Demographics of Kenya

Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. It is primarily inhabited by Bantu and Nilotic populations, with some Cushitic ethnic minorities in the north. Its total population is estimated at 45 million as of 2014.

A national census was conducted in 1999, but results were never released. A new census was undertaken in 2009, but turned out to be controversial, as the questions about ethnic affiliation seemed inappropriate after the ethnic violence of the previous year.^[1] Preliminary results of the census were published in 2010.^[2]

Kenya's population was reported as 38.6 million in 2009, compared to in 28.7 million in 1999, 21.4 million in 1989 and 15.3 million 1979,^[3] an increase by a factor of 2.5 over 30 years, or an average growth of more than 3% per year. The population growth rate has been reported as reduced during the 2000s and is now estimated at 2.7% (as of 2010), resulting in an estimate of 41 million in 2011.

Ethnic groups

A Maasai man.

Kenya has a very diverse population that includes most major ethnic, racial and linguistic groups found in Africa. The majority of the country's population belongs to various Bantu sub-groups, with a significant number of Nilotes.

Cushitic peoples form an ethnic minority of about 7%, mostly represented by Oromo and Somali speakers.

Swahili and English are official languages. Swahili is compulsory in primary education, and, along with English, serves as the main lingua franca between the various ethnic groups.

SIL Ethnologue lists a total of 68 individual languages spoken in Kenya.^[4]

Kenya's diversity is such that its largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, make up less than a fifth of the population. Ever since Kenyan independence in 1963, Kenyan politics have been characterized by ethnic tensions and rivalry between the larger groups, devolving into ethnic violence in the 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis.

CIA World Factbook gives the ethnic composition as follows ^[5]

• Kikuyu 22%,
• Luhya 14%,
• Luo 13%,
• Kalenjin 12%,
• Kamba 11%,
• Meru 6%,
• Other African 15%,
• Non-African 1% (Asian, European, and Arab)

Bantu peoples

Bantus are the single largest population division in Kenya. The term Bantu denotes widely dispersed but related peoples that speak south-central Niger–Congo languages. Originally from West-Central Africa, Bantus began a millennium-long series of migrations referred to as the Bantu expansion that first brought them to Southeast Africa about 2000 years ago.

Most Bantu are farmers. Some of the prominent Bantu groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu, the Kamba, the Luhya, the Meru, the Mijikenda and the Kisii. The Swahili people are descended from Mijikenda Bantu peoples that intermarried with Arab and Persian immigrants.^[6][7]

Nilotic peoples

Nilotes are the second-largest group of peoples in Kenya. They speak Nilo-Saharan languages and came to Southeast Africa by way of South Sudan.^[6] Most Nilotes in Kenya are herdsmen, and they have a fearsome reputation as warriors and cattle-rustlers. The most prominent of these groups include the Luo, Maasai, the Samburu, the Turkana, and the Kalenjin.^[6] As with the Bantu, the Nilotes have adopted many customs and practices from the Cushitic groups, including the age set system of social organization, circumcision, and vocabulary terms.^[8][9]

Cushitic peoples

Cushitic peoples form a small minority of Kenya's population. They speak Afro-Asiatic languages, and originally came from Ethiopia and Somalia in Northeast Africa. Most are herdsmen and Muslim.^[9] Cushites are concentrated in the northernmost North Eastern Province, which borders Somalia.^[10]

The Cushitic-speaking peoples are divided into two groups: the Southern Cushites and Eastern Cushites.

• The Southern Cushites were the second earliest inhabitants of Kenya after the indigenous hunter-gatherer groups,^[11] and the first of the Cushitic-speaking peoples to migrate from their homeland in the Horn of Africa about 2000 years ago.^[9] Responsible for having introduced irrigation and composting techniques to Southeast Africa,^[12] they were progressively displaced in a southerly direction and/or absorbed by the incoming Nilotic and Bantu groups until they wound up in Tanzania.^[9] As a consequence of these movements, there are no longer any Southern Cushites left in Kenya (the Dahalo originally being pre-Cushitic peoples who adopted the language of their dominant Southern Cushitic neighbors sometime toward the last millennium BCE^[12]).
• The Eastern Cushites include the Oromo and the Somali. Of these, the Somali are the most recent arrivals to Kenya, having first come from Somalia only a few centuries ago.^[9] After the Northern Frontier District (North Eastern Province) was handed over to Kenyan nationalists at the end of British colonial rule in Kenya, Somalis in the region fought the Shifta War against Kenyan troops to join their kin in the Somali Republic to the north. Although the war ended into a cease-fire, Somalis in the region still identify and maintain close ties with their kin in Somalia, and see themselves as one people.^[13] An entrepreneurial community, they established themselves in the business sector, particularly in Eastleigh.^[14]

