Language: English, Swahili
Currency: Kenyan Shilling (KES)
Calling call: +254
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (in
Swahili: Jamhuri and Kenya, in English, Republic of Kenya), is an
East African country, which borders Ethiopia to the north, Somalia
to the east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west and South
Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean batheing its southeast
coast. Lake Victoria is located to the southwest and is shared with
Uganda and Tanzania. Its capital is Nairobi. The country extends
over 580 367 km² in area and its population is 39 million people
with people from many cultures and origins. The name of the country
is named after Mount Kenya, a traditional place in the country and
the second highest mountain in Africa. Kenya is also known for its
biodiversity in animals and a wide variety of ecosystems. Kenya has
47 districts, each with a semi-autonomous government with respect to
the central government of Nairobi. Geographically, Kenya is divided
into several areas with a very variable demography, with areas of
savannas, arid and semi-arid, and a large coast with the Indian
Ocean. The central regions and the west have forests and mountains,
while the northern regions are more arid.
As part of East
Africa, Kenya has been home to man since the Early Paleolithic. The
Bantu expansion reached the area in the first millennium before our
era, and the limits of the modern state include the steps of the
linguistic and cultural areas of the Nile-Saharan, Afro-Asian and
Bantu, so Kenya has been a multiethnic country from its origins. The
European and Arab presence in Mombasa goes back to the principles of
the Modern Age, but the exploration of the interior began in the
19th century. The British Empire established the East African
Protectorate in 1895, known as the Kenya Colony since 1920. The
Independent Republic of Kenya was established in 1963.
The
capital of Kenya, Nairobi, is a city of great commercial importance
in Africa. The economy of Kenya is also the largest gross domestic
product in the East and Central Africa. The country has been a
traditional producer of tea and coffee, and more recently has been
dedicated to the export of cut flowers to Europe. More and more
Kenya is devoting itself to the telecommunications industry. Kenya
is also a world power in sport, giving the best athletes as the
champion Paul Tergat and more recently David Rudisha.
Amboseli National Park is situated 230 km (142 mi) South of Nairobi in Kajiado District, Rift Valley Province in Kenya.
Arabuko Sokoke National Park is located 110 km North of Mombasa in Kenya. This Kenyan national park covers an area of 6 km².
Chyulu Hills National Park were formed 1.4 million years ago due to volcanic activity. The last eruption occurred in the middle of the 19th century.
Fort Jesus was constructed in 1593 on the orders of king of Philip II of Spain also known as king Philip I of Portugal. It is located on the strategic grounds and served in defence of the ships stationed in the harbor.
Hell's Gate National Park is located 100 km (60 mi) West of Nairobi in Kenya. Hell's Gate National Park covers an area of 68.25 km².
Jumba la Mtwana is a located 15 km North of Mobasa in Kenya. Jumba la Mtwana is a an archaeological site of a fifteenth century slave trade port on the shore of an Indian Ocean.
Kakamega Forest is a large expanse of untouched biosphere located in a Western Province of Kenya. Kakamega Forest covers an area of 230 sq km.
Kimana Wildlife Sanctuary is a nature reserve located 30 km (19 mi) Southeast of Amboseli in Kenya.
Lake Baringo is a freshwater lake situated in a Rift Valley in Kenya. Lake Baringo covers an area of 50 mi² (130 km²).
Lake Chala is situated 8 km north of Taveta on the border between Kenya and Tanzania on the Eastern side of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Lake Magadi is situated in the Kenyan Rift Valley in Kenya. Lake Magadi covers an area of 100 km². It is famous for a large population of pink flamingos that nest here in great numbers.
The name of Lake Naivasha come from a local Maasai language as "rough water". This name is given due to sudden changes of weather that turn to violent storms.
Lake Nakuru National Park is a nature reserve situated 160 km (100 mi) North of Nairobi in Kenya. The name of the lake literally means "Dust or Dusty Place".
Lamu Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean situated just off the coast of Kenya. It includes Lamu, Manda, Pate, Kiwayu islands.
