Nepal (2002) | Kenya (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri, Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti | 7 provinces and 1 area*; Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi Area*, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 40% (male 5,346,422; female 5,007,416)
15-64 years: 56.4% (male 7,476,202; female 7,125,471) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 453,263; female 465,143) (2002 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 | rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat | tea, coffee, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruit, vegetables; dairy products, beef, pork, poultry, eggs |
Airports | 45 (2001) | 221 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2002) |
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: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 28 (2002) |
total: 206
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 110 under 914 m: 84 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 140,800 sq km
land: 136,800 sq km water: 4,000 sq km |
total: 582,650 sq km
land: 569,250 sq km water: 13,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Arkansas | slightly more than twice the size of Nevada |
Background | In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A maoist insugency, launched in 1996, has gained traction and is threatening to bring down the regime. Ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, were massacred in a family dispute in 2001. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. The country is now governed by the king and his appointed cabinet until elections can be held at some unspecified future date. | 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 | 32.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 40.13 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $665 million
expenditures: $1.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $2.89 billion
expenditures: $3.443 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | Kathmandu | Nairobi |
Climate | varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south | varies from tropical along coast to arid in interior |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 536 km |
Constitution | 9 November 1990 | 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: Kingdom of Nepal
conventional short form: Nepal |
conventional long form: Republic of Kenya
conventional short form: Kenya former: British East Africa |
Currency | Nepalese rupee (NPR) | - |
Death rate | 10.03 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.55 billion (FY00/01) | $6.792 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael E. MALINOWSKI
embassy: Panipokhari, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [977] (1) 411179 FAX: [977] (1) 419963 |
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-designate Jai Pratap RANA
chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550 FAX: [1] (202) 667-5534 consulate(s) general: New York |
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 | formed Joint Border committee with India in 2001 to resolve 53 disputed sections of boundary covering an area of 720 sq km; approximately 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps, place decades-long strains on Nepal | 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 | $424 million (FY00/01) | $453 million (1997) |
Economy - overview | Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with nearly half of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and accounting for 41% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Textile and carpet production, accounteing for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in recent years, contracted significantly in 2001 due to the overall slowdown in the world economy and pressures by Maoist insurgents on factory owners and workers. Security concerns in the wake of Maoist activity, the June massacre of many members of the royal family, and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US led to a decrease in tourism, another key source of foreign exchange. Agricultural production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with annual population growth of 2.3%. Since May 1991, the government has been moving forward with economic reforms, particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment, e.g., by reducing business licenses and registration requirements to simplify investment procedures. The government has also been cutting expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries, and laying off civil servants. More recently, however, political instability - five different governments over the past few years - has hampered Kathmandu's ability to forge consensus to implement key economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location, and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The international community's role of funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth. | 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 | 1.431 billion kWh (2000) | 4.337 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 95 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 174 million kWh (2000) | 175 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 1.454 billion kWh (2000) | 4.475 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 10%
hydro: 90% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Kanchan Kalan 70 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Kenya 5,199 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation (overuse of wood for fuel and lack of alternatives); contaminated water (with human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, and industrial effluents); wildlife conservation; vehicular emissions | 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation |
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 | Brahman, Chetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Tharu, and others (1995) | 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 | Nepalese rupees per US dollar - 76.675 (January 2002), 74.961 (2001), 71.094 (2000), 68.239 (1999), 65.976 (1998), 58.010 (1997) | 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: King GYANENDRA Bir Bikram Shah (succeeded to the throne 4 June 2001 following the death of his nephew, King DIPENDRA Bir Bikram Shah)
head of government: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur CHAND (since 11 October 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch note: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev died in a bloody shooting at the royal palace on 1 June 2001 that also claimed the lives of most of the royal family; King BIRENDRA's son, Crown Price DIPENDRA, is believed to have been responsible for the shootings before fatally wounding himself; immediately following the shootings and while still clinging to life, DIPENDRA was crowned king; he died three days later and was succeeded by his uncle |
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 | $757 million f.o.b., but does not include unrecorded border trade with India (FY00/01 est.) | NA |
Exports - commodities | carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain | tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement |
Exports - partners | India 48%, US 26%, Germany 11% (FY00/01) | Uganda 13.3%, UK 11.4%, US 10.6%, Netherlands 8.2%, Egypt 4.9%, Tanzania 4.5%, Pakistan 4.3% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 16 July - 15 July | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun | 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 | purchasing power parity - $35.6 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 41%
