Burundi (2008) | Kenya (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 17 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura Mairie, Bujumbura Rurale, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi | 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 46.3% (male 1,951,879/female 1,930,371)
15-64 years: 51.2% (male 2,131,759/female 2,162,093) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 85,522/female 128,881) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 42.5% (male 7,252,075/female 7,124,034)
15-64 years: 55.2% (male 9,378,428/female 9,295,471) 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 356,116/female 423,466) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides | tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs |
Airports | 8 (2007) | 221 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 15
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
total: 206
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 110 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 27,830 sq km
land: 25,650 sq km water: 2,180 sq km |
total: 582,650 sq km
land: 569,250 sq km water: 13,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly more than twice the size of Nevada |
Background | Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. More than 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre NKURUNZIZA, signed a South African brokered ceasefire with the country's last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges. | 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. |
Birth rate | 41.97 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 40.13 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $259.4 million
expenditures: $331.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 est.) |
revenues: $2.89 billion
expenditures: $3.443 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | name: Bujumbura
geographic coordinates: 3 22 S, 29 21 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Nairobi |
Climate | equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; two wet seasons (February to May and September to November), and two dry seasons (June to August and December to January) | varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 536 km |
Constitution | 28 February 2005; ratified by popular referendum | 12 December 1963; amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, and 2001 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Burundi
conventional short form: Burundi local long form: Republique du Burundi/Republika y'u Burundi local short form: Burundi former: Urundi |
conventional long form: Republic of Kenya
conventional short form: Kenya former: British East Africa |
Death rate | 13.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.2 billion (2003) | $6.792 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia Newton MOLLER
embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura telephone: [257] 223454 FAX: [257] 222926 |
chief of mission: Ambassador William M. BELLAMY
embassy: US Embassy, United Nations Ave., Gigiri; P. O. Box 606 Village Market Nairobi mailing address: Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831 telephone: [254] (20) 537-800 FAX: [254] (20) 537-810 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Celestin NIYONGABO
chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574 FAX: [1] (202) 342-2578 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Leonard NGAITHE
chancery: 2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-6101 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3829 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles |
Disputes - international | conflicts among Tutsi, Hutu, other ethnic groups, associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces have abated somewhat in the Great Lakes region; UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) completed its mandate in December 2006 after a three-year peace-keeping mission | Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering Sudan's north-south separation in February 2005; Kenya provides shelter to approximately a quarter of a million refugees including Ugandans who flee across the border periodically to seek protection from Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels; Kenya's administrative limits extend beyond the treaty border into the Sudan, creating the Ilemi Triangle |
Economic aid - recipient | $365 million (2005) | $453 million (1997) |
Economy - overview | Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with more than 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Economic growth depends on coffee and tea exports, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports, therefore, rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. The Tutsi minority, 14% of the population, dominates the government and the coffee trade at the expense of the Hutu majority, 85% of the population. An ethnic-based war that lasted for over a decade resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally. Only one in two children go to school, and approximately one in 15 adults has HIV/AIDS. Food, medicine, and electricity remain in short supply. Burundi grew about 5% annually in 2006, but GDP growth probably fell to under 4% in 2007. Political stability and the end of the civil war have improved aid flows and economic activity has increased, but underlying weaknesses - a high poverty rate, poor education rates, a weak legal system, and low administrative capacity - risk undermining planned economic reforms. Burundi will continue to remain heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors; the delay of funds after a corruption scandal cut off bilateral aid in 2007 reduced government's revenues and its ability to pay salaries. | The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, Kenya has been hampered by corruption and by reliance upon several primary goods whose prices have remained low. In 1997, the IMF suspended Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program due to the government's failure to maintain reforms and curb corruption. A severe drought from 1999 to 2000 compounded Kenya's problems, causing water and energy rationing and reducing agricultural output. As a result, GDP contracted by 0.2% in 2000. The IMF, which had resumed loans in 2000 to help Kenya through the drought, again halted lending in 2001 when the government failed to institute several anticorruption measures. Despite the return of strong rains in 2001, weak commodity prices, endemic corruption, and low investment limited Kenya's economic growth to 1.2%. Growth lagged at 1.1% in 2002 because of erratic rains, low investor confidence, meager donor support, and political infighting up to the elections. In the key 27 December 2002 elections, Daniel Arap MOI's 24-year-old reign ended, and a new opposition government took on the formidable economic problems facing the nation. In 2003, progress was made in rooting out corruption and encouraging donor support, with GDP growth edging up to 1.7%. GDP grew a moderate 2.2% in 2004. |
