Trade centers such as Mombasa have existed along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coastlines, known as the Land of Zanj, since at least the 2nd century. These centers traded with the outside world, including China, India, Indonesia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Persia. By around the 9th century, the mix of Africans, Arabs, and Persians who lived and traded there became known as Swahili (“people of the coast”) with a distinct language (KiSwahili) and culture. The Portuguese arrived in the 1490s and, using Mombasa as a base, sought to monopolize trade in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese were pushed out in the late 1600s by the combined forces of Oman and Pate, an island off the coast. In 1890, Germany and the UK divided up the region, with the UK taking the north and the Germans the south, including present-day Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda. The British established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which in 1920 was converted into a colony and named Kenya after its highest mountain. Numerous political disputes between the colony and the UK subsequently led to the violent Mau Mau Uprising, which began in 1952, and the eventual declaration of independence in 1963.
land: 569,140 sq km
water: 11,227 sq km
border countries (5): Ethiopia 867 km; Somalia 684 km; South Sudan 317 km; Tanzania 775 km; Uganda 814 km
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
mean elevation: 762 m
arable land: 9.8% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 37.4% (2018 est.)
forest: 6.1% (2018 est.)
other: 45.8% (2018 est.)
salt water lake(s): Lake Turkana (shared with Ethiopia) - 6,400 sq km
57,052,004 (2023 est.)
noun: Kenyan(s)
adjective: Kenyan
Kikuyu 17.1%, Luhya 14.3%, Kalenjin 13.4%, Luo 10.7%, Kamba 9.8%, Somali 5.8%, Kisii 5.7%, Mijikenda 5.2%, Meru 4.2%, Maasai 2.5%, Turkana 2.1%, non-Kenyan 1%, other 8.2% (2019 est.)
English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. (English)
The World Factbook, Chanzo cha Lazima Kuhusu Habari ya Msingi. (Kiswahili)
Christian 85.5% (Protestant 33.4%, Catholic 20.6%, Evangelical 20.4%, African Instituted Churches 7%, other Christian 4.1%), Muslim 10.9%, other 1.8%, none 1.6%, don’t know/no answer 0.2% (2019 est.)
Kenya has experienced dramatic population growth since the mid-20th century as a result of its high birth rate and its declining mortality rate. Almost 40% of Kenyans are under the age of 15 as of 2020 because of sustained high fertility, early marriage and childbearing, and an unmet need for family planning. Kenya’s persistent rapid population growth strains the labor market, social services, arable land, and natural resources. Although Kenya in 1967 was the first Sub-Saharan country to launch a nationwide family planning program, progress in reducing the birth rate has largely stalled since the late 1990s, when the government decreased its support for family planning to focus on the HIV epidemic. Government commitment and international technical support spurred Kenyan contraceptive use, decreasing the fertility rate (children per woman) from about 8 in the late 1970s to less than 5 children twenty years later, but it has plateaued at about 3 children as of 2022.Kenya is a source of emigrants and a host country for refugees. In the 1960s and 1970s, Kenyans pursued higher education in the UK because of colonial ties, but as British immigration rules tightened, the US, the then Soviet Union, and Canada became attractive study destinations. Kenya’s stagnant economy and political problems during the 1980s and 1990s led to an outpouring of Kenyan students and professionals seeking permanent opportunities in the West and southern Africa. Nevertheless, Kenya’s relative stability since its independence in 1963 has attracted hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping violent conflicts in neighboring countries; Kenya was sheltering nearly 280,000 Somali refugees as of 2022.
0-14 years: 36.45% (male 10,447,425/female 10,349,611)
15-64 years: 60.26% (male 17,196,347/female 17,185,035)
65 years and over: 3.28% (2023 est.) (male 855,757/female 1,017,829)
total dependency ratio: 70.2
youth dependency ratio: 65.3
elderly dependency ratio: 4.8
potential support ratio: 20.7 (2021 est.)
total: 20.9 years (2023 est.)
male: 20.8 years
female: 21 years
2.09% (2023 est.)
26 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
population heavily concentrated in the west along the shore of Lake Victoria; other areas of high density include the capital of Nairobi, and in the southeast along the Indian Ocean coast as shown in this
urban population: 29.5% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 4.09% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
5.325 million NAIROBI (capital), 1.440 million Mombassa (2023)
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
20.3 years (2014 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
530 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 26.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 29.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 23.9 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 70 years (2023 est.)
male: 68.3 years
female: 71.8 years
3.23 children born/woman (2023 est.)
1.6 (2023 est.)
64.6% (2020)
improved: urban: 91.3% of population
rural: 63.3% of population
total: 71.2% of population
unimproved: urban: 8.7% of population
rural: 36.7% of population
total: 28.8% of population (2020 est.)
4.3% of GDP (2020)
0.16 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
improved: urban: 84% of population
rural: 48.1% of population
total: 58.2% of population
unimproved: urban: 16% of population
rural: 51.9% of population
total: 41.8% of population (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and Rift Valley fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Asia; Israel is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
7.1% (2016)
total: 1.68 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 11.1% (2020 est.)
male: 19.5% (2020 est.)
female: 2.7% (2020 est.)
