Kenya, officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east.
Kenya has a land area of 580,000 km2 and a population of nearly 41 million, representing 42 different peoples and cultures. The country is named after Mount Kenya, a significant landmark and second among Africa's highest mountain peaks.
Following a referendum and
adoption of a new constitution in August 2010, Kenya is now divided into 47 counties that are semi-autonomous units of governance. These units are expected to be fully implemented by August 2012 – in time for the first general election under the new constitution. The counties will be governed by elected governors and will operate independent of the central government in Nairobi.
The country's geography is as diverse as its multi-ethnic population. It has a warm and humid climate along its coastline on the Indian Ocean which changes to wildlife-rich savannah grasslands as you move inland towards the capital Nairobi. Nairobi has a cool climate that gets colder as you move towards Mount Kenya which has three permanently snow-capped peaks. The warm and humid tropical climate reappears further inland towards lake Victoria, before giving way to temperate forested and hilly areas in the western region. The North Eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes. The country also has significant geothermal activity that puts a lot of electricity in the national grid.
Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, is situated next to a national park. The country is famous for its safaris and diverse world-famous wildlife reserves such as Tsavo National Park, the Maasai Mara, Nakuru National Park, and Aberdares National Park that attract tourists from all over the world.
Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh-water lake (after Lake Superior in the US and Canada) and the world's largest tropical lake, is situated to the southwest and is shared with Uganda and Tanzania.
As part of East Africa, Kenya has seen human habitation since the Lower Paleolithic period. The Bantu expansion reached the area by the first millennium AD, and the borders of the modern state comprise the crossroads of the Bantu, the Nilo-Saharan, and the Afro-Asiatic linguistic areas of Africa, making Kenya a truly multi-ethnic state. European and Arab presence in Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period, but European exploration of the interior began only in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, known from 1920 as the Kenya Colony. The independent Republic of Kenya was founded in December 1963.
The capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in East and Central Africa. Agriculture is a major employer and the country traditionally exports tea and coffee, and more recently fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is a major economic driver, mostly the telecommunications sector, and contributes 62 percent of GDP.
RELIGIONS
The vast majority of Kenyans are Christian (83%), with 47.7% regarding themselves as Protestant and 23.5% as Roman Catholic. Sizeable minorities of other faiths do exist (Muslim 11.2%, indigenous beliefs 1.7%). Sixty percent of the Muslim population lives in Coast Province, comprising 50 percent of the total population there. Western areas of Coast Province are mostly Christian. The upper part of Eastern Province is home to 10 percent of the country's Muslims, where they constitute the majority religious group. In addition, there is a fairly large Hindu population in Kenya (around 50,000), which has played a key role in the local economy. There is also a small group of Baha'is.
ETHNIC GROUPS
Kenya has a very diverse population 
that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguistic groups found in Africa. The majority of the country's population belongs to various Bantu sub-groups, with a significant number of Nilotes.
Cushitic peoples form a small ethnic minority of about 2%, mostly represented by Oromo and Somali speakers.
Kenya's diversity is such that its largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, make up for less than a fifth of total population. Ever since Kenyan independence in 1963, Kenyan politics have been characterized by ethnic tensions and rivalry between the larger groups, devolving into ethnic violence in the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis.
The 2009 census figures give the ethnic composition as follows (out of a total population of 38.6 million): Kikuyu 17%, Luhya 14%, Kalenjin 13%, Luo 10%, Kamba 10%, Kisii 6%, Mijikenda 5%, Meru 4%, Turkana 2.5%, Maasai 2.1%. About 9% of population consist of smaller indigenous group below 1% each, and Non-African groups (Arabs, Indians and Europeans) are estimated to total to about 1%.
LANGUAGES
Swahili and English are official languages. Swahili is compulsory in primary education, and, along with English, serves as the main lingua franca between the various ethnic groups.SIL Ethnologue lists a total of 69 individual languages spoken in Kenya.
Area: 582.800 Km
System of government: Presidential Republic
Capital: Nairobi
Major cities: Mombasa, Kisumu
Border countries: Ethiopia NORTH, Sudan NORTH-WEST, Uganda WEST, Tanzania SOUTH, Somalia EAST
Principal mountains: Mount Kenya 5199 m
Principal rivers: Tana 710 Km
Principal lakes: Lake Turkana (or Rudolf) 6405 Km (total, with ethiopian part), Lake Victoria 3100 Km (kenyan part, total 68.100 Km)
Principal islands: Manda Island, Pate Island, Mfanganu Island, Isola Island (these two on Lake Victoria)
Currency: Kenyan Shilling (KES)