Mara River is a river that flows through Kenya and Tanzania. It is famous as a crossing site of antelopes, zebras and many species of large game that migrate through the region.
Nairobi is the largest city Kenya as well as its capital. Kenyan capital became famous in 1998. On August 7th it became the site of a terrorist attack against American embassy that took lives of 223 people.
Nairobi National Park is a nature reserve situate 7 km (4 mi) South of Nairobi capital of Kenya. This protected biosphere is the first national park and protects an area of 117 km2 (45 sq mi).
Nguruman Escarpment is situated 140 km (87 mi) South of Nairobi in Kenya. Escarpment is a term that describes geologic formation of a long cliff that forms when two level plates move pass one another.
Olorgesailie Prehistoric Site is situated 65 km (40 mi) South of Nairobi in Kenya. It is famous archaeological site of ancient human settlements that date back to the Lower Palaeolithic Period (over 300,000 years ago).
Ruins of Gedi is an archaeological site situated 1 km (1/2 mi) North of Watamu in Kenya. Gedi is a medieval town was an important trade center along the ocean sea.
Shimba Hills National Reserve is a biosphere reserve situated 55 km (34 mi) South of Mombasa in Kenya. Shimba Hills National Reserve covers an area of 193 km2 (74.33 sq mi).
Shimoni Slave Caves are situated near Shimoni in South eastern Kenya on the border with Tanzania. It was an important port city on the shore of the Indian Ocean.
Tsavo National Park Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks are two protected areas situated 230 km (143 km) Southeast of Nairobi in Kenya. The line that divides these two expanses of protected biosphere is the road A109
The country is named after Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kere Nyaga ("mountain" or "white mountain").
Antiquity
Kenya is located on the territory,
which, according to many scientists, is the ancestral home of
mankind. There, on the eastern coast of Lake Rudolf, tools and
remains of the ancestors of people who supposedly lived about 3
million years ago in Lomekvi were found.
Much later, the
territory of Kenya was inhabited by people close in their features
to the current Ethiopian race. Also there lived tribes of the
Khoisan (now South African) racial type. Later, the Negroid
Bantu-speaking tribes came from the west, the ancestors of the
modern Pokomo, Swahili and Mijikenda.
In the 7th-8th
centuries, Swahili trading centers began to form on the coast of
Kenya (Lamu, Manda, Pate (German), Malindi, Mombasa, etc.). They
were engaged in intermediary trade between the hinterland of Africa
with India and Arabia. Iron, gold, ivory, rhinoceros horn, slaves
were exported from Africa, and metal weapons, handicrafts, fabrics
were imported.
Middle Ages
In 1498, ships of the
Portuguese expedition under the command of Vasco da Gama, who were
looking for a sea route to India, sailed to the coast of Kenya. At
the beginning of the 16th century, the Portuguese captured many port
cities on the coast of Kenya to use them as waypoints on their way
to India.
However, in the middle of the 17th century, the
rulers of the Sultanate of Oman began to expel the Portuguese from
Kenya. By 1699, the Omani Imam Sultan ibn Saif had finally taken
possession of Mombasa and expelled the Portuguese from the entire
coast. The rulers of Oman put in power their deputies from local
residents who claimed to be of Arab origin.
19th century
By the beginning of the 19th century, the slave trade had become the
backbone of Kenya's economy. One of the main routes of Arab slave
traders in East Africa ran from Mombasa to the African state of
Vanga.
At the beginning of the 19th century, separatist
tendencies arose in Mombasa - the Swahili Mazrui dynasty sought
independence from the sultans of Zanzibar and established its
dominion over the entire coast of East Africa.
In 1824, the
Mazrui took over the British protectorate over Mombasa. However,
this did not help them. In 1828, the Sultan of Zanzibar sent a fleet
to Mombasa and defeated the troops of Mazrui. The war continued
until 1837, ending with the victory of the Sultan of Zanzibar. All
members of the Mazrui family were sent as slaves to Oman.
