Kenya, named after Mount Kenya and with a population of 53.77 million (2021), is located in east Africa and borders the Indian Ocean to its south-east, Somalia to its north-east, Ethiopia to its north, South Sudan to its north-west, Uganda to its west and Tanzania to its south.
Known as an African holiday and safari destination with one of Africa's better economies, Kenya has a diverse topography, from the beaches on the Indian Ocean, to forests and mountains, to sweeping savannahs and near desert landscapes.
What is now known as Kenya was explored by the Portuguese during the late fifteenth century who set up trading stations there en route to India and Asia.
During the 17th Century both the English and Dutch started moving into the area together with the Omani Arabs, however this latter group was repelled by the English and Germans during the 1880s. Between 1952 and 1959 Kenya was placed under a state of emergency following a rebellion by the Mau Mau and the country was finally granted its independence from British rule in 1963.
Kenya is widely regarded as a stable and peaceful, however the country is currently under repeatedly attacks from Al-Shabab particularly along its coastal areas for the country's involvement in security policing in neighbouring Somalia. On 8th January 2020 Al Shabaab released a public statement 'Kenya Must Take Heed' stating that Al Shabaab intended to attack tourists, including those on safari trips. It also references government institutions and military installations as potential attack targets. Despite this ever present threat, the authorities in Kenya have successfully disrupted a number of planned attacks and made a number of arrests in recent years. They have also provided extra protection including in areas near to the Somalia border and on the Kenyan coast.
Problems facing Kenya today, apart from the terrorist threat and sporadic civil unrest (which was often tribal targeted), include widespread poverty and high unemployment. Although Kenya's economy is the largest in eastern and central Africa, it remains in 152nd place out of 191 countries and territories in 2021 when ranked in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a country and life expectancy is 66.95 years (2021).
79% of its population lives in rural areas reliant on impoverished subsistence farming that, coupled with poor health care resources (one doctor for every 10,000 people), drives many into further poverty as income drops when the family earner becomes ill when suffering from HIV (6.3% of the population), water borne diseases and malaria.
Another factor for the rising levels of poverty in Kenya is the tripling of the population in just 30 years, placing an unsustainable burden on available land and already poor resources such as access to a safe water supply (52% of the rural population) and improved sanitation (32% of the rural population.) Thousands of children live on the streets of Kenya's cities in a vain attempt to secure a better future to escape this poverty. Find out more about Kenya in our Kenya profile pages above.
