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Portal:Kenya

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Kenya portal
Kenya portal

Introduction

Location of Kenya
The flag of Kenya

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. It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States. 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...)


Vasco da Gama Pillar and Indian Ocean
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centre in Kilifi County. (Full article...)
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Sunset at Tsavo East National Park mostly located in Kitui County
Sunset at Tsavo East National Park mostly located in Kitui County

Kitui County is a county of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kitui, although Mwingi is also another major urban centre. The county has a population of 1,012,709 (2009 census) and an area of 20,402 km². (Read more...)

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Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways. Its head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its hub at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The airline was owned by the Government of Kenya until April 1995, and it was privatised in 1996, becoming the first African flag carrier to successfully do so. Kenya Airways is currently a public-private partnership. The largest shareholder is the Government of Kenya (48.9%), with 38.1% being owned by KQ Lenders Company 2017 Ltd (in turn owned by a consortium of banks), followed by KLM, which has a 7.8% stake in the company. Private owners hold the rest of the shares; shares are traded on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, and the Uganda Securities Exchange. (Full article...)

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Mariga with Inter Milan in 2010

McDonald Mariga Wanyama (pronounced [məkˈdɒnʌld məˈriːɡɑ wɑˈɲɑːmɑ] ; born 4 April 1987) is a Kenyan former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

He is the first Kenyan footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League, for Inter Milan on 16 March 2010. In 2019 he joined politics to vie for Kibera parliamentary seat after the death of Ken Okoth. (Full article...)
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In the news

Wikinews Kenya portal
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16 July 2024 – Kenya Finance Bill protests
Police fire tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protestors as demonstrations continue in cities across Kenya, calling for the removal of President William Ruto. (Al Jazeera)
15 July 2024 –
The prime suspect arrested over the discovery of nine mutilated female bodies in a rubbish dump in the Mukuru slums of Nairobi, Kenya, confesses to killing 42 women. Another man is also arrested. (Al Jazeera)
11 July 2024 – Kenya Finance Bill protests
Kenyan President William Ruto dismisses all of his cabinet ministers as well as the attorney general in response to deadly protests against a finance bill drafted by his administration. (BBC News)
2 July 2024 – Kenya Finance Bill protests
Protests against the controversially rejected Kenyan finance bill and President William Ruto continue in major cities in the country, with the National Commission on Human Rights reporting at least 39 people killed and 361 injured in the protests. (Al Jazeera)
27 June 2024 – Kenya Finance Bill protests
Thousands of people protest in cities across Kenya, calling for the removal of President William Ruto. (Al Jazeera)
26 June 2024 – Kenya Finance Bill protests
President William Ruto withdraws the controversial Kenya Finance Bill 2024 following an assault on the parliament that killed multiple people. (Reuters)

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