Kenya (2005) | Swaziland (2007) | |
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Administrative divisions | 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni |
Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years: 40.3% (male 230,238/female 226,184)
15-64 years: 56.1% (male 304,899/female 331,036) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 15,870/female 24,839) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep |
Airports | 221 (2004 est.) | 18 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 206
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 110 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.) |
total: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2007) |
Area | total: 582,650 sq km
land: 569,250 sq km water: 13,400 sq km |
total: 17,363 sq km
land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of Nevada | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
Background | 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. | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured King MSWATI III, the world's last ruling monarch, to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy, although he has backslid on these promises in recent years. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection. |
Birth rate | 40.13 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 26.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $2.89 billion
expenditures: $3.443 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues: $977 million
expenditures: $1.034 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | Nairobi | name: Mbabane
geographic coordinates: 26 18 S, 31 06 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Lobamba (royal and legislative capital) |
Climate | varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior | varies from tropical to near temperate |
Coastline | 536 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 12 December 1963; amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, and 2001 | signed by the King in July 2005 went into effect on 8 February 2006 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Kenya
conventional short form: Kenya former: British East Africa |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland local long form: Umbuso weSwatini local short form: eSwatini |
Death rate | 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 30.35 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $6.792 billion (2004 est.) | $484 million (2006 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Lynn ALLISON
embassy: Central Bank Building, Mahlokahla Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Ephraim Mandla HLOPHE
chancery: 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5002 FAX: [1] (202) 234-8254 |
Disputes - international | 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 | in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa |
Economic aid - recipient | $453 million (1997) | $46.03 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | 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. | In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives more than nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends 60% of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2004-05 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS. |
Electricity - consumption | 4.337 billion kWh (2002) | 1.3 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 175 million kWh (2002) | 872 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005) |
Electricity - production | 4.475 billion kWh (2002) | 460 million kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m |
lowest point: Great Usutu River 21 m
highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
Environment - current issues | 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 | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion |
Environment - international agreements | 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 |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | Kikuyu 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, other African 15%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1% | African 97%, European 3% |
Exchange rates | Kenyan shillings per US dollar - 79.174 (2004), 75.936 (2003), 78.749 (2002), 78.563 (2001), 76.176 (2000) | emalangeni per US dollar - 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002) |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch from among the elected members of the House of Assembly |
Exports | NA | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit |
Exports - partners | Uganda 13.3%, UK 11.4%, US 10.6%, Netherlands 8.2%, Egypt 4.9%, Tanzania 4.5%, Pakistan 4.3% (2004) | South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | 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 | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 19.3%
industry: 18.5% services: 62.4% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 11.9%
industry: 46.1% services: 41.9% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2004 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.2% (2004 est.) | 2.1% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 38 00 E | 26 30 S, 31 30 E |
Geography - note | 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 | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa |
Highways | total: 63,942 km
paved: 7,737 km unpaved: 56,205 km (2000) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000) |
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 40.7% (2001) |
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 | NA | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals |
Imports - partners | 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) | South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2006) |
Independence | 12 December 1963 (from UK) | 6 September 1968 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2.6% (2004 est.) | 3.7% (FY95/96) |
Industries | small-scale consumer goods (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, flour), agricultural products; oil refining, aluminum, steel, lead, cement; commercial ship repair, tourism | coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel |
Infant mortality rate | 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.) |
total: 70.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 74 deaths/1,000 live births female: 67.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 9% (2004 est.) | 5.7% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | 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 | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 670 sq km (1998 est.) | 500 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High Court | High Court; Supreme Court; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch |
Labor force | 11.4 million (2004 est.) | 300,000 (2006) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 75% (2003 est.) | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 3,477 km
border countries: Ethiopia 861 km, Somalia 682 km, Sudan 232 km, Tanzania 769 km, Uganda 933 km |
total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
Land use | arable land: 8.08%
permanent crops: 0.98% other: 90.94% (2001) |
arable land: 10.25%
permanent crops: 0.81% other: 88.94% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) |
Legal system | 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 | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Legislative branch | 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 |
bicameral Parliament or Libandla consists of the Senate (30 seats; 10 members appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; to serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats; 10 members appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 18 October 2003 (next to be held in October 2008) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 47.99 years
male: 48.87 years female: 47.09 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 32.23 years
male: 31.84 years female: 32.62 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.1% male: 90.6% female: 79.7% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.6% male: 82.6% female: 80.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
none (landlocked) |
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 | Army, Navy, Air Force | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF): Ground Force (includes air wing), Royal Swaziland Police Force (RSPF) (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $177.1 million (2004) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.3% (2004) | 4.7% (2006) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 12 December (1963) | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) |
Nationality | noun: Kenyan(s)
adjective: Kenyan |
noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
Natural hazards | recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons | drought |
Natural resources | limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc |
Net migration rate | 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.) |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | refined products 752 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | 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 | the status of political parties, previously banned, is unclear under the new (2006) Constitution and currently being debated - the following are considered political associations; African United Democratic Party or AUDP [Stanley MAUNDZISA, president]; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | 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] | NA |
Population | 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.) |
1,133,066
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.) |
Population below poverty line | 50% (2000 est.) | 69% (2006) |
Population growth rate | 2.56% (2005 est.) | -0.337% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mombasa | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001) | AM 3, FM 2 (plus 4 repeaters), shortwave 3 (2004) |
Railways | total: 2,778 km
narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) |
total: 301 km
narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | 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 |
Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship), Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, other (includes Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish) 30% |
Sex ratio | 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.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.018 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.921 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.639 male(s)/female total population: 0.947 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age |
Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: a somewhat modern but not an advanced system
domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: country code - 268; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 328,400 (2003) | 44,000 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,590,800 (2003) | 250,000 (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (2002) | 12 (includes 7 relay stations) (2004) |
Terrain | low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains |
Total fertility rate | 4.96 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 3.43 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 40% (2001 est.) | 40% (2006 est.) |
Waterways | part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya (2004) | - |