Demographics of Kenya
Encyclopedia
Kenya
is a multi-ethnic state in the southern Great Lakes
region of East Africa
. It is primarily inhabited by Bantu and Nilotic
populations, with some Cushitic ethnic minorities in the north. Its total population is estimated at 41 million inhabitants as of 2011.
A national census was conducted in 1999, but its final results were never released. A new census was undertaken in 2009, but it turned out to be controversial, as the questions about ethnic affiliation seemed inappropriate after the ethnic violence
of the previous year. Preliminary results of the census were published in 2010.
Kenyan population was reported as 38.6 million in 2009, compared to in 28.7 million in 1999, 21.4 million in 1989 and 15.3 million 1979, an increase by a factor of 2.5 over 30 years, or an average growth of more than 3% per year. The population growth rate has been reported as somewhat reduced during the 2000s and is now estimated at 2.7% (as of 2010), resulting in an estimate of a total population 41 million in 2011.
. The majority of the country's population belongs to various Bantu sub-groups, with a significant number of Nilotes
.
Cushitic
peoples form a small ethnic minority of about 2%, mostly represented by Oromo
and Somali
speakers.
Swahili
and English
are official languages. Swahili is compulsory in primary education, and, along with English, serves as the main lingua franca
between the various ethnic groups.
SIL Ethnologue lists a total of 69 individual languages spoken in Kenya.
Kenya's diversity is such that its largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, make up for less than a fifth of total population.
Ever since Kenyan independence in 1963, Kenyan politics have been characterized by ethnic tensions and rivalry between the larger groups, devolving into ethnic violence
in the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
.
The 2009 census figures give the ethnic composition as follows (out of a total population of 38.6 million):
Kikuyu 17%,
Luhya 14%,
Kalenjin 13%,
Luo
10%,
Kamba
10%,
Kisii 6%,
Mijikenda
5%,
Meru
4%,
Turkana
2.5%,
Maasai
2.1%. About 9% of population consist of smaller indigenous group below 1% each, and
Non-African groups (Arab
s, India
ns and Europeans) are estimated to total to about 1%.
. Originally from West
-Central
Africa, Bantus began a millennium-long series of migrations referred to as the Bantu expansion
that first brought them to East Africa
about 2000 years ago.
Most Bantu are farmers
. Some of the prominent Bantu groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu,the Kamba the Luhya, and the Meru. The Swahili people
are descended from Bantu peoples that intermarried with immigrant Arab
and Persian
traders.
are the second-largest group of peoples in Kenya. They speak Nilo-Saharan languages
and came to Eastern Africa by way of South Sudan
, although their ultimate place of origin is believed to be West Africa
from a population they share with the Bantus. Most Nilotes in Kenya are herdsmen
, and they have a fearsome reputation as warriors and cattle-rustlers. The most prominent of these groups include the Luo, Maasai, the Samburu, the Turkana
, and the Kalenjin. As with the Bantu, the Nilotes have adopted many customs and practices from the Cushitic groups, including the age set
system of social organization, circumcision
, and vocabulary terms.
form a significant minority of Kenya's population. They speak Afro-Asiatic languages
, and originally came from Ethiopia
and Somalia
in Northeast Africa. Most are herdsmen
and Muslim
. Cushites are concentrated in the northernmost North Eastern Province, which borders Somalia.
The Cushitic-speaking peoples are divided into two groups: the Southern Cushites and Eastern Cushites.
Total population is reported as 41.07 million as of July 2011, with an age structure of:
The population growth rate is estimated at 2.69% p.a., with a birth rate of
36.64 births/1,000 population and a death rate of 9.72 deaths/1,000 population
The sex ratio
as of 2006 was estimated at
Like the demographics of Africa
in general, Kenya is plagued by high infant mortality, low life expectancy, malnourishment (32% of population) and HIV/AIDS
.
While these concerns remain grave, a trend towards improvement is reported in the period of 2006 to 2010: Infant mortality
was at estimated at 59.26 deaths/1,000 live births as of 2006, decreasing to 54.7 deaths/1,000 live births as of 2010.