industry: 22% services: 37% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 19.3%
industry: 18.5% services: 62.4% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | 2.2% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 28 00 N, 84 00 E | 1 00 N, 38 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains eight of world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest - the world's tallest - on the border with China | 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 |
Highways | total: 13,223 km
paved: 4,073 km unpaved: 9,150 km (April 1999) |
total: 63,942 km
paved: 7,737 km unpaved: 56,205 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 30% (1995-96) |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.2% (2000) |
Illicit drugs | illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic and international drug markets; transit point for opiates from Southeast Asia to the West | 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 | $1.6 billion f.o.b. (FY00/01 est.) | NA |
Imports - commodities | gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer | machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics |
Imports - partners | India 39%, Singapore 10%, China/Hong Kong 9%, (FY00/01) | 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 | 1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah) | 12 December 1963 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 8.7% (FY99/00) | 2.6% (2004 est.) |
Industries | tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarette; cement and brick production | 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 | 72.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 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) | 2.1% | 9% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 6 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 11,350 sq km (1998 est.) | 670 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council) | Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High Court |
Labor force | 10 million
note: severe lack of skilled labor (1996 est.) |
11.4 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 81%, services 16%, industry 3% | agriculture 75% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,926 km
border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 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: 20.27%
permanent crops: 0.49% other: 79.24% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 8.08%
permanent crops: 0.98% other: 90.94% (2001) |
Languages | Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in government and business also speak English (1995) | English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languages |
Legal system | based on Hindu legal concepts and English common 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 | note: Nepal's Parliament was dissolved on 22 May 2002 and elections are scheduled for 13 November 2002
bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives - last held 3 and 17 May 1999 (next to be held 13 November 2002) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana Morcha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, others 14.8%; seats by party - NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana Morcha 5, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 1, NWPP 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: 58.61 years
male: 59.01 years female: 58.2 years (2002 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: 27.5% male: 40.9% female: 14% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.1% male: 90.6% female: 79.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southern Asia, between China and India | Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania |
Map references | Asia | 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 | Royal Nepalese Army (includes Royal Nepalese Army Air Service), Nepalese Police Force | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $51.5 million (FY01) | $177.1 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (FY01) | 1.3% (2004) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 6,484,343 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 3,369,454 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 17 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 292,589 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Birthday of King GYANENDRA, 7 July (1946) | Independence Day, 12 December (1963) |
Nationality | noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Nepalese |
noun: Kenyan(s)
adjective: Kenyan |
Natural hazards | severe thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, and famine depending on the timing, intensity, and duration of the summer monsoons | recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons |
Natural resources | quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore | limestone, soda ash, salt, gemstones, fluorspar, zinc, diatomite, gypsum, wildlife, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 | Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML [Madhav Kumar NEPAL, general secretary]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA, chairman]; National People's Front (Rastriya Jana Morcha) [Chitra Bahadur, chairman]; Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP [Bhadri Prasad MANDAL, acting party president]; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE, party chair]; Nepali Congress or NC [Girija Prasad KOIRALA, party president, Sushil KOIRALA, general secretary]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [Lila Mani POKHAREL, general secretary] | 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 | Maoist guerrilla-based insurgency; numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups | 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 | 25,873,917 (July 2002 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 | 42% (FY95/96 est. ) | 50% (2000 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.29% (2002 est.) | 2.56% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Mombasa |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (January 2000) | AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001) |
Radios | 840,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 59 km
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge note: all in Kosi close to Indian border (2001) |
total: 2,778 km
narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Hinduism 86.2%, Buddhism 7.8%, Islam 3.8%, other 2.2%
note: only official Hindu state in the world (1995) |
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: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2002 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 | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network
domestic: NA international: radiotelephone communications; microwave landline to India; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
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 | 236,816 (January 2000) | 328,400 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 1,590,800 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998) | 8 (2002) |
Terrain | Terai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north | low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west |
Total fertility rate | 4.48 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 4.96 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 47% (2001 est.) | 40% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya (2004) |