described as "the cradle of humanity." 

An East African country formally known as British East Africa is situated along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia (northeast), Tanzania (south), Uganda plus Lake Victoria (west), and Sudan (northwest). The capital city of Nairobi is the 2^nd largest in all of Africa (after Cairo). Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas with nearly 38 million people. Kenya boast numerous wildlife reserves, containing thousands of animal species. The “Big Five” animals of Africa can also be found in Kenya: the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant.

At first Cushitic speaking people from northern Africa moved into the area beginning around 2000 BC. Later in the 1^st century AD, Arab traders began frequenting the Kenya coast. Kenya’s proximity to the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian settlements sprouted along the coast by the 8^th century. In the centuries preceding colonization, the Swahili coast of Kenya was part of the east Africa region which traded with the Arab world and India especially for ivory and slaves. Kenya is a country of great ethnic diversity. The people of Kenya are made up of many different tribes or ethnicities pouring into this territory from all over the eastern region belonging to or coming from those neighboring nations.

Most Kenyans are bilingual in English and Swahili. European influences began with the arrive of the Portuguese, and much later by the British, culminating in Kenya’s national independence.

Kenya comprises 8 provinces each headed by a Provincial Commissioner (centrally appointed by the president). Local governance in Kenya is practiced through local authorities. The Kenyan highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa. The highlands are the site of the highest point in Kenya, and the second highest in all of Africa. The highlands are bisected by the Great Rift Valley; a fertile plateau in the east. The Climate varies from tropical along the coast to arid in the interior.

Some of its industry is petroleum products, grain and sugar milling, cement, beer, soft drinks, textiles, vehicle assembly, paper and light manufacturing, tourism. Some of its agricultural production is tea, coffee, sugarcane, corn, wheat, rice, and much more.

The vast majority of Kenyans are Christian with 45% regarding themselves as Protestant and 33% as Roman Catholic. Sizeable minorities of other faiths do exist (Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%). Some have reported that the percentage of Muslims within the overall population of the Kenyan people could be as much as 20% to 45%.