Others like the EL Molo up at Lake Turkana or the Waliangulu Elephant hunters near Tsavo Park, are few in number, shy and still backward. The largest are the Kikuyu (22%); followed by the Luhya (14%); the Luo (13%) on the famous Lake Victoria; the Kalenjin (12%); the Kamba (11%) centred on Machakos and Kitui; the Kisii (6%); and the Meru (6%).

Other Africans make up 15% of the population and the non-African community who include the Asians, Europeans, Americans and Arabs comprise 1% of the population.

Kenya, formerly known as British East Africa, became a sovereign state on 12 December 1963 after securing indipendence from the colonial British government. She got her first constitution ammendment in 1964 which was reissued with more amendments in 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997 and 2001. A new draft constitution was defeated by popular referendum in 2005 but a new constitution which was later endorsed by 67% of Kenyans is in place. Kenya's legal system is based on Kenyan statutory law, Kenyan and English common law, tribal law, and Islamic law. The new government is made up of 3 arms; The Executive, Legislature and The Judiciary. In the new govermnent, districts have been made away with and replaced with Counties which are currently 47 in number.

Kenya's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded to 2.20% towards the end of 2012. Historically, from 2005 until 2012, Kenya's GDP Growth Rate averaged 1.15% reaching an all time high of 4.30% in June of 2008 and a record low of -3.90% in March of 2008.

Kenya is one the most developed countries in East Africa, contributing 40% to the East Africa Community (EAC) total GDP. Agriculture and Fishery (including coffee and tea cultivation) is the largest sector of the economy and accounts for about 25%. The fastest growing segments are Wholesale and Retail Trade and Transport and Communication. Together they account for almost 27% of total output. Manufacturing is the third largest sector and represents 11% of the GDP.

Other sectors include: Real Estate, Renting and Business Services and Financial Intermediation (10.8%), Education (6.7%), Other Services (7%), Construction (4%), Public Administration (3.7%), Electricity and Water (2.6%), Hotels and Restaurants (1.5%). Fishing and Mining and Quarrying account for the remaining 1%.

By 2006 there were an estimated 293,400 main telephone lines in use with 6.5 million mobile phone users shared between Safaricom and Zain. With the entry of Orange Kenya in the mobile market, this number is expected to rise. By 2001 there were 24 AM, 18 FM, and 6 SW radio stations in the country. There are 8 TV channels. Kenya has an estimated 2,120 ISPs with about 2.77 million Internet users.

In Kenya one can either travel by road, water or air. There are 225 airports of which 15 have paved runways while 210 do not have paved runways. There are 2,778 km of narrow gauge railway. Mombasa is the only port and serves landlocked countries neighbouring Kenya including Uganda.

Banking hours in Kenya are from 9 am to 3 pm from Monday to Friday and 9 am to 11 am on Saturdays. Although some banks now are open for longer, for instance, Barclays prestige account holders have longer banking hours than ordinary account holders. Banks in Mombasa open 30 minutes earlier.

Kenya has a well developed financial system comprising of a wide variety of institutions, markets, instruments and services. The financial sector plays an important catalytic role of facilitating the growth of all other sectors of the economy.

There are currently 75 embassies/high commissions in Nairobi, and two consulates in Mombassa. Click on the button below right to get a detailed lists of their contacts locally.

Generally the climate is warm and humid at the coast, cool and humid in the central highlands, and hot and dry in the north and east. Across most of the country, rainfall is strongly seasonal, although its pattern, timing and extent vary greatly from place to place and from year to year. Rainfall peaks in most areas are in November and April.

In general the welcome you get in Kenya is refreshing and Kenyans will often stop to talk to the foreign visitor. They are a relaxed and informal people. It's fair to say, however that they're sensitive on several points, notably religion, colonialism and photography.

Numerous entertaining festivals and events are hosted in various regions across Kenya although most tend to be in Nairobi.

Kenya is active in several sports, among them football (soccer), rugby, cricket and boxing. But the country is known chiefly for its dominance in cross country and road running, and middle and long-distance athletics.

Kenya uses the metric system.

The sunlight here is intense and you should allow a faster exposure than you would in Europe. The DIN, ASA and Weston meter settings recommended by film manufacturers are now for the minimum exposure, not the average, and so are just about right East African conditions.

There are no house-to-house deliveries of mail, so all postal addresses are Post Office Box Numbers. To send an internal letter would cost Kshs. 21.00.

East African time is three hours ahead of GMT. Thus at midday (1200) in Kenya it is 10 am (1000) in London (British Standard Time) and Rome, 4 am (0400) in New York

English is spoken widely and is the accepted language in the cities, hotels, restaurants etc. However, as well as numerous tribal languages, Kenya has its own lingua franca - Swahili or Kiswahili.

Visitors from the Far East, Central America, South, Central and West Africa may be required to have valid certificates of inoculation against yellow fever and cholera.

All visitors must have a visitor's pass which can be obtained from Kenya embassies abroad or on arrival, subject to the possession of a valid visa.

Comfortable clothes matter a lot, as in all tropical climates. For women a woolly is essential and a light woolen suit useful. At the Coast during the day light cottons and linens are the thing, preferably washable.

You drive on the left giving way to traffic from the right at intersections. You can use a current license from your home country for up to 90 days. The speed limit in Kenya is 100kph (62 mph).

Air travel insurance is a must irrespective of the fact that you are traveling within your own country, or abroad. Insurance cover protects you and your family from getting into a crisis situation.