Life expectancy
was estimated at 48.9 years as of 2006, and has risen to 57.9 years as of 2010. Total fertility rate has decreased slightly, from 4.91 children born per woman (2006 estimate), to a value of 4.38 (2010 estimate).
Literacy (age 7 and over can read and write) was estimated at 85.1% in 2003 (male: 90.6%, female: 79.7%).
47.7 %, Roman Catholic 23.5 %, other Christian 11.9 %, Muslim
11.2 %, no religion 2.4 %, indigenous beliefs 1.7 %, Bahá'í Faith
about 1%, Buddhism
0.3 %, other 2 %
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
is a multi-ethnic state in the southern Great Lakes
African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes and the Rift Valley lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African Rift on the continent of Africa...
region of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. It is primarily inhabited by Bantu and Nilotic
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
populations, with some Cushitic ethnic minorities in the north. Its total population is estimated at 41 million inhabitants as of 2011.
A national census was conducted in 1999, but its final results were never released. A new census was undertaken in 2009, but it turned out to be controversial, as the questions about ethnic affiliation seemed inappropriate after the ethnic violence
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis refers to a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic...
of the previous year. Preliminary results of the census were published in 2010.
Kenyan population was reported as 38.6 million in 2009, compared to in 28.7 million in 1999, 21.4 million in 1989 and 15.3 million 1979, an increase by a factor of 2.5 over 30 years, or an average growth of more than 3% per year. The population growth rate has been reported as somewhat reduced during the 2000s and is now estimated at 2.7% (as of 2010), resulting in an estimate of a total population 41 million in 2011.
Ethnic groups
Kenya has a very diverse population that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguistic groups found in AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. The majority of the country's population belongs to various Bantu sub-groups, with a significant number of Nilotes
Nilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
.
Cushitic
Cushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. They are named after the Biblical character Cush, who was identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these specific languages as early as AD 947...
peoples form a small ethnic minority of about 2%, mostly represented by Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
and Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
speakers.
Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
are official languages. Swahili is compulsory in primary education, and, along with English, serves as the main lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
between the various ethnic groups.
SIL Ethnologue lists a total of 69 individual languages spoken in Kenya.
Kenya's diversity is such that its largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, make up for less than a fifth of total population.
Ever since Kenyan independence in 1963, Kenyan politics have been characterized by ethnic tensions and rivalry between the larger groups, devolving into ethnic violence
Ethnic violence
Ethnic violence refers to violence expressly motivated by ethnic hatred...
in the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis refers to a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic...
.
The 2009 census figures give the ethnic composition as follows (out of a total population of 38.6 million):
Kikuyu 17%,
Luhya 14%,
Kalenjin 13%,
Luo
Luo (family of ethnic groups)
The Luo are an ethnic linguistic group located in an area that stretches from South Sudan and Ethiopia through northern Uganda and eastern Congo , into western Kenya, and ending in the upper tip of Tanzania. These people speak an Eastern Sudanic language, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language...
10%,
Kamba
Kamba
The Kamba are a Bantu ethnic group who live in the semi-arid Eastern Province of Kenya stretching east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu, Kenya. This land is called Ukambani. Sources vary on whether they are the third, fourth or the fifth largest ethnic group in Kenya...
10%,
Kisii 6%,
Mijikenda
Mijikenda
The Mijikenda are the nine ethnic groups along the coast of Kenya, from the border of Somalia in the north to the border of Tanzania in the south...
5%,
Meru
Ameru
The Meru people, or Ameru, are a Bantu ethnic group who mainly inhabit the Meru region of Kenya. They speak Kimîîru language.The Meru people of Kenya should not be mistaken with the Meru of neighboring Tanzania, or Wameru.-Location:...
4%,
Turkana
Turkana
Turkana may refer to:* Turkana people of Kenya and Ethiopia* Turkana language of Kenya and Ethiopia* Lake Turkana in Kenya* Lake Turkana National Parks* Turkana District in Kenya* the fictional world of Turkana IV in a Star Trek Next Generation episode...
2.5%,
Maasai
Maasai
The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known of African ethnic groups, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa...
2.1%. About 9% of population consist of smaller indigenous group below 1% each, and
Non-African groups (Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s, India
South Asian ethnic groups
The ethno-linguistic composition of the population of South Asia, that is the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka is highly diverse. The majority of the population fall within two large Linguistic groups, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian.These groups are further...
ns and Europeans) are estimated to total to about 1%.
