|
Kenya's climate varies enormously from place to
place. The Rift Valley offers the most agreeable
weather, while the arid bush lands and semi-desert
regions can range from daytime highs of up to 40
degrees Celsius to lows of about 20 degrees Celsius
at night. |
|
English and Swahili are the languages taught throughout
the country, but there are many other tribal languages.
It's extremely useful for the traveler to have a
working knowledge of Swahili, especially outside
the urban areas and in remote parts of the country.
Another language you'll come across is Sheng, spoken
almost exclusively by the younger members of society.
A fairly recent development, Sheng is a mixture
of Swahili and English along with a fair sprinkling
of other languages. |
|
In 1999 Kenya had a labor force of 15.1 million
people. Farming occupies 19 percent of the workers,
most of whom earn their living by subsistence farming.
According to government statistics, the number of
people involved in wage labor totaled about 3 million
in 1993. About half of these laborers earned their
living in what is called the jua kali sector—that
is, through informal employment as mechanics, metalworkers,
or in some other small-scale skilled craft. |
|
The Government of Kenya took some positive steps
on reform, including the 1999 establishment of the
Kenyan Anti-Corruption Authority, and measures to
improve the transparency of government procurements
and reduce the government payroll. In July 2000,
the IMF signed a $150 million Poverty Reduction
and Growth Facility, and the World Bank followed
suit shortly after with a $157 million Economic
and Public Sector Reform credit. By early 2001,
however, the pace of reform appeared to be slowing
again, and the IMF and World Bank programs were
in abeyance as the government failed to meet its
commitments under the programs. |
| Full
country name: |
Republic of Kenya |
Area:
|
583,000 sq km |
| Population:
|
30,766,000 |
| Capital city:
|
Nairobi
|
| People:
|
22% Kikuyu, 14% Luhya, 13% Luo, 12% Kalenjin,
11% Kamba, 6% Kisii, 6% Meru, 16% other |
| Languages: |
English, Swahili, indigenous. |
| Religion:
|
35% Protestant, 30% Roman Catholic, 30%
Muslim, 5% Animist |
| Government:
|
Republic (multiparty state) |
| President
|
Mwai Kibaki |
| GDP: |
US$23.9 billi |
GDP per head:
|
US$360 |
| Annual growth |
1.6% |
Inflation:
|
4.5% |
| Major industries:
|
small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture,
beer, batteries, textiles, flour), agricultural
processing, oil refining, chemicals, cement,
tourism |
| Major trading partners:
|
Uganda, Tanzania, UK, Germany, UAE, South
Africa |
|