Electricity - consumption | 161.4 million kWh (2005) | 4.337 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 34 million kWh; note - supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2005) | 175 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 137 million kWh (2005) | 4.475 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lake Tanganyika 772 m
highest point: Heha 2,670 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m |
Environment - current issues | soil erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands; deforestation (little forested land remains because of uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife populations | 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 |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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 |
Ethnic groups | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 | Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1% |
Exchange rates | Burundi francs per US dollar - 1,065 (2007), 1,030 (2006), 1,138 (2005), 1,100.91 (2004), 1,082.62 (2003) | Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 79.174 (2004), 75.936 (2003), 78.749 (2002), 78.563 (2001), 76.176 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Pierre NKURUNZIZA (since 26 August 2005); First Vice President Yves SAVINGUVU - Tutsi (since 9 November 2007); Second Vice President Gabriel NTISEZERANA - Hutu (since 9 February 2007)
head of government: President Pierre NKURUNZIZA (since 26 August 2005); First Vice President Yves SAVINGUVU - Tutsi (since 9 November 2007); Second Vice President Gabriel NTISEZERANA - Hutu (since 9 February 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by president elections: the president is elected by popular vote to a five-year term (eligible for a second term); note - the constitution adopted in February 2005 permits the post-transition president to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the parliament; vice presidents nominated by the president, endorsed by parliament election results: Pierre NKURUNZIZA was elected president by the parliament by a vote of 151 to 9; note - the constitution adopted in February 2005 permits the post-transition president to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the legislature |
chief of state: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002) and Vice President Moody AWORI (since 25 September 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Mwai KIBAKI (since 30 December 2002) and Vice President Moody AWORI (since 25 September 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; in addition to receiving the largest number of votes in absolute terms, the presidential candidate must also win 25% or more of the vote in at least five of Kenya's seven provinces and one area to avoid a runoff; election last held 27 December 2002 (next to be held December 2007); vice president appointed by the president election results: President Mwai KIBAKI elected; percent of vote - Mwai KIBAKI 63%, Uhuru KENYATTA 30% |
Exports | 0 bbl/day (2004) | NA |
Exports - commodities | coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides | tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement |
Exports - partners | Switzerland 33.7%, UK 12.2%, Pakistan 8.5%, Rwanda 5.3%, Egypt 4.2% (2006) | Uganda 13.3%, UK 11.4%, US 10.6%, Netherlands 8.2%, Egypt 4.9%, Tanzania 4.5%, Pakistan 4.3% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and green panels (hoist side and fly side) with a white disk superimposed at the center bearing three red six-pointed stars outlined in green arranged in a triangular design (one star above, two stars below) | three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green; the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 44.9%
industry: 20.9% services: 34.1% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 19.3%
industry: 18.5% services: 62.4% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.5% (2007 est.) | 2.2% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 3 30 S, 30 00 E | 1 00 N, 38 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed; the Kagera, which drains into Lake Victoria, is the most remote headstream of the White Nile | 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 |
Heliports | 1 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total: 63,942 km
paved: 7,737 km unpaved: 56,205 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.7%
highest 10%: 32.8% (1998) |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000) |
Illicit drugs | - | widespread harvesting of small plots of marijuana; transit country for South Asian heroin destined for Europe and North America; Indian methaqualone also transits on way to South Africa; significant potential for money-laundering activity given the country's status as a regional financial center; massive corruption, and relatively high levels of narcotics-associated activities |
Imports | 2,687 bbl/day (2004) | NA |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs | machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics |
Imports - partners | Saudi Arabia 12.6%, Kenya 8.2%, Japan 7.8%, Russia 4.7%, UK 4.6%, France 4.4%, China 4.4% (2006) | UAE 12.6%, Saudi Arabia 9.1%, South Africa 8.8%, US 7.7%, India 7.2%, UK 6.7%, China 6.4%, Japan 5% (2004) |
Independence | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) | 12 December 1963 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.5% (2007 est.) | 2.6% (2004 est.) |
Industries | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing | small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products; oil refining, aluminum, steel, lead, cement; commercial ship repair, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 61.93 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 68.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 54.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 61.47 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 64.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7% (2007 est.) | 9% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CEPGL, COMESA, EAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, EADB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 210 sq km (2003) | 670 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal (there are three in separate locations); Tribunals of First Instance (17 at the province level and 123 small local tribunals) | Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High Court |
Labor force | 2.99 million (2002) | 11.4 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 93.6%
industry: 2.3% services: 4.1% (2002 est.) |
agriculture 75% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 974 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
total: 3,477 km
border countries: Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km |
Land use | arable land: 35.57%
permanent crops: 13.12% other: 51.31% (2005) |
arable land: 8.08%
