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Home › Kenya

Kenya country profile

Region: East Africa
Population: 39 million (US Bureau of the Census, 2009)
Capital: Nairobi
Major languages: English, Swahili, Sheng (a mixture of Swahili and English). Other languages include Luo, Turkana and a variety of other tribal languages
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Terrain: Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean in a series of mountain ridges and plateaus. The Rift Valley bisects the country above Nairobi, opening up to a broad arid plain in the north. Highlands cover the south of the country
Climate: Tropical in south, west, and central regions; arid and semi-arid in the north and north-east

 Kenyan goat farmer. AP/Karel Prinsloo

 

Background
 
Kenya is a regional hub in east Africa for finance and trade, although post-election violence in 2008, coupled with the effects of the global financial crisis reduced GDP growth to 2.2% in 2008, down from 7% the previous year.
 
Outside of its urban financial centres, Kenya is a predominately rural country. Agriculture provides employment to 75% of the labour force nationally. There have been repeated droughts in recent decades, the most recent in 2009. The government estimates that at least 10 million Kenyans – one third of the population – is in need of food aid. Wildlife has been severely affected as well.
 
Potential impacts of climate change
 
Scientists predict that climate change will lead to increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns in Kenya, causing more extreme droughts and flooding, and exacerbate the spread of disease, including malaria. These impacts will further complicate the chronic food, water and energy shortages that already affect the lives of most Kenyans.
 
Across the east African coast, sea level rise and coastal erosion threaten the local population and are expected to compound the impact on the tourist industry: a 30% loss of corals has already affected tourism in Mombasa, leading to financial losses of $12-18 million. Those living in Kenya’s cities and regional towns will also be increasingly affected by rural-to-urban migration, which is already stretching public infrastructure to its limits.
 
(Sources: UNDP, CIA World Factbook, WWF, BBC News Online, UNEP, IGAD, UNOCHA, African Centre for Technology Studies, DANIDA)