Kenya: Background & Geography
| Introduction | Kenya |
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Background:
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Founding president and liberation struggle icon Jomo KENYATTA led Kenya from independence until his death in 1978, when President Daniel Toroitich arap MOI took power in a constitutional succession. The country was a de facto one-party state from 1969 until 1982 when the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) made 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, but are viewed as having generally reflected the will of the Kenyan people. President MOI stepped down in December of 2002 following fair and peaceful elections. Mwai KIBAKI, running as the candidate of the multiethnic, united opposition group, the National Rainbow Coalition, defeated KANU candidate Uhuru KENYATTA and assumed the presidency following a campaign centered on an anticorruption platform. |
| Geography | Kenya |
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Location:
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Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania |
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Geographic coordinates:
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1 00 N, 38 00 E |
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Map references:
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Africa |
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Area:
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total: 582,650 sq km
water: 13,400 sq km land: 569,250 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly more than twice the size of Nevada |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 3,477 km
border countries: Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km |
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Coastline:
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536 km |
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Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
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territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
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Climate:
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varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior |
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Terrain:
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low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m |
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Natural resources:
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gold, limestone, soda ash, salt, rubies, fluorspar, garnets, wildlife, hydropower |
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Land use:
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arable land: 7.03%
permanent crops: 0.91% other: 92.06% (1998 est.) |
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Irrigated land:
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670 sq km (1998 est.) |
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Natural hazards:
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recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons |
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Environment - current issues:
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water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; degradation of water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Geography - note:
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the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value |