Attribute | Value |
---|---|
Geography | |
Area | 580,367 km² |
Continent | Africa |
Land area | 569,140 km² |
Water area | 11,227 km² |
Land boundaries | 3,457 km |
Border countries |
|
Coastline | 536 km |
Mean elevation | 762 m |
Lowest point | 0 m |
Highest point | 5,199 m |
People | |
Population | 53,527,936 |
Official languages |
|
Religion | Christian |
Government | |
Long country name | Republic of Kenya |
Short country name | Kenya |
Long local name | Republic of Kenya/Jamhuri ya Kenya |
Short local name | Kenya |
Former name |
|
Government type | Presidential republic |
Capital | Nairobi |
Economy | |
GDP (PPP) | 163,700,000,000 USD |
GDP (OER) | 79,220,000,000 USD |
GDP (real growth rate) | 4.9 % |
GDP - per capita (PPP) | 3,500 USD |
Gross national saving | 10.4 % of GDP |
Labor force | 19,600,000 |
Unemployment rate | 40 % |
Population below poverty line | 36.1 % |
Budget revenues | 13,950,000,000 USD |
Budget expenditures | 19,240,000,000 USD |
Military expenditures | 1.3 % of GDP |
Taxes and other revenues | 17.6 % of GDP |
Budget surplus or deficit | -6.7 % of GDP |
Public debt | 54.2 % of GDP |
Inflation rate | 8 % |
Central bank discount rate | 10 % |
Commercial bank prime lending rate | 13.67 % |
Stock of narrow money | 14,070,000,000 USD |
Stock of broad money | 14,070,000,000 USD |
Stock of domestic credit | 32,000,000,000 USD |
Market value of publicly traded shares | 19,330,000,000 USD |
Current account balance | -5,021,000,000 USD |
Exports | 5,792,000,000 USD |
Imports | 15,990,000,000 USD |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | 7,354,000,000 USD |
External debt | 27,590,000,000 USD |
National currency | Kenyan shillings |
National currency (code) | KES |
National currency (symbol) | KSh |
National currency rate to USD | 102.1 |
Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence in 1963 until his death in 1978, when Vice President Daniel Arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982, after which time the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) changed the constitution to make itself the sole legal party in Kenya. MOI acceded to internal and external pressure for political liberalization in late 1991. The ethnically fractured opposition failed to dislodge KANU from power in elections in 1992 and 1997, which were marred by violence and fraud. President MOI stepped down in December 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA, the son of founding president Jomo KENYATTA, and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. KIBAKI's reelection in December 2007 brought charges of vote rigging from Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) candidate Raila ODINGA and unleashed two months of violence in which approximately 1,100 people died. African Union-sponsored mediation led by former UN Secretary General Kofi ANNAN in late February 2008 resulted in a power-sharing accord bringing ODINGA into the government in the restored position of prime minister. The power sharing accord included a broad reform agenda, the centerpiece of which was constitutional reform. In August 2010, Kenyans overwhelmingly adopted a new constitution in a national referendum. The new constitution introduced additional checks and balances to executive power and devolved power and resources to 47 newly created counties. It also eliminated the position of prime minister. Uhuru KENYATTA won the first presidential election under the new constitution in March 2013, and was sworn into office the following month; he began a second term in November 2017 following a contentious, repeat election.