10.1% (2022)
56.8% (2023 est.)
4.8% of GDP (2021 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.6%
male: 85.5%
female: 79.8% (2021)
water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; water shortage and degraded water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; flooding; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior
agricultural land: 48.1% (2018 est.)
arable land: 9.8% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 37.4% (2018 est.)
forest: 6.1% (2018 est.)
other: 45.8% (2018 est.)
urban population: 29.5% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 4.09% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies: due to drought conditions - about 4.4 million people were projected to be severely acutely food insecure between October and December 2022 reflecting consecutive poor rainy seasons since late 2020 that affected crop and livestock production; prices of maize are at high levels across the country due to reduced availabilities and high fuel prices inflating production and transportation costs (2023)
1.3% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 12.52 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 17.91 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 37.65 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 5,595,099 tons (2010 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 447,608 tons (2009 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 8% (2009 est.)
fresh water lake(s): Lake Victoria (shared with Tanzania and Uganda) - 62,940 sq km
salt water lake(s): Lake Turkana (shared with Ethiopia) - 6,400 sq km
Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 sq km)
Ogaden-Juba Basin
municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 300 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 3.23 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
30.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
fast growing, third largest Sub-Saharan economy; strong agriculture and emerging services and tourism industries; current account deficit and high debt; broadband and mobile-money platform investments; surging inflation due to oil and food hikes; new investor-friendly incentives; environmentally fragile economy
$251.431 billion (2021 est.)
$233.852 billion (2020 est.)
$234.438 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
7.52% (2021 est.)
-0.25% (2020 est.)
5.11% (2019 est.)
$4,700 (2021 est.)
$4,500 (2020 est.)
$4,600 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$95.52 billion (2019 est.)
6.11% (2021 est.)
5.4% (2020 est.)
5.24% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: B+ (2007)
Moody’s rating: B2 (2018)
Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2010)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 34.5% (2017 est.)
industry: 17.8% (2017 est.)
services: 47.5% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 79.5% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 14.3% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 18.9% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: -1% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 13.9% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -25.5% (2017 est.)
milk, tea, beef, maize, sugar cane, tomatoes, mangoes/guavas, potatoes, beans, bananas
agriculture, transportation, services, manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, tourism, retail
7.17% (2021 est.)
23.915 million (2021 est.)
5.74% (2021 est.)
5.73% (2020 est.)
5.01% (2019 est.)
total: 13.8% (2021 est.)
male: 12.8%
female: 14.9%
36.1% (2015 est.)
40.8 (2015 est.)
on food: 52.9% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 4.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 37.8% (2005)
revenues: $16.885 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $24.271 billion (2019 est.)
-6.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
54.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
53.2% of GDP (2016 est.)
14.3% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
1 July - 30 June
-$5.744 billion (2021 est.)
-$4.792 billion (2020 est.)
-$5.258 billion (2019 est.)
$11.825 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$9.709 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$11.471 billion (2019 est.)
Uganda 14%, Pakistan 8%, Netherlands 8%, United States 8%, United Kingdom 7% (2020)
tea, cut flowers, coffee, refined petroleum, titanium (2021)
$21.853 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$17.717 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$20.408 billion (2019 est.)
China 27%, India 11%, United Arab Emirates 7%, Japan 4%, Saudi Arabia 3% (2020)
refined petroleum, palm oil, broadcasting equipment, packaged medicines, cars (2020)
$9.491 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$8.297 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$9.116 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$29.289 billion (2019 est.)
$25.706 billion (2018 est.)
Kenyan shillings (KES) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
109.638 (2021 est.)
106.451 (2020 est.)
101.991 (2019 est.)
101.302 (2018 est.)
103.41 (2017 est.)
population without electricity: 12 million (2020)
electrification - total population: 76.5% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 97.5% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 68.1% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 3.304 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 8.243 billion kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 16 million kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 277 million kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 2.724 billion kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 8.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 10.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 32.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 46.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 821,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 822,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 116,400 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)
13,960 bbl/day (2015 est.)
173 bbl/day (2015 est.)
90,620 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
17.709 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 1.25 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 16.459 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
6.31 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 25 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 188
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 5,935,831 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 294.97 million (2018) mt-km
5Y
197 (2021)
16
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
181
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
4 km oil, 1,432 km refined products (2018)
total: 3,819 km (2018)
standard gauge: 485 km (2018) 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 3,334 km (2018) 1.000-m gauge
total: 161,452 km (2018)
paved: 14,420 km (2017) (8,500 km highways, 1,872 urban roads, and 4,048 rural roads)
unpaved: 147,032 km (2017)
(2011) none specifically; the only significant inland waterway is the part of Lake Victoria within the boundaries of Kenya; Kisumu is the main port and has ferry connections to Uganda and Tanzania
total: 25 (2022)
by type: oil tanker 3, other 22
major seaport(s): Kisumu, Mombasa
LNG terminal(s) (import): Mombasa
manyapis