The World Factbook (1982)/Kenya

by the Central Intelligence Agency

KENYA

(See reference map VII)

LAND

583,750 km²; about 21% forest and woodland, 13% suitable for agriculture, 66% mainly grassland adequate for grazing (1971)

Land boundaries: 3,368 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; exclusive economic zones 200 nm)

Coastline: 536 km

PEOPLE

Population: 17,832,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 4.1%

Nationality: noun—Kenyan(s); adjective—Kenyan

Ethnic divisions: 97% native African (including Bantu. Nilotic, Hamitic and Nilo-Hamitic); 2% Asian; 1% European, Arab, and others

Religion: 56% Christian, 36% animist, 7% Muslim, 1% Hindu

Language: English and Swahili official; each tribe has own language

Literacy: 27%

Labor force: 5.4 million; about 900,000, in monetary economy

Organized labor: about 390,000

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Republic of Kenya

Type: republic within Commonwealth since December 1963

Capital: Nairobi

Political subdivisions: 7 provinces plus Nairobi area

Legal system: based on English common law, tribal law and Islamic law; constitution enacted 1963; judicial review in Supreme Court; legal education at Kenya School of Law in Nairobi; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: 12 December

Branches: President and Cabinet responsible to unicameral legislature (National Assembly) of 170 seats, 158 directly elected by constituencies and 12 appointed by the President; Assembly must be reelected at least every five years; High Court, with Chief Justice and at least 11 justices, has unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil or criminal proceeding; provision for systems of courts of appeal

Government leader: President Daniel T. arap MOI

Suffrage: universal over age 21

Elections: general election (held November 1979) elected present National Assembly and President

Political party and leaders: Kenya Africa National Union (KANU), president, Daniel arap Moi

Voting strength: KANU holds all seats in the National Assembly

Communists: may be a few Communists and sympathizers

Other political or pressure groups: labor unions

Member of: AFDB, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, NAM, OAU, UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

ECONOMY

GDP: $4.3 billion (1980), $340 per capita; real average annual growth rate, 4.8% (1970-78)

Agriculture: main cash crops—coffee, sisal, tea, pyrethrum, cotton, livestock; food crops—corn, wheat, sugar-cane, rice, cassava; largely self-sufficient in food

Major industries: small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, agricultural processing, cigarettes, flour), oil refining, cement, tourism

Electric power: 481,000 kW capacity (1981); 1.5 billion kWh produced (1981), 90 kWh per capita

Exports: $1,168.8 million (f.o.b., 1980); coffee, tea, live-stock products, pyrethrum, soda ash, wattle-bark tanning extract

Imports: $2,233.7 million (c.i.f., 1980); machinery, transport equipment, crude oil, paper and paper products, iron and steel products, and textiles

Major trade partners: EC, Japan, Iran, US, Zambia, Uganda

Budget: (1978/79) revenues $1,582.5 million; current expenditures $1,399.1 million; development expenditures $635.9 million

External public debt: $2.2 billion, 1980 external debt ratio 15%

Monetary conversion rate: 9.01 Kenya shillings=US$1 (1981)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: 2,040 km meter gauge (1.00 m)

Highways: 52,250 km total; 5,542 km paved, 16,500 km gravel, 29,550 km improved earth, remainder unimproved earth

Inland waterways: part of Lake Victoria and Lake Rudolph systems are within boundaries of Kenya

Pipelines: refined products, 483 km

Ports: 1 major (Mombasa)

Civil air: 13 major transport aircraft, including 2 leased in

Airfields: 216 total, 194 usable; 12 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m, 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 43 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: in top group of African systems; consists of radio-relay links, open-wire lines, and radiocommunication stations; 168,200 telephones (1.1 per 100 popl.); 9 AM, 2 FM, and 4 TV stations; Atlantic and Indian Ocean satellite service from 1 station

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 3,463,000; 2,130,000 fit for military service; no conscription

Military budget: for fiscal year ending 30 June 1980, $168.6 million; about 8% of central government budget