Since 1846, Christian missionaries have appeared in Kenya, first on
the coast, and then in the central regions.
Since the 1870s,
East Africa has become the object of rivalry between the European
powers, primarily Britain and Germany. In 1886, they concluded an
agreement on the division of East Africa, according to which the
territory of present-day Kenya entered the British sphere of
influence.
In 1890, Britain and Germany concluded the
so-called Helgoland Treaty, according to which the British gave
Germany the island of Heligoland off its northern coast, recognized
Germany's rights to Tanganyika (the mainland of modern Tanzania),
and in return received rights to Kenya and Zanzibar.
Since
1890, the British began to intensively develop the fertile lands in
the interior of Kenya, founding a "white" settlement colony. Already
in 1897-1901, a railway and a communication line from Mombasa to
Lake Victoria were built. The British settlers created large
plantation farms, including for the production of export crops -
tea, coffee, sisal. The British created enterprises for the
processing of agricultural products, the production of consumer
goods, infrastructure, and so on.
20th century
At the
beginning of the 20th century, British immigration to Kenya
intensified. In 1902, in the administrative center of the East
African protectorate of Nairobi, British settlers created the first
public organization - the Colonists' Association. In 1906, under the
British governor, two councils were formed - the Executive and the
Legislative, which included only whites.
In 1907, by order of
the British governor in Kenya, slavery, traditionally practiced by
local African tribes, was prohibited.
Since the 20th century,
Islam began to spread on the coast of Kenya.
During the First
World War, the British authorities mobilized about 200,000 Kenyans
into the army, mainly as military cargo carriers, but several
thousand locals (as part of the Royal African Rifle Corps) took a
direct part in the hostilities against German troops in East Africa.
Since 1927, elected representatives of Arabs and Asians (mainly
from South Asia) entered the Legislative Council, Kenyans received
first place in the Legislative Council only in 1944, at the same
time the Kenya Africans Association was created (since 1946 - the
Union of Africans of Kenya, SAK) , the first mass political
organization in the country to lead the liberation struggle. The SAC
program contained the following basic requirements: the transfer of
political power to Africans, the guarantee of the rights of all
racial minorities and the elimination of racial discrimination, the
satisfaction of Africans' need for land, the free activity of trade
unions, and the immediate holding of elections.
In 1949, the East African Congress of Trade Unions
(WAKP) was created, uniting Negro and Indian workers for the first time.
The strike movement intensified. In May 1950, a general strike took
place in Nairobi in response to the arrest of WACP leaders.
In
October 1952, the Mau Mau rebellion broke out in Kenya. In this regard,
a state of emergency was introduced in the country. The colonial
authorities arrested 86 SAC leaders, including SAC chairman (since 1947)
Jomo Kenyatta. On a false charge of leading the "terrorist organization"
Mau-Mau "" Kenyatta and 5 other leaders of the SAC in April 1953 were
sentenced to 7 years in prison each, in June the SAC was banned. In
1959, it was revealed that police had bribed witnesses to indict and
convict Kenyatta and other SAC leaders.
The Mau Mau uprising was
mainly attended by the Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru tribes. According to some
estimates, the partisan army reached 30 or even 50 thousand fighters.
This army was led by 32-year-old Dedan Wachiuri Kimati from the Kikuyu
tribe, who had experience in the British army.
Mau Mau
guerrillas, armed with small arms, as well as spears, bows and knives,
attacked local police stations, killed blacks who worked for the
British, looted and burned the farms of English settlers.
Even
according to official figures, by 1955 more than 11 thousand Africans
were killed, more than 60 thousand were in concentration camps. Fleeing
from punitive expeditions, the population fled to the mountains and
created partisan detachments. Hard-to-reach forest areas in the
mountains of Kenya and Aberdare became the main centers of resistance.
In 1956, the Mau Mau partisans were defeated, most of their
commanders were killed or captured, including the commander-in-chief
Kimati, who was executed.
Also in 1956, Africans were granted
limited voting rights.
