicles
Iron and steel
Resins and plastics

Primary Exports:

Tea
Coffee
Horticultural products
Petroleum products

Religious/Tribal Clans Demographics:

The largest tribe in Kenya is the Kikuyu and President Kibaki is a member of that tribe. The Kikuyu tribe have dominated modern Kenyan politics for years and it was in a large part because of the marginalization of Kenya’s large minority tribes that Kenya was involved in such a violent conflict between 2007 and 2008. Prime Minister Odinga who led the opposition party in 2007 hails from the Luo tribe, which is another very large tribe in Kenya, and his platform was largely based on tribal dissatisfaction. The current coalition government between Odinga and Kibaki (established in 2008 to stop the violence) suffers from tribal fractures and create tensions in the state. The other major tribes in Kenya are the Luo, the Massai, and the Kamba. There are more than 40 distinct tribes in Kenya.

Kenya

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