TRADITIONAL AFRICAN CULTURE

Native African culture has been diluted in many parts of Kenya by outside influences. So for example, Kenya’s music is often a mixture of African, Indian, European and American styles.

Many Kenyan communities have also adopted westernized or Islamic forms of dress, with their original tribal clothes, jewellery, body ornamentation and weaponry kept for special occasions or celebrations.

Warrior

 Maasai warriors dancing However, in certain parts of Kenya, particularly across the more arid and inaccessible north, communities retain their traditional culture and ways of living. Among nomadic and pastoral tribes such as the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana, people still wear clothes or skins and elaborate jewelry of beads and metalwork.

 Belief systems among some remote tribes also remain indigenous. Across Kenya as a whole two-thirds of people are Christian. With the centuries-old influence of Arabic and Islamic traders and settlers (particularly along the coast), around 15% of Kenyans are Muslim.

KENYA

Kenya is located in East Africa and borders Somalia to the northeast, Ethiopia to the north, Sudan to the northwest, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the east. The country straddles the equator, covering a total of 224,961 square miles (582,600 square kilometers; roughly twice the size of the state of Nevada). Kenya has wide white-sand beaches on the coast. Inland plains cover three-quarters of the country; they are mostly bush, covered in underbrush. In the west are the highlands where the altitude rises from three thousand to ten thousand feet. Nairobi, Kenya's largest city and capital, is located in the central highlands. The highest point, at 17,058 feet (5,200 meters), is Mount Kenya. For more information

Mombasa town

Kenya shares Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and the main source of the Nile River, with Tanzania and Uganda. Another significant feature of Kenyan geography is the Great Rift Valley, the wide, steep canyon that cuts through the highlands. Kenya is also home to some of the world's most spectacular wildlife, including elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, antelope, wildebeests, and many rare and beautiful species of birds. Unfortunately, the animal population is threatened by both hunting and an expanding human population; wildlife numbers fell drastically through the twentieth century. The government has introduced strict legislation regulating hunting, and has established a system of national parks to protect the wildlife.