Portal:Kenya
Introduction.svg)  Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country in East Africa. With a population of more than 47.6 million in the 2019 census, Kenya is the 28th-most-populous country in the world and 7th most populous in Africa. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest and second-largest city, is the major port city of Mombasa, situated on Mombasa Island in the Indian Ocean and the surrounding mainland. Mombasa was the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate, which included most of what is now Kenya and southwestern Somalia, from 1889 to 1907. Other important cities include Kisumu and Nakuru. Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast. Kenya's geography, climate and population vary widely, ranging from cold snow-capped mountaintops (Batian, Nelion and Point Lenana on Mount Kenya) with vast surrounding forests, wildlife and fertile agricultural regions to temperate climates in western and rift valley counties and further on to dry less fertile arid and semi-arid areas and absolute deserts (Chalbi Desert and Nyiri Desert). Kenya's earliest inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, like the present-day Hadza people. According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material, Cushitic speakers first settled in Kenya's lowlands between 3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase known as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic. Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) began migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC. Bantu people settled at the coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD. European contact began in 1500 AD with the Portuguese Empire, and effective colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of the interior. Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895 and the subsequent Kenya Colony, which began in 1920. Numerous disputes between the UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution, which began in 1952, and the declaration of independence in 1963. After independence, Kenya remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The current constitution was adopted in 2010 and replaced the 1963 independence constitution. Kenya is a presidential representative democratic republic, in which elected officials represent the people and the president is the head of state and government. Kenya is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, COMESA, International Criminal Court, as well as other international organisations. With a GNI of 1,840, Kenya is a lower-middle-income economy. Kenya's economy is the second largest in eastern and central Africa, after Ethiopia, with Nairobi serving as a major regional commercial hub. Agriculture is the largest sector; tea and coffee are traditional cash crops, while fresh flowers are a fast-growing export. The service industry is also a major economic driver, particularly tourism. Kenya is a member of the East African Community trade bloc, though some international trade organisations categorise it as part of the Greater Horn of Africa. Africa is Kenya's largest export market, followed by the European Union. (Full article...)
Selected article -The Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) was a spending plan initiated by the Government of Kenya to boost economic growth and lead the Kenyan economy out of the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis and the Great Recession. It was introduced in the 2009/2010 Budget Speech in parliament by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. Its aim was to jumpstart the Economy of Kenya towards long term growth and development, after the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis and post-election violence that affected the Kenyan economy. Other economic problems included prolonged drought, a rally in oil prices and food prices, and the effects of the Great Recession. The stimulus was a response to the decline in the economic growth rate from 7.1% in 2007 to 1.7% in 2009. The total budget allocated amounted to KSh.22 billion/= (260 million US$), with the money going towards the construction of schools, horticultural markets, jua kali sheds and public health centres in all the 210 constituencies. (Full article...)Selected picture - Lamu "fort" at Shela beach
A vacation rental property built in 2001, located on the southeastern point of Lamu Island
Selected location - Kisumu is a port city in Kisumu County, Kenya at 1,131 m (3,711 ft), with a population of 394,684 (2009 census). It is the third largest city in Kenya, the largest city in western Kenya and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It is the second most important city after Kampala in the greater Lake Victoria basin. The port was founded in 1901 as the main inland terminal of the Uganda Railway and named Port Florence. Although trade stagnated in the 1980s and 1990s, it is again growing around oil exports. Kisumu literally means a place of barter trade "sumo". (Read more...)
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