Arabs

• Arabs form a small but historically important minority ethnic group in Kenya. They are principally concentrated along the coast in cities such as Mombasa. A Muslim community, they primarily came from Oman and Hadhramaut in Yemen, and are engaged in trade. Arabs are locally referred to as Washihiri or, less commonly, as simply Shihiri in the Bantu Swahili language, Kenya's lingua franca.^[10] According to the 2009 Census, Kenyan Arabs number 40,760 people.^[15]

Indians

• Indians are primarily descendants of migrants who arrived in Kenya between 1896 and 1901, when some 32,000 indentured labourers were recruited from British India to build the Kenya-Uganda Railway.^[16] Since Kenyan independence, they have been principally concentrated in the business sector. Many Kenyan Indians hail from the Gujarat region. While there have been some race-related tensions with the local Bantu and Nilotic majority, Indians now form one of the more prosperous communities in the region.^[10] According to the 2009 Census, Kenyan Asians number 46,782 people, while Asians without Kenyan citizenship number 35,009 individuals.^[15]

Europeans

• Europeans in Kenya primarily consist of descendants of British colonials. Many are of aristocratic descent and still continue to wield significant influence, especially over Kenya's political elite. Since the Independence of Kenya, Britons and other Europeans in Kenya also continue to dominate the local business community.^[10] According to the 2009 Census, Kenyan Europeans number 35,000 people, while Europeans without Kenyan citizenship number 32,000 individuals.

Languages

Lord's Prayer in Swahili, a Bantu language that alongside English serves as a lingua franca for many in Kenya.

Kenya's various ethnic groups typically speak their mother tongues within their own communities. The two official languages, English and Swahili, are used in varying degrees of fluency for communication with other populations. English is widely spoken in commerce, schooling and government.^[17] Peri-urban and rural dwellers are less multilingual, with many in rural areas speaking only their native languages.^[18]

According to Ethnologue, there are a total of 69 languages spoken in Kenya. Most belong to two broad language families: Niger-Congo (Bantu branch) and Nilo-Saharan (Nilotic branch), which are spoken by the country's Bantu and Nilotic populations, respectively. The Cushitic and Arab ethnic minorities speak languages belonging to the separate Afro-Asiatic family, with the Indian and European residents speaking languages from the Indo-European family.^[19]

Population

According to the 2010 of the World Population Prospects, the total population was 40,513,000 in 2010 compared to 6,077,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 42.5%, 54.9% between 15 and 65, and 2.7% was 65 years or older.^[20]

Year	Total population (x 1000)	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	6,077	39.8	56.3	3.9
1955	6,980	42.8	53.4	3.8
1960	8,105	46.4	49.9	3.7
1965	9,505	48.4	48.0	3.6
1970	11,252	49.1	47.5	3.4
1975	13,486	49.6	47.1	3.3
1980	16,268	50.0	47.1	3.0
1985	19,655	50.0	47.2	2.8
1990	23,447	49.0	48.3	2.7
1995	27,426	46.5	50.8	2.7
2000	31,254	44.3	52.9	2.8
2005	35,615	42.7	54.5	2.8
2010	40,513	42.5	54.9	2.7

Population by province in 2009 census

A map of Kenya.

^[21]

Province	2009
Kenya (country total)	38,610,097
Nairobi (capital city)	3,138,369
Central	4,383,743
Coast	3,325,307
Eastern	5,668,123
North Eastern	2,310,757
Nyanza	5,442,711
Rift Valley	10,006,805
Western	4,334,282

Population by census year

Year	Population
1962	8,636,300
1969	10,942,705
1979	15,327,061
1989	21,448,774
1999	28,686,607
2009	40,610,097

Fertility and Births (Demographic and Health Surveys)

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[22]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
1977		8,1
1984		7,7
1989		6,7		4,5		7,1
1993	35,8	5,40 (3,4)	35,1	3,44 (2,5)	35,9	5,80 (3,7)
1998	34,6	4,70 (3,5)	33,6	3,12 (2,6)	34,7	5,16 (3,8)
2003	37,5	4,9 (3,6)	35,3	3,3 (2,6)	38,1	5,4 (3,9)
2008-2009 (census)	34,8	4,6 (3,4)	32,5	2,9 (2,5)	35,3	5,2 (3,7)
2014	30,5	3,9 (3,0)	31,0	3,1 (2,6)	30,3	4,5 (3,4)

UN population projections

Numbers are in thousands. UN medium variant projections^[20]

• 2015 46,332
• 2020 52,563
• 2025 59,054
• 2030 65,928
• 2035 73,257
• 2040 80,975
• 2045 88,907
• 2050 96,887

