Kenya
POPULATION 30,766,000
CHRISTIAN 66 percent
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL BELIEFS 28.7 percent
MUSLIM 5 percent
OTHER 0.3 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Republic of Kenya, located along the East African coast, is a microcosm of cultural diversity. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean and Somalia to the east, Ethiopia and The Sudan to the north, Uganda and Lake Victoria to the west, and Tanzania to the south.
Kenya has some 44 ethnic groups. The largest are the Kikuyu, forming 20 percent of the population, the Luya, 14 percent; the Luo, 12 percent; the Kalenjin, 11 percent; and the Kisii, 6 percent. Depending on their language and the origin of their migratory pattern about a thousand years ago, ethnic groups in Kenya are classified as Bantu-speakers (69 percent), Nilotic (27 percent), or Cushitic (3 percent).
Islam was introduced to Kenya by Middle Eastern merchants and Islamic brotherhoods beginning in the seventh century, as well as by Somali Muslims who consistently migrated into northern Kenya. Prior to Islam most Kenyans held traditional, indigenous religions. By the time the Portuguese arrived, following Vasco da Gama's successful maritime voyage to India in 1498, most of the Kenyan coast had already converted to Islam, though the religion had little impact in the interior.
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