On January 12, 1960, the colonial
authorities, seeking to impose pacification, lifted the state of
emergency and allowed the formation of African political parties. In
March 1961, elections were held (based on a constitution that came into
force in February 1961) to the Legislative Council, which brought a
majority to the National Union of Africans of Kenya - KANU (23 seats)
created in 1960 and the Democratic Union of Africans of Kenya - KADU (16
places). Although both parties were in favor of granting independence,
significant disagreements arose between them, primarily on issues of the
state structure of the country after independence. KANU (enjoyed the
support of the two largest ethnic groups of the population - Kikuyu and
Luo) advocated a unitary state, and KADU (expressed the interests of the
coastal peoples and the small pastoral population of the highlands) for
a federal one. After the elections, the leaders of KADU, violating the
agreement with KANU on the refusal to form a government until the
liberation of Kenyatta, entered the new government.
In August
1961, under the pressure of mass demonstrations, Kenyatta was released
(since 1959, after the end of his prison term, he was in exile in the
north of the country), and at the end of October he took over as
chairman of KANU.
In February-April 1962, a conference was held
in London to consider the draft of a new constitution. During the work
of the conference and subsequent negotiations, decisions were made to
divide the country into 7 provinces with significant autonomy for the
provincial authorities.
In May 1963, on the basis of a new
constitution, elections were held for the National Assembly, which
brought victory to the KANU party; the KADU party was defeated (in
November 1964, its self-dissolution was announced). On June 1, 1963, the
country received internal self-government. Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya's
first prime minister.
At a conference held in London in
September-October 1963, at the insistence of the KANU delegation,
changes were made to the constitution that expanded the powers of the
central government. The liberation struggle of the Kenyans forced the
British government to agree to the granting of independence.
period of independence
In December 1963, Kenya became an independent
state, and in December 1964 it was proclaimed a republic.
The
first ruler of Kenya was a veteran of the struggle for independence,
72-year-old Jomo Kenyatta, who back in May 1963 put forward a program
for building an "African democratic socialist Kenya." The main point of
the program was "Africanization", that is, the displacement of
non-Negroes from the sphere of government and the economy. In the field
of agriculture, a policy was pursued of creating collective farms of
Negroes on lands taken from whites.
On December 12, 1964, Kenya
was declared a republic. The prerogatives of local government were
curtailed and the country became a centralized state.
A plan was
launched to buy 480,000 hectares of land from European settlers and
settle more than 1 million Africans on this land. On part of the land,
the first state farms and cooperatives were created.
After the death of 87-year-old Kenyatta in August
1978, Daniel arap Moi, who served as Minister of the Interior, became
the ruler of Kenya. In 1982, he officially established a one-party
regime in the country (in fact, it has existed since 1969).
The
country has repeatedly experienced outbreaks of inter-ethnic conflicts,
in 1963-1968 the insurgency of ethnic Somalis was on a large scale, in
1969 there were bloody wars between the Kikuyu and Luo, and in the 1990s
there was a sluggish inter-ethnic conflict with political overtones.
Overall, however, the country was considered very stable in this
respect.
In 1969, the only opposition party, the Kenya People's
Union, was banned. And the country de facto became one-party.
In
the 1970s, Kenya faced a number of difficulties, inflation increased,
crime exploded, and the flow of tourists sharply decreased.
On
August 1, 1982, there was an attempted coup d'état organized by former
Vice President O. Odinga, his son (Prime Minister since 2008) R. Odinga
and junior Air Force officers led by H. Ochuka. The leaders were later
executed.
In 1991, Moi, under internal and external pressure,
agreed to the liberalization of the regime and the creation of
opposition parties. However, he remained in power until the end of 2002,
taking advantage of the fragmented opposition and ethnic disunity in the
country.
Since 2003, the economy has been gradually improving.
This growth continued until the end of 2007. But many of Kenya's recent
achievements have been called into question by the new inter-ethnic
crisis that began after the presidential elections at the end of 2007.
In September 2013, a major fire broke out in Nairobi.
