Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the
Indian Ocean in a series of mountain ridges and plateaus which stand above
3,000 meters (9,000 ft.) in the center of the country.
The Rift Valley bisects the country above
Nairobi, opening up to a broad arid plain in the north. Mountain plains
cover the south before descending to the shores of
Lake Victoria in the west. The climate
varies from the tropical south, west, and central regions to arid and
semi-arid in the north and the northeast.
 Nairobi
is the capital of Kenya, and lies in the Nairobi District, situated at an
elevation of about 1660 m (about 5450 ft) in the highlands of the southern
part of the country. Nairobi is Kenya's principal economic,
administrative, and cultural center and is one of the largest and fastest
growing cities in Africa. Manufactures include processed food, textiles,
clothing, building materials, and communications and transportation
equipment. The city also has a large tourist industry. The University of
Nairobi (1956), Kenya Polytechnic (1961), and Kenya Conservatoire of Music
(1944) are here. Other important cities are :
Mombasa (665,000), Kisumu
(504,000), Nakuru (1.2 million).
 Revered
president and liberation struggle icon Jomo
KENYATTA led Kenya from independence until his death in 1978,
when current 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. The country
faces a period of political uncertainty because MOI is constitutionally
required to step down at the next elections that have to be held by early
2003.
Kenya has a very diverse population
that includes most major language groups of Africa. Traditional
pastoralists, rural farmers, Muslims, and urban residents of Nairobi and
other cities contribute to the cosmopolitan culture. The standard of
living in major cities, once relatively high compared to much of
Sub-Saharan Africa, has been declining in recent years. Most city workers
retain links with their rural, extended families and leave the city
periodically to help work on the family farm. About 75% of the work force
is engaged in agriculture, mainly as subsistence farmers. The national
motto of Kenya is harambee, meaning "pull together." In that
spirit, volunteers in hundreds of communities build schools, clinics, and
other facilities each year and collect funds to send students abroad.
|
|
