Kenya
Updated: Sep 30, 2022
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Country Name
Kenya, or officially the Republic of Kenya.
Location
Kenya is located in Eastern Africa. Kenya is bordered by the Indian Ocean, Somalia to the east, Ethiopia to the north, South Sudan and Uganda to the west, and Tanzania to the south.
Capital
Nairobi.
The reason for naming the country
The Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The earliest recorded version of the modern name was written by German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf in the 19th century. While traveling with a Kamba caravan led by the legendary long-distance trader Chief Kivoi, Krapf spotted the mountain peak and asked what it was called. Kivoi told him "Kĩ-Nyaa" or "Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa", probably because the pattern of black rock and white snow on its peaks reminded him of the feathers of the male ostrich. The Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, while the Embu call it "Kirenyaa". All three names have the same meaning.
Flag
The Kenyan flag was adopted on December 12, 1963, after gaining independence from Britain.
The flag of Kenya consists of three horizontal stripes: black; red; and green. The red stripe in the middle is bordered on the top and bottom by a thin white stripe. There is an emblem in the center of the flag that consists of a Masai warrior's shield and spears.
The black color represents the African people; the red color stands for the struggle for independence, The green color represents Kenya's agriculture and natural resources, and The white color represents peace and unity.
The central emblem represents Kenya's fight for freedom and its preparedness to defend that freedom.
Language
The two official languages, English and Swahili, are used with varying degrees of fluency for communication with other populations. English is widely spoken in commerce, schooling, and government, and British English is primarily used in Kenya, Additionally, a distinct local dialect, Kenyan English, is used by some communities and individuals in the country. There are a total of 69 languages spoken in Kenya. Most belong to two broad language families: Niger-Congo (Bantu branch) and Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic branch),
Religion
The most common religion in Kenya is Christianity.
However, Islam also has a significant presence. Other religions in the country include Hinduism and traditional African religions.
Islam and Christianity were both brought into the country from outside — Islam by Arabs, and Christianity by Europeans. Kenya natives had their indigenous religions that were unique to every community before the arrival of Islam and Christianity.
Currency
Kenyan shilling (KES).
Time Zone
+03:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary presidential constitutional republic.
Climate
The warmest period in Kenya is from February to March, while the coolest is from July to August, although the seasonal variations in temperature are small. Both temperature and rainfall vary according to the prevailing winds, which produce two seasons: from October to March, the hot and originally dry winds coming from Arabia (called kaskazi) prevail, while from April to September, the prevailing winds (called Kuzi) are cooler and wetter and blow from the Indian Ocean. At the beginning of the two periods, and in correspondence with the two zenith passages of the sun, there are the two rainy seasons: the "long rains" from March to May, and the less intense "short rains" from October to December, while in the western highlands, it rains a lot even between June and September. The rains mainly occur in the form of downpours or thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening, and are pretty irregular: on the one hand, with global warming, the rainfall in some areas is declining; on the other hand, during El Niño years, the probability of heavy rains increases.
International Phone Code
+254
Internet Code
.ke