Geographical position
The state borders with
Ethiopia in the north, Somalia in the east, Tanzania in the
southwest, Uganda in the west and South Sudan in the northwest. The
total length of the state border is 3477 km: with Ethiopia - 861 km,
with Somalia - 682 km, South Sudan - 232 km, with Tanzania - 769 km
and with Uganda - 933 km. From the southeast it is washed by the
waters of the Indian Ocean, in the west by Lake Victoria, the length
of the coastline is 536 km. The area of Kenya is 582,650 km², of
which 11,230 km² is water surface. The maximum length is 1131 km in
the direction from southeast to northwest and 1025 km - northeast to
southwest. The equator runs roughly through the center of the
country.
Relief, inland waters, minerals, soils
Kenya is
divided into the following geographical areas: the Lake Victoria
Basin, the East African Rift Valley and its associated highlands,
the eastern plateaus, the semi-arid and arid areas in the north and
south, and the coast.
The largest lake is Victoria in the
western part of the country.
The country is rich in various
minerals. The bowels of the country contain reserves of gold,
barites, rubies, limestone. In March 2012, the British oil
exploration company Tullow Oil plc announced the discovery of oil
reserves in the northwest of the country.
Animal world
Almost all the main classes of animals living in Kenya are
distinguished by diversity. As of the beginning of the 21st century,
465 species of mammals, 633 species of birds, 57 species of
butterflies, more than 450 species of reptiles and more than 11
species of amphibians have been recorded here. At the same time, 39%
of mammals and 36% of birds are endemic.
Of particular
interest is the famous African "big five" - 5 animals that the
continent is famous for. Among them: a lion, an elephant, a
rhinoceros, a buffalo and a leopard. Hunting them is strictly
prohibited.
Many animals are endangered, and the populations
of some species are declining at a very rapid pace.
Fundamentals of the state system
Kenya is a unitary
presidential republic. The basic law of the state is the constitution
adopted in 2010.
The main institutions of Kenyan statehood were
formed in the first years of the country's independent development. At
the same time, significant changes were made to the legal basis for
their functioning during the large-scale liberal democratic reforms of
the late 1990s and early 2000s. The main results of the reforms were the
withdrawal of the armed forces from political activity, the introduction
of a real multi-party system and direct presidential elections in the
country, and an increase in the role of the legislative authorities.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the country in 2018
was classified on the Democracy Index as a hybrid regime.
executive branch
The head of state is the president. Since March
2013, the President of Kenya is Uhuru Kenyatta.
The first Prime
Minister of the Republic of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, was in office from
June 1, 1963 to December 12, 1964, after which the post of Prime
Minister in Kenya was abolished until 2008. On February 28, 2008, Kenyan
President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga signed an agreement to form a
coalition government in which Odinga became the second prime minister in
Kenya's history.
In March 2013, presidential elections were held
in Kenya, in which Uhuru Kenyatta won the first round (50.07%). Rival
Uhuru Kenyatta in the elections was Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who
received more than 40% of the vote.
Legislature
The
legislative body of the Republic of Kenya is the unicameral National
Assembly (until 2010). With the adoption of the new Constitution in
2010, Parliament became bicameral, consisting of an upper house, the
Senate, and a lower house, the National Assembly.
Kenya has diplomatic relations with the Russian
Federation (established with the USSR on December 14, 1963).
From
the first years of statehood, independence and activity, as well as
equidistance from confrontational blocs, have been declared as the main
principles of Kenya's foreign policy. Since the mid-1980s, regional
cooperation has occupied the most important place in Kenya's scale of
foreign policy priorities. The main goal of the government's
international activity at present is to create favorable external
conditions for the socio-economic development of Kenya, its formation as
a democratic country, as well as to promote the construction of a
multipolar world order.
The territory of Kenya until 2013 was divided into 8 provinces and 71 districts. Since March 2013, it has been divided into 47 districts.
Number, resettlement
The population is 46 million
(2016 estimate).
