Kenya is a country found in East Africa with a coastline on the Indian Ocean. It has the savannah, Lakelands, the amazing Great Rift Valley and mountain highlands. It also inhabits wildlife like lions, elephants and rhinos. It has beautiful sceneries like Nairobi city; the capital city that’s so adventurous with sparkling beauty and home to different ethnic groups including refuges, the Maasai Mara Reserve, that is rich in annual wildebeest migrations, and Amboseli National Park, that offers a view of Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Kenya is bordered to the north by South Sudan and Ethiopia, to the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean, to the south by Tanzania, and to the west by Lake Victoria and Uganda. The Meridian divides Kenya into two halves of striking contrast. The eastern half slopes gently to the coral-backed seashore and the western portion rises more abruptly through a series of hills and plateaus to the Eastern Rift Valley, known in Kenya as the Central Rift. Thus; Kenya is divided into: the Lake Victoria basin, the Rift Valley and associated highlands, the eastern plateau forelands, the semiarid and arid areas of the north and south, and the coast.

The country is so diverse with cultural musical artistic expressions that makes it a home for oral literature. Its prominent writers like Ngugi wa Thiong’o have made this adorable beauty reach out to different parts of the world by documenting it. Its many fables that share a lot on wisdom, tales of the Mau-Mau rebellion that led the country to independence, stories of great warriors that convey virtues of determination, tenacity and vicinity shared values give the country a sweet aroma worthy to taste.

Kenya is best known for its fine beaches, cities like Mombasa, its historic centres, tea plantations, and their variety of animal species that includes the cheetahs, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, lions and elephants. Its land scape that is both semi-desert and desert prompts many visitors to the country making tourism an important contributor to the country’s economy. Lava deposits in lake Victoria have given birth to fertile sandy loam soils in the north, volcanic fertile soils from mountain Elgon that are best for coffee and tea production. The most spread soils though, are the sandy soils between the coast and the rift valley.

The most widespread soils in Kenya, however, are the sandy soils of the semiarid regions between the coast and the Rift highlands. To the north of the Rift are vast areas covered by red desert soils, mainly sandy loams. Kenya’s soils are subject to widespread erosion largely because of the lack of forest cover; overgrazing and cultivation, especially in the arid and semiarid regions, also contribute to soil loss. From December to March, northeast winds predominate north of the Equator, while south to southeast winds dominate south of it. These months are fairly dry, although rain may occur locally. The rainy season extends from late March to May, with air flowing from the east in both hemispheres. From June to August there is little precipitation, and southwest winds prevail north of the Equator as southeast winds prevail in the south.

Much of its wildlife is found outside the countries numerous national parks and game reserves. For example; Baboons and zebras are found along Nairobi-Nakuru highway, close to human settlements and urban centres. The highland rainforests are a home to large mammals, more so elephants and rhinoceroses, Bushbuck, colobus monkeys, and, occasionally, galagos (bush babies) can also be found there. The bamboo zone contains varieties of duiker and some species of birds. Highland predators include lions, leopards, and wildcats. The most luxuriant animals like Zebra, Gazelle, ungulates, hartebeest, wildebeest (gnu), waterbuck, impala, eland, warthog, and buffalo that are preyed on by lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, and wild dogs are found in the substantial grasslands within forest zone and lower areas. Birds are many there together with rivers and lakes that inhabit fish, hippopotamuses and crocodiles. A good number of flamingos are found in the Rift valley at Lake Bogoria.

In the thorn bushes and thickets of the arid regions are elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, giraffes, gerenuk, impalas, dik-diks, and various kinds of kudu; suni antelope, buffalo, and elephants are found in the coastal forest. Hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and many varieties of fish are found in the large rivers, while the coastal waters contain abundant marine life, including butterfly fish, angelfish, rock cod, barracuda, and spiny lobsters.

ETHNICITY AND LANGUAGES

The peoples of Kenya, just like most of the African countries are very many and, are divided into three main ethnic groups thus; Bantu, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. Bantu just as in Uganda is by far the largest, and its speakers are mainly concentrated in the southern third of the country. The Kikuyu, Kamba, Meru, and Nyika peoples occupy the fertile Central Rift highlands, while the Luhya and Gusii inhabit the Lake Victoria basin. The Kalenjin, Luo, Maasai, Samburu, and Turkana—is the next largest group and found in the sub-Saharan.

The Afro-Asiatic peoples, who are divided between the Somali, bordering Somalia, and the Oromo, bordering Ethiopia; pursue a pastoral livelihood in areas that are subject to famine, drought, and desertification. They are the smallest group of Kenya’s populace. Furthermore, Kenya is a home to a number of immigrates that have been there since colonial rural and these saty mostly in Urban areas like Mombasa and Nairobi.

The official language in Kenya is Swahili and is also used (along with English) as the language of education, an official language in the Kenyan legislative body, the National Assembly, and the courts of law. Though, a wide variety of languages are spoken in Kenya, like Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Hindi, and English.

RELIGION

People are guaranteed Freedom of worship by the constitution. Most of the people are Christian, primarily attending Protestant or Roman Catholic churches. African traditional religions have a concept of a supreme being who is known by various names.. Muslims constitute a sizable minority and include both Sunnis and Shīʿites. There are also small populations of Jews, Jains, Sikhs, and Bahaʾis. In remote areas, Christian mission stations offer educational and medical facilities as well as religious ones.

The strategic location of Kenya on the western shores of the Indian Ocean, with easy connections to Mombasa, the country’s principal port, handles the bulk of the import and export traffic not only of Kenya but of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The ports of Lamu and Malindi serve mainly the coastal trade and fisheries.

EDUCATION OF KENYA

The national educational system consists of three levels: eight years of compulsory primary education (beginning at age six), four years at the secondary level, and four years of higher education. The government provides free primary and secondary education. Entrance into secondary school is contingent upon obtaining the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education by passing a national exam.

Public universities include the University of Nairobi (1956) and Kenyatta University (1972) in Nairobi, Moi University (1984) in Eldoret, and Egerton University (1939) in Njoro, as well as the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (1981) in Nairobi. Specialized colleges include Kenya Conservatoire of Music (1944), Kenya Medical Training College (1924), and Kenya Polytechnic (1961) in Nairobi and Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (1972) in Nakuru.