Kenya has an influential history. Kenya is known as the land behind Born Free, but few people realise how the colonial influences on Kenya have altered the economic base of this African nation.
In 1500, the Portuguese colonized Kenya, but by the 17th century Oman and the other Arab nations ousted this colonial power and took control. The Arabs had control of Kenya until 1885, when British signed an agreement with Oman releasing the east African colony into England's colonial commonwealth. Kenya finally gained complete independence in 1963.
Kenya's population consists mostly of black Africans, with
Arabs, Europeans and Asians holding the minorities. The black Africans are divided into 40 ethnic groups. These groups belong to four linguistic families - Bantu, Nilo-hamitic, Nilotic, and Hamitic. The four largest ethnic groups inn these families are:
Bantu-speaking(Kikuyu), Bantu(Luhya), Bantu(Kamba), and Nilotic(Luo).
Kenya is divided into seven administrative provinces:
Coastal, Eastern, Central, Rift Valley, Nyanza, Northeastern, and Western. There is some controversy over whether Kenya's capitol, Niarobi, should be included in that count, or as a separate province.
In the 1960s and 1970s, much of Kenya's lifestyle was based on agriculture, but in about the last ten years or so Kenya has become more industrialized. And, as it continues to expand, it begins, slowly, to leave the urban centers such as Niarobi and Mombasa. However, unlike some south African countries, cars are not a luxury item for only the rich political leaders. Even in rural areas, many Kenyans own cars. In the suburbs, and in the cities themselves, everyday traffic much resembles New York City.
Children, both boys and girls, attend church run schools. Many rural areas don't have schools, and children often attend the nearest city school.