Annual growth - 3.88% (2016);
Birth rate
- 35 per 1000 (fertility - 4.4 births per woman, infant mortality - 53
per 1000);
Mortality - 9 per 1000;
Nairobi is the capital
and largest city of Kenya with a population of over 3.1 million.
Average life expectancy - 58.8 years (58 years for men, 59 years for
women);
Infection with the immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - 6.7%
(2003 estimate).
National composition
According to the CIA
Fact Book, the following ethnic groups are represented in Kenya: Kikuyu
- 22%, Luhya - 14%, Luo - 13%, Kalenjin - 12%, Kamba - 11%, Kisii - 6%,
Meru 6%, other Africans - 15 %, non-Africans (Indians, British, Arabs) -
1%.
Languages
The official languages are English and
Swahili, local languages are spoken. English is taught in schools and
all government documents are drafted. Most of the population knows
Swahili - the language of interethnic communication based on Bantu
dialects with a large number of Arabic borrowings. According to
Ethnologue, 69 languages are spoken in Kenya.
Literacy: 90%
male, 80% female (2003 est.).
Religious composition
Religions:
Christians - 82.5%, Muslims - 11.1%, aboriginal cults - 1.7%, other -
2.2%, atheists - 2.5%.
Cathedral in Mombasa
The majority
of Kenyans are Christians (82.5%), of which 47.4% consider themselves
Protestants, 23.3% - Catholics, 1.4% - Orthodox. Other Christian
organizations (including the New Apostolic Church, Seventh-day Adventist
Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, United Pentecostal Church) account for
10.4%. Notably, Kenya has the largest number of Quakers in the world, at
around 133,000. Other Protestant groups include Pentecostals
(Pentecostal Assemblies of God and Kenya Assemblies of God), Anglicans,
Lutherans, Salvation Army, Presbyterians, Methodists, and others.
Kenya is the regional center of trade and finance in
Africa. GDP per capita, calculated at purchasing power parity (in 2011)
- $ 1,750 (151st in the world). The unemployment rate is 40% (in 2008).
Agriculture (75% of employees, 22% of GDP) - tea, coffee, corn,
cereals, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables. Meat and dairy farming, pigs and
chickens are also bred.
Industry (16% of GDP) - consumer goods
(batteries, fabrics, soap, cigarettes) are produced in small quantities,
agricultural products are processed. Several oil refineries, cement
production, and ship repair shops have survived from colonial times.
Services - 62% of GDP.
Kenya is an agrarian country with a
relatively high level of diversified agriculture, so the mining industry
is underdeveloped and plays a minor role in the economy and the overall
structure of the country's economic activity, although the country is
rich in minerals. Gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006 amounted to 21.2
billion dollars. (604 dollars per capita), with agriculture providing
28% of GDP, services - 55%, and industry - 17%. The mining industry can
mainly be characterized by the extraction of soda (in the area of Lake
Magadi), fluorite, table salt, gold and rubies. At the initiative of the
large and wealthy European community in Kenya, the development of the
manufacturing industry began in the late 1940s and 1950s. As a result,
in the early 1980s, Kenya was the most industrialized country in East
Africa. The main manufacturing industries: food, textile, printing,
clothing, car assembly, oil refining, chemical, mechanical engineering,
production of alcoholic beverages, automotive spare parts, cement, paper
and metal products. The main industrial centers are Nairobi and Mombasa.
Large industrial enterprises are located in different parts of the
country, for example, a paper mill in Webuya and an oil refinery in
Mombasa, which runs on imported oil.
As of 2017, exports amounted to $6.17 billion, imports
- $17.1 billion.
Main export commodities: tea (22%), flowers
(11%), oil products (4.8%), coffee (4.3%), as well as fruits,
vegetables, tobacco and other agricultural products; re-export
Main buyers: USA - 8.7%, Uganda - 8.2%, Pakistan - 8.2%, Netherlands -
7.5%, UK - 6.7%.
The main imports are petroleum products (14%),
palm oil (3.2%), cars (2.9%), medicines (2.5%) and unrefined sugar
(2.4%), as well as other industrial products. products and agricultural
raw materials.