Bantus
Bantus are the single largest population division in Kenya. The term Bantu denotes widely-dispersed but related peoples that speak south-central Niger–Congo languagesNiger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...
. Originally from West
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
-Central
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
Africa, Bantus began a millennium-long series of migrations referred to as the Bantu expansion
Bantu expansion
The Bantu expansion or the Bantu Migration was a millennia-long series of migrations of speakers of the original proto-Bantu language group...
that first brought them to East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
about 2000 years ago.
Most Bantu are farmers
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. Some of the prominent Bantu groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu,the Kamba the Luhya, and the Meru. The Swahili people
Swahili people
The Swahili people are a Bantu ethnic group and culture found in East Africa, mainly in the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya, Tanzania and north Mozambique. According to JoshuaProject, the Swahili number in at around 1,328,000. The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word Sawahil,...
are descended from Bantu peoples that intermarried with immigrant Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
traders.
Nilotes
NilotesNilotic
Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage, refers to some ethnic groups mainly in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern Tanzania, who speak Nilotic languages, a large sub-group of the Nilo-Saharan languages...
are the second-largest group of peoples in Kenya. They speak Nilo-Saharan languages
Nilo-Saharan languages
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers , including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet...
and came to Eastern Africa by way of South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, although their ultimate place of origin is believed to be West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
from a population they share with the Bantus. Most Nilotes in Kenya are herdsmen
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
, and they have a fearsome reputation as warriors and cattle-rustlers. The most prominent of these groups include the Luo, Maasai, the Samburu, the Turkana
Turkana people
The Turkana are a Nilotic people native to the Turkana District in northwest Kenya, a dry and hot region bordering Lake Turkana in the east, Pokot, Rendille and Samburuto the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan and Ethiopia to the north...
, and the Kalenjin. As with the Bantu, the Nilotes have adopted many customs and practices from the Cushitic groups, including the age set
Age set
In anthropology, an age set is a social category or corporate social group, consisting of people of similar age, who have a common identity, maintain close ties over a prolonged period, and together pass through a series of age-related statuses...
system of social organization, circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
, and vocabulary terms.
Cushites
CushitesCushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. They are named after the Biblical character Cush, who was identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these specific languages as early as AD 947...
form a significant minority of Kenya's population. They speak Afro-Asiatic languages
Afro-Asiatic languages
The Afroasiatic languages , also known as Hamito-Semitic, constitute one of the world's largest language families, with about 375 living languages...
, and originally came from Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
in Northeast Africa. Most are herdsmen
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
. Cushites are concentrated in the northernmost North Eastern Province, which borders Somalia.
The Cushitic-speaking peoples are divided into two groups: the Southern Cushites and Eastern Cushites.
- The Southern Cushites were the second earliest inhabitants of Kenya after the indigenous BushmanBushmenThe indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
hunter-gatherer groups, and the first of the Cushitic-speaking peoples to migrate from their homeland in the Horn of Africa about 2000 years ago. Responsible for having introduced irrigationIrrigationIrrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and compostCompostCompost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting for the materials to break down from anywhere...
ing techniques to East Africa, they were progressively displaced in a southerly direction and/or absorbed by the incoming Nilotic and Bantu groups until they wound up in TanzaniaTanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. As a consequence of these movements, there are no longer any Southern Cushites left in Kenya (the DahaloDahalo languageDahalo is an endangered South Cushitic language spoken by at most 400 people on the Kenyan coast near the mouth of the Tana River. The Dahalo, former elephant hunters, are dispersed among Swahili and other Bantu peoples, with no villages of their own, and are bilingual in those languages...
originally being Bushman peoples who adopted the language of their dominant Southern Cushitic neighbors sometime toward the last millennium BCE).
- The Eastern Cushites include the OromoOromo peopleThe Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
and the SomaliSomalis in KenyaSomalis in Kenya are citizens and residents of Kenya who are of Somali descent. Somalis are one of the largest Cushitic-speaking ethnic minority groups in the country. They first started arriving in the area in the 19th century. Following the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1991, many...