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Kenya not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[20]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	334 000	154 000	181 000	51.2	23.6	27.7	7.48	147
1955-1960	388 000	163 000	225 000	51.5	21.6	29.8	7.79	134
1960-1965	449 000	165 000	284 000	51.0	18.8	32.2	8.07	117
1965-1970	525 000	172 000	353 000	50.6	16.5	34.1	8.11	104
1970-1975	628 000	178 000	450 000	50.8	14.4	36.4	7.99	91
1975-1980	743 000	186 000	557 000	49.9	12.5	37.4	7.64	80
1980-1985	869 000	192 000	677 000	48.4	10.7	37.7	7.22	70
1985-1990	972 000	214 000	757 000	45.1	9.9	35.1	6.54	67
1990-1995	1 003 000	252 000	751 000	39.4	9.9	29.5	5.57	66
1995-2000	1 115 000	345 000	770 000	38.0	11.8	26.2	5.07	69
2000-2005	1 294 000	427 000	867 000	38.7	12.8	25.9	5.00	70
2005-2010	1 447 000	429 000	1 017 000	38.0	11.3	26.7	4.80	65
2010-2015	1 531 000	376 000	1 155 000				4.44
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths ^[23]

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2009		698 447	178 352	520 095
2010		798 016	185 100	612 916
2011		771 150	182 652	588 498
2012		801 815	187 811	614 004
2013		870 599	194 332	676 267
2014		954 254	198 611	755 643

Population statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Total population is reported as 41.07 million as of July 2011.

Health

Like the demographics of Africa in general, Kenya is plagued by high infant mortality, low life expectancy, malnourishment (32%of population) and HIV/AIDS. While these concerns remain grave, a trend towards improvement is reported in the period of 2006 to 2010: Infant mortality was at estimated at 59.26 deaths/1,000 live births as of 2006, decreasing to 54.7 deaths/1,000 live births as of 2010. Life expectancy was estimated at 48.9 years as of 2006, and has risen to 64 years in 2012.^[24]

According to 2008-09 Kenyan government survey, total fertility was 4.6, contraception usage among married women was 46 percent.^[25] Total fertility rate has decreased 4.91 children per woman (2006 estimate), to 4.38 (2010 estimate). Literacy (age 7 and over) was estimated at 85.1% in 2003 (male: 90.6%, female: 79.7%).

Religion

• Christian 83% ^[5]
  • Protestant 47.7%^[5]
  • Roman Catholic 23.4%^[5]
  • Other Christian 11.9%)^[5]
• Islam 11.2%^[5]
• Traditionalists 1.7%^[5]
• Other 1.6%^[5]
• None 2.4%^[5]
• Unspecified 0.2% ^[5]

See also

• Geography of Kenya

References

1. Kenya begins contentious census BBC News, 24 August 2009.
2. Kenya defends tribal census figures BBC News, 31 August 2010.
3. "Kenya: Provinces, Counties, Cities, Towns, Urban Centers - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts".
4. "Kenya".
5. "Africa ::KENYA". CIA The World Factbook.
6. A. Okoth & A. Ndaloh, Peak Revision K.C.P.E. Social Studies, (East African Publishers), p.60-61.
7. S. Wandibba et al, Social Studies STD 6, (East African Publishers), p.45-47.
8. Robert O. Collins, The southern Sudan in historical perspective, (Transaction Publishers: 2006), p.9-10.
9. S. Wandibba et al, p.19-20.
10. Godfrey Mwakikagile, Kenya: identity of a nation, (Godfrey Mwakikagile: 2007), p.99-102.
11. H. Okello Ayot, Topics in East African history, 1000–1970 (East African Literature Bureau: 1976), p.13.
12. Randall L. Pouwels, Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the East African Coast, 800–1900, Volume 53 of African Studies, (Cambridge University Press: 2002), p.9.
13. Mwakikagile, p.79.
14. Kenya/Somalia: Somalia community doing booming business in country
15. "Population and Housing Census – Ethnic Affiliation". Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
16. Evans, Ruth (24 May 2000). "Kenya's Asian heritage on display". BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
17. Proquest Info & Learning (COR) (2009). Culturegrams: World Edition. Proquest/Csa Journal Div. p. 98. ISBN 0977809161.
18. Brown, E. K.; Asher, R. E.; Simpson, J. M. Y. (2006). Encyclopedia of language & linguistics, Volume 1, Edition 2. Elsevier. p. 181. ISBN 0080442994.
19. Languages of Kenya. Ethnologue.com.
20. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
21. http://www.knbs.or.ke/Census%20Results/KNBS%20Brochure.pdf
22. "MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys".
23. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics".
24. "Kenya's life expectancy jumps to 64 years".
25. "Kenya - Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008-09".

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2006 edition".

External links

Media related to Demographics of Kenya at Wikimedia Commons

• Population and Housing Census - Ethnic Affiliation