Kenya and its people...

Travel through Kenya and experience the whole of Africa in one country! This East African republic offers diverse cultures and landscapes.

Kenya's area of 582,000 square kilometers makes it slightly larger than France, about two and a half times the size of Britain and one and a half times the size of California. The equator runs through the middle of Kenya, splitting the country in two halves! Kenya is a ceaselessly active, contrasting landscape of plateaus, mountains, shimmering deserts, thorn tree savannah, an exotic tropical coastline,lakes and hot springs, volcanoes, dense forests, snow on the equator and of course wildlife.

The Central highlands area is a plateau more than 1800m high, and one of the most fertile areas in the world. It is considered to be the political and economic heartland of the country. Two thirds of the land in the north and east are desert and semi-desert, with Lake Turkana being a highlight – almost unnaturally jade coloured and enormous in the wilderness. The south and southwest consist mainly of thorn tree savannah. Western Kenya towards Lake Victoria consists of dense agriculture, rolling green valleys and forests. In the east, on the Indian Ocean lies the Kenyan coast. The white beaches and lagoons are protected by one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world, rated third by experienced divers, along with Australia's Barrier Reef and the Red Sea.

The majority of the population lives in the highland areas in the southwest quarter of the country. Ripping through the heart of these highlands is the Great Rift Valley, dotted with lakes that shimmer pink due to the thousands of flamingoes, with hot springs and volcanoes. The population in Kenya stands at approximately 35 million with a birth rate of 3.5% - one of the highest in the world. There are more than 40 tribal groups in Kenya, each with its own language, traditions and culture. The most important ethnic distinction is language - the Bantu speaking tribes make up about 65% of the population, the Nilotic speaking about 30% and the Cushitic speaking 3%. Apart from the African majority, Kenya has a small minority of Asians, Arabs and Europeans.