. Of these, the Somali are the most recent arrivals to Kenya, having first come from Somalia only a few centuries ago. After the Northern Frontier District (North Eastern Province) was handed over to Kenyan nationalists at the end of British colonial rule in Kenya, Somalis in the region fought the Shifta WarShifta WarThe Shifta War was a secessionist conflict in which ethnic Somalis in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya attempted to join with their fellow Somalis in a Greater Somalia...
against Kenyan troops to join their kin in the Somali Republic to the north. Although they ultimately lost the war, Somalis in the region still identify and maintain close ties with their kin in Somalia, and see themselves as one people. An entrepreneurial community, they have increasingly begun asserting themselves in the business sector as more have immigrated into the country, particularly in EastleighEastleigh, NairobiEastleigh is a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya. It is located east of the Central business district. Predominantly inhabited by Somali immigrants, it has been described as "Little Mogadishu", as well as "a country within a country with its own economy" on account of its robust business...
.
Non-African
- ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s form a small but historically important minority ethnic group in Kenya. They are principally concentrated along the coast in cities such as MombasaMombasaMombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
. A Muslim community, they primarily came from YemenYemenThe Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
and are engaged in trade. Arabs are locally referred to as Washihiri or, less commonly, as simply Shihiri in the Bantu Swahili languageSwahili languageSwahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, Kenya's lingua francaLingua francaA lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
. - Indians in KenyaIndians in KenyaThere are currently over 100,000 Indians in Kenya, most living in the major urban areas of Nairobi and Mombasa with others living in rural areas. Most are Hindus and with some Muslims, often with their own businesses and places of worship...
are primarily noted for their business acumen. Many Kenyan Indians hail from the Gujrat region. While there have been some race-related tensions with the local Bantu and Nilotic majority, Indians nonetheless form one of the most prosperous communities in the region. - Europeans in Kenya primarily consist of descendants of British colonials. Many are of aristocraticAristocracyAristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
descent and still continue to wield significant influence, especially over Kenya's political elite. Britons and other Europeans in Kenya have also traditionally dominated the local business community. They are colloquially known as mzungu in Swahili.
Population statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.Total population is reported as 41.07 million as of July 2011, with an age structure of:
- 0–14 years: 42.3% (male 8,300,393/female 8,181,898)
- 15–64 years: 55.1% (male 10,784,119/female 10,702,999)
- 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 470,218/female 563,145)
The population growth rate is estimated at 2.69% p.a., with a birth rate of
36.64 births/1,000 population and a death rate of 9.72 deaths/1,000 population
The sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....
as of 2006 was estimated at
- at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
- under 16 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
- 15–64 years: ? male(s)/female
Like the demographics of Africa
Demographics of Africa
The population of Africa has grown exponentially over the past century, and consequently shows a large youth bulge, further reinforced by a low life expectancy of below 50 years in most African countries. The population doubled in the period 1982–2009 and quadrupled from 1955–2009, according to...
in general, Kenya is plagued by high infant mortality, low life expectancy, malnourishment (32% of population) and HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS in Africa
HIV/AIDS is a major public health concern and cause of death in Africa. Although Africa is home to about 14.5% of the world's population, it is estimated to be home to 67% of all people living with HIV and to 72% of all AIDS deaths in 2009.-Overview:...
.
While these concerns remain grave, a trend towards improvement is reported in the period of 2006 to 2010: Infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
was at estimated at 59.26 deaths/1,000 live births as of 2006, decreasing to 54.7 deaths/1,000 live births as of 2010.
Life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
was estimated at 48.9 years as of 2006, and has risen to 57.9 years as of 2010. Total fertility rate has decreased slightly, from 4.91 children born per woman (2006 estimate), to a value of 4.38 (2010 estimate).
Literacy (age 7 and over can read and write) was estimated at 85.1% in 2003 (male: 90.6%, female: 79.7%).
Religion
ProtestantProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
47.7 %, Roman Catholic 23.5 %, other Christian 11.9 %, Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
11.2 %, no religion 2.4 %, indigenous beliefs 1.7 %, Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
about 1%, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
0.3 %, other 2 %
External links
- Kenya: Minorities, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Diversity, report by Minority Rights Group, 2005