About Kenya

Time
GMT/UTC +3 all year round with an almost constant 12 hours of daylight. Sun-up and sundown at around 6.30 and 18.45 daily

Natural Resources
Gold, limestone, soda ash, salt, rubies, fluorspar, garnets, wildlife, hydropower

Tourism
Biggest contributor with more than $200m a year to Kenya's economy. More than 500,000 tourists visit annually. Tourism provides 500,000 direct and indirect jobs for Kenyans

Rivers and Lakes
The Athi and he Tana are Kenyas chief rivers, flowing from the highlands to the Indian Ocean. Lake Turkana Covers 6,405 square kilometers in the far north while Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake at 69,484 sq km, lies at the western end of Kenya

Agriculture
Divided between cash and subsistence crops. Cash crops include: tea, coffee and a wide variety of subsistence crops. Employs 80% of population and contributes 25% to GDP

Manufacturing
Chief products include: cement, chemicals, household utensils, light machinery, motor vehicles, paper and paper products, and textiles. Food processing is a major industry and a refinery at Mombasa processes oil from other countries.

Environmental 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
Historical sites
Kenya has more than 400 historical sites ranging from prehistoric fossils and petrified forests to 14th Century slave trading settlements, Islamic ruins and 16th Century Portuguese forts

Age Structure
0-14 years: 40.6% (male 6,575,409; female 6,430,218)
15-64 years: 56.5% (male 9,126,847; female 8,962,905)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 399,050; female 527,427) (2004 est.)
Population Growth Rate
1.14% (2004 est.)

Birth rate
27.82 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

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