African   Histories

Kenya means ostrich in African language, and obtained its name in 1920, when it happened of British protectorate to the status of colony; until that moment she was well-known like British Eastern Africa. Its surface is something superior to the one of Spain, with 30 million inhabitants; and his 2 cities more important are Mombasa, in coast East Indian, that already was described by Diogenes for almost 2,000 years as center of commerce, and Nairobi, that was born to the shelter of the railroad in the change of century, with more than 2 million inhabitants at the present time, and almost 4 million are expected at the beginning of century XXI, partly thanks to its benign climate, since it is located to 1,800 of altitude. The area around the mount Kenya, the second mountain of Africa with its 5,199 m.s, is most fertile of the country, and produces coffee, sugar, fragmentation hand grenade, cereals and other products that altogether reach 30% of their GIP. The first source of income of the country is the tourism, that disperse by its enormous natural parks in search of the photo to short distance of the 9 great wild mammals, the zebra, g5uepardo, the leopard, the lion, the giraffe, the elephant, the rhino, the buffalo and hipopótamo. The fight by the independence of Kenya began soon after obtaining its status of colony in 1920, and happened through dramatic episodes like the campaign of terror created by the Mau-Mau, a group of kikuyus that was taken up arms, with the result of 32 European and 13,000 African died; the caused wearing down to control the continuous rises convinced the British government of which Independence was the unique one via; in 1963 free selections were summoned, won by Kenyatta, leader of the KAU (Kenya Africa Union) from 1947, that were past long years in the jails of the colony. He was prime minister of Kenya until his death in 1978.

Kenya has been place of passage for the native migrations of the East-West north-south and, reason why its population amalgamates itself in more than 70 tribes, of 3 different ethnic groups according to its origin. The Bantu came from the West, the Nilotic of the Northwest, mainly Sudan, and the Hamitic comes from the Northeast, Ethiopia and Somalia, and is minority. The tribes more known these ethnic groups are the Kikuyu and Swahili (Bantu), the Masai (Nilotic). The tribal organization is still very important in Kenya, although the concentration in great cities as Nairobi and Mombasa dilute these differences. The polygamy, deeply taken root in the tribal culture, is practical habitual, although it is officially not allowed; nevertheless, the social pressure and the economic reality make having more and more difficult more than a wife. The life expectancy is of 60 years, 10 more than the average of Africa.