Main suppliers: China - 23%, India - 9.8%, UAE -
7.4%, Saudi Arabia - 6.1%, Japan - 4.6%, South Africa - 4.5%.
The level of consumption of mineral resources in the country is low - for example, gas is not consumed at all, and, accordingly, is not imported. Oil fields have also not yet been found, so Kenya's need for oil and oil products is met through imports. In 2006, about 2.2 million tons of oil and about 1.1 million tons of oil products were imported. There is almost no demand for lead in the country, and therefore it is not imported. About 15 thousand tons of zinc is used in the country per year, which does not exceed 0.1% of its world consumption. Kenya also imports steel semi-products to ensure the operation of rolling mills. So, in 2001, their imports amounted to 344 thousand tons. In general, we can say that Kenya mainly imports industrial products from economically highly developed countries, such as oil, machine tools, cars, rolled ferrous and non-ferrous metals, synthetic resins, medicines and equipment. Their predominance in imported products can be arranged as follows: oil - 24%, industrial equipment, agricultural machinery and vehicles - 25%, ferrous metals - 7%. Export of finished petroleum products from the country amounted to about 0.4 million tons. Their apparent domestic consumption amounted to about 2.9 million tons (taking into account the bunkering of ships in international sea and air ports). The main exported mineral resources are fluorite, soda, cement, oil products. The main buyers are: Great Britain - 10.2%, the Netherlands - 9.4%, Uganda - 9.1%, Tanzania - 8.9%, USA - 6.4%, Pakistan - 5.7%. Main suppliers: UAE - 11.9%, India - 11.8%, China - 10.3%, Saudi Arabia - 8.3%, South Africa - 5.9%, Japan - 5.3%.
Tourism is one of the main sources of government
revenue.
The wild nature of Kenya attracts tourists from all over
the world. Here you can see a lion hunting for antelope, hippos family
bathing and the world's largest colony of pink flamingos. The vast
territory of Kenya has been a national park for more than 15 years, so
any hunting is strictly prohibited here.
Fans of extreme
recreation come to climb the extinct volcano Kenya.
Internet
A
little more than 20% of the population has access to the Internet,
mainly in large cities. The Internet is being censored.
Music
Kenya has an assortment of popular musical
forms in addition to many types of folk music based on the diversity of
over 40 regional languages.
Museums in Kenya
National Museum
of Kenya
Loiyangalani
Cabarnet Museum (Kabarnet)
Museum of
Kapenguria
Theaters in Kenya
National Theater of Kenya
Cuisine of Kenya
Kenyan cuisine is exotic and varied, ranging from
traditional African dishes to European traditions brought by the
colonists. So, the tribes living along the coast prefer seafood: fish,
shrimp and lobsters, fried on coals. The high cost of meat forces the
local population to eat mainly fruits and vegetables, which grow in
abundance in this region.
National parks and reserves of Kenya
The most famous and visited national parks and reserves in Kenya:
Nairobi (Nairobi National Park);
Masai Mara (Maasai Mara National
Reserve);
Lake Nakuru National Park;
Amboseli (Amboseli National
Park);
East Tsavo (Tsavo East National Park).
In total, there
are 59 national reserves and parks in Kenya.
The spread of European sports among Kenyans began
during the period of British colonization - mainly at the elite level.
The authorities of independent Kenya, as a rule, attached great
importance to the development and popularization of sports, implementing
relevant state programs, in particular, through the structures of the
Ministry of Youth and Sports.
By the 21st century, almost all
summer sports, both men's and women's disciplines, have become
widespread in the country to one degree or another. At the 2008 Summer
Olympics, the Kenyan team won 14 medals, including 6 gold, 4 silver and
4 bronze. Traditionally, the most successful are Kenyan runners,
especially men.
Kenya hosts the world-famous Safari Rally, which
has long been part of the calendar of the World Rally Championship and
was considered one of the most difficult, both for racers and cars.