Kenya
- Capital:
- Nairobi
- Continent:
- Africa
- Region(s):
- Eastern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
- Abbreviation:
- KEN
* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 20.5 seconds
1 death
Every 1.3 minutes
1 emigrant
Every 19.2 minutes
1 person
Every 28.6 seconds
Kenya is one of the most varied lands on the planet both in terms of its geography and its ethnic population. The Republic of Kenya sits on the equator where it’s bordered by the Indian Ocean, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia.
The last official census took place in Kenya back in 2009 when it was confirmed that 38,610,097 people were living in the country. Estimates are released on a regular basis, and in 2011, it was claimed that those numbers had risen to 41 million.
Coming back to the issue of diverse ethnicity, it’s interesting to consider the many varied groups that make up the population of Kenya. Based on data from the CIA World Factbook, they can be divided as follows:
Kenya’s population is very diverse and home to most of Africa’s linguistic and ethnic groups. There are believed to be at least 42 communities, although Nilotes (30%) and Bantus (67%) account for a majority, followed by Cushitic groups, Arabs, Indians, and Europeans.
The official languages used in Kenya include English (official), Kiswahili (official), and numerous indigenous languages and dialects.
Kenya has a very young population that has led to very rapid population growth. Almost three-quarters of the population is under the age of 30 and Kenya has grown from 2.9 million to almost 40 million people within a century.
When we examine the diversity of religion in Kenya, the World Factbook gives us a breakdown of Christian 83% (Protestant 47.7%, Catholic 23.4%, other Christian 11.9%), Muslim 11.2%, Traditionalists 1.7%, other 1.6%, none 2.4%, and unspecified at 0.2% of the population, as estimated in 2009.
The World Factbook also has a collection of information that pertains to quality of life. In terms of healthcare, Kenya spends approximately 5.7% of the national GDP on this sector, earning it a low physician density of .2 per 1,000 individuals and only 1.4 hospital beds per 1,000 residents. When we turn to sanitation and clean drinking water access, only 63.2% have improved access to drinking water and only 30.1% of the total population has access to improved sanitation facilities. In addition to these relatively poor numbers, educational spending is at 5.3% of the GDP and only 78% of the population over 15 years of age can read and write. The figures likely give some influence to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country, which currently estimates 4.8% of adults living with the disease, and a death rate from HIV/AIDS of at least 28,000.
Kenya’s population at the beginning of the 20th century was much different from its population at the end. The growth was close to exponential. The growth began to slow at the turn of the century and the country is still making its way back to a manageable growth rate.