permanent crops: 0.98% other: 90.94% (2001) |
Languages | Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages |
Legal system | based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law; judicial review in High Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; constitutional amendment of 1982 making Kenya a de jure one-party state repealed in 1991 |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Parlement, consists of a National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (minimum 100 seats, 60% Hutu and 40% Tutsi with at least 30% being women; additional seats appointed by a National Independent Electoral Commission to ensure ethnic representation; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and a Senate (54 seats; 34 members elected by indirect vote to serve five-year terms, with remaining seats assigned to ethnic groups and former chiefs of state)
elections: National Assembly - last held 4 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010); Senate - last held 29 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - CNDD-FDD 58.6%, FRODEBU 21.7%, UPRONA 7.2%, CNDD 4.1%, MRC-Rurenzangemero 2.1%, others 6.2%; seats by party - CNDD-FDD 59, FRODEBU 25, UPRONA 10, CNDD 4, MRC-Rurenzangemero 2; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - CNDD-FDD 30, FRODEBU 3, CNDD 1 |
unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (224 seats; 210 members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms, 12 so-called "nominated" members who are appointed by the president but selected by the parties in proportion to their parliamentary vote totals, 2 ex-officio members)
elections: last held 27 December 2002 (next to be held by early 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NARC 125, KANU 64, FORD-P 14, other 7; ex-officio 2; seats appointed by the president - NARC 7, KANU 4, FORD-P 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 51.29 years
male: 50.48 years female: 52.12 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 47.99 years
male: 48.87 years female: 47.09 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.3% male: 67.3% female: 52.2% (2000 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.1% male: 90.6% female: 79.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo | Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,049 GRT/7,082 DWT
by type: cargo 2, petroleum tanker 1 registered in other countries: 6 (2005) |
Military branches | National Defense Force (Forces de Defense Nationales, FDN): Army (includes Naval Detachment and Air Wing) (2008) | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $177.1 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 5.9% (2006 est.) | 1.3% (2004) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) | Independence Day, 12 December (1963) |
Nationality | noun: Burundian(s)
adjective: Burundian |
noun: Kenyan(s)
adjective: Kenyan |
Natural hazards | flooding, landslides, drought | recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons |
Natural resources | nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum, vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, limestone | limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 7.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: according to UNHCR, by the end of 2001 Kenya was host to 220,000 refugees from neighboring countries, including: Somalia 145,000 and Sudan 68,000 (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | refined products 752 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | governing parties: Burundi Democratic Front or FRODEBU [Leonce NGENDAKUMANA]; National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Front for the Defense of Democracy or CNDD-FDD [Jeremie NGENDAKUMANA]; Unity for National Progress or UPRONA [Aloys RUBUKA]
note: a multiparty system was introduced after 1998, included are: National Council for the Defense of Democracy or CNDD [Leonard NYANGOMA]; National Resistance Movement for the Rehabilitation of the Citizen or MRC-Rurenzangemero [Epitace BANYAGANAKANDI]; Party for National Redress or PARENA [Jean-Baptiste BAGAZA] |
Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People or FORD-People [Kimaniwa NYOIKE, chairman]; Kenya African National Union or KANU [Uhuru KENYATTA]; National Rainbow Coalition or NARC [Mwai KIBAKI] - the governing party |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | human rights groups; labor unions; Muslim organizations; National Convention Executive Council or NCEC, a proreform coalition of political parties and nongovernment organizations [Kivutha KIBWANA]; Protestant National Council of Churches of Kenya or NCCK [Mutava MUSYIMI]; Roman Catholic and other Christian churches; Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims or SUPKEM [Shaykh Abdul Gafur al-BUSAIDY] |
Population | 8,390,505
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) |
33,829,590
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 68% (2002 est.) | 50% (2000 est.) |
Population growth rate | 3.593% (2007 est.) | 2.56% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Mombasa |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001) |
Railways | - | total: 2,778 km
narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% | Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, indigenous beliefs 10%, Muslim 10%, other 2%
note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian, but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.011 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.986 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.664 male(s)/female total population: 0.988 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | NA years of age; universal (adult) | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: primitive system; telephone density one of the lowest in the world; fixed-line connections stand at well less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage is increasing but remains at a meager 2 per 100 persons
domestic: sparse system of open-wire, radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave radio relay international: country code - 257; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2007) |
general assessment: unreliable; little attempt to modernize except for service to business
domestic: trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system international: country code - 254; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 31,100 (2005) | 328,400 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 153,000 (2005) | 1,590,800 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2001) | 8 (2002) |
Terrain | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains | low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west |
Total fertility rate | 6.48 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 4.96 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 40% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | mainly on Lake Tanganyika (2005) | part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya (2004) |