In 1993, the government of Kenya implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform that included the removal of import licensing, price controls, and foreign exchange controls.
The dominant religious affiliations of the Kenyan people are: Various Protestant churches (45 percent), Roman Catholic (33 percent), Muslim (10 percent), traditional religions (10 percent).
The guitar is the most popular instrument in Kenyan music, and songs often feature intricate guitar rhythms.
Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Belize.
Political violence—specifically, the bombing of the United States Embassy by Al Qaeda in 1998; damaged the tourist industry, and Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program lapsed.
The Omani Arabs besieged Portuguese fortresses, openly attacked naval vessels, and had completely expelled the Portuguese from the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts by 1730.
Kenya's gross domestic product grew 5 percent in 1995 and 4 percent in 1996, and inflation remained under control.
Until the unrest occasioned by the disputed election results of December 2007, Kenya had maintained remarkable stability despite changes in its political system and crises in neighboring countries.
Later, the work of one of these NGOs, marshaling the power of religion to promote human understanding, would be cited by Mrs. Odinga as key supporters for reconciliation and peace in Kenya.
Kenyan governance remains basically a patrimony, and corruption in government is still widespread.
Incipient imperial rivalry was forestalled when Germany handed its coastal holdings to Britain in 1890 after the Kenya-Uganda railway was built.
The Kenyan Ministry of Sports has tried to stop the defections, but they have continued, with Bernard Lagat, for example, choosing to represent the United States.
Kenya's location on the eastern coast of Africa and its central highlands that proved ideal for agriculture have largely dominated its modern history.
Several sports are widely popular in Kenya, among them football (soccer), cricket, and boxing.
Omani Arab colonization of the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts brought the once independent city-states under closer foreign domination than during the Portuguese period.
The ensuing stability attracted foreign investment, although Kenyatta's authoritarian policies caused dissent.
Among other things, the new constitution delegates more power to local governments and gives Kenyans a bill of rights.
Kenya has regularly produced champions in various distance events.
The elections, judged free and fair by local and international observers, marked a turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution.
The highest point in Kenya, Mount Kenya, which reaches 17,057 ft (5,199 m) and features glaciers, is found here.
Kenyan lawmakers unanimously approved a power-sharing deal on March 18, 2008, aimed at salvaging a country once seen as one of the most stable and prosperous in Africa.
On February 28, 2008, Kibaki and Odinga signed an agreement on the formation of a coalition government in which Odinga would become Kenya's second prime minister.
Despite British hopes of handing power to "moderate" African rivals, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta formed a government shortly before Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963.
One of the unintended consequences of freeing foreign exchange control was that it allowed a gold-and-diamond export scam, in which the Kenyan government lost over 600 million U.S. dollars.
Lately, there has been controversy in Kenyan athletic circles, with the defection of a number of Kenyan athletes to represent other countries, chiefly Bahrain and Qatar.
Television has proved popular with the Kenyan audience and has been around since the 1960s.
From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule.
The Kenyan highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa.
Recent finds near Kenya's Lake Turkana indicate that hominids such as homo habilis and homo erectus are possible direct ancestors of modern Homo sapiens and lived in Kenya during the Pleistocene era.
Kenya is home to a diverse range of music styles, ranging from imported popular music to traditional folk songs.
At Kenyatta's death in 1978, he was succeeded by Daniel arap Moi, who ran unopposed in one-party elections held in 1979, 1983, and 1988.
International and local NGOs also met simultaneously, just as the Kenyan parliament was meeting to arrive at a solution, to present principles of good governance to all parties in the election dispute.
Chief among Kenya's exports are flowers (horticulture), fruits and vegetables, tea, and coffee.
Kenya has considerable land area for wildlife habitat, including much of the Serengeti plain, where Blue Wildebeest and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration.
Kenya has a presidential system and is a representative democratic republic.The President of Kenya is both head of state and head of government in a multiparty system.
Just a slight correction, Kenya is not considered a Third World Country, it is a Developing Country. ... The reason the term 'developing countries' is used for countries in Africa, Asia and South America is mainly because the gap between the poor and the rich, is ridiculously huge.
While Kenya is on the path to economic growth, however, poverty alleviation remains a challenge. Nearly half of the country's 43 million people live below the poverty line or unable to meet their daily nutritional requirements. ... Kenya also has one of the world's highest rates of population growth.