When you hear the name Kenya, you probably think of safari holidays and exciting wild animals lions and leopards, elephants, giraffe and zebra. You may also have seen Kenya's palm-fringed beaches and luxury hotels on travel programmes on television or in magazines. The capital of Kenya, Nairobi, is a busy modern city with shops, hotels, factories and skyscrapers. But Nairobi, the beaches and the wildlife parks are only one part of the picture.

What is it like in Kenya?

Kenya is a big country, about the same size as France. A striking feature of the landscape is the Rift Valley, which runs for 4,000 kilometres through Africa. There are highlands on both sides of the Rift Valley, rising to the icy summit of Mount Kenya. At 5,199 metres, this is Africa's second highest mountain. Scientists have found skeletons of early humans in the Rift Valley, some over two million years old. The first human beings may have developed in this part of East Africa.

Because Kenya is on the Equator, the sun rises at about seven in the morning and sets at about seven in the evening, every day of the year. Kenyans do not talk about winter and summer; they talk about wet and dry seasons. In most of the country, the drier months are between June and September.

The climate varies enormously in Kenya. The lower land close to the coast is hot and humid, with rain during most of the year. There's good rainfall in the south-west, in the highlands and around Lake Victoria too. These are the areas that provide much of Kenya's farmland. In the highlands the climate is temperate, warm but not hot, like a summer's day in Britain. The lands to the north and east are hotter and drier. Much of this is "bush" country, where people live by keeping cows, goats, sheep and camels.

Who lives in Kenya?

For over a thousand years East Africa has been a meeting point for different peoples. Trade along the coast of the Indian Ocean meant that Arab influence was strong. The people on the coast became known as the Swahili, an Arabic word meaning "coast-dwellers". Their language, Kiswahili, was mainly African mixed with Arabic, and it is now Kenya's national language. Today, there are about 25 million people living in Kenya - a rich mixture of different, mainly African, lifestyles and languages, together with a minority of people of Asian, European and Arabic origins.

Before 1895 there was no country called Kenya. Between 1870 and 1914, European countries invaded Africa. Britain took over much of East Africa, and created the colony of Kenya. Kenya became an independent country in 1963. Jomo Kenyatta led the struggle against British rule and became the first President of the Republic of Kenya. He was succeeded by President Moi in 1978.

Since 1991, there have been changes in Kenya to bring about multi-party elections, like the ones we have in Britain.

Earning a living in Industry

Kenya's industries are the most developed in East Africa. Products are sold inside Kenya and exported to neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania. In Kenyan factories, maize and wheat are milled into flour; cotton is spun and woven into cloth; sugar-cane is refined into sugar; and beer is brewed from barley. Kenya is able to produce most of its own electricity from hydroelectric power stations on the Tana and Turkwell rivers. But the country has little coal, gas or oil of its own. Much of the money Kenya earns from its exports is spent on buying oil, iron and steel, and factory machinery.

Tourism

Tourism is an important source of income for Kenya, and provides jobs for over 100,000 Kenyans. Each year nearly three-quarters of a million visitors come to spend their money at the beaches and in the wildlife parks and reserves. But for some Kenyans, tourism can be bad news. The Maasai and Samburu people live by herding animals, but their best land has been taken for wildlife parks and for large-scale farming. There are threats to divide up the rest of the land they use, which would destroy their whole way of life. But the herders often have little say in these decisions. Elections have caused tension and fighting between different groups in Kenya.

There are nearly 1.5 million people living in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Other major cities include the port of Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru. A quarter of the population lives in the rapidly growing towns.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the most usual way of earning a living in Kenya, and most people are farmers. Many families have small farms and grow enough maize, bananas, beans, potatoes and other vegetables to provide food for the whole year. They may also have one or two cows to '' supply milk, and a few chickens. This is known as subsistence farming producing just enough to feed their families. Farmers need to earn money too, to buy clothes, shoes, tools, and to pay for medicine and school fees. So they may sell some produce at local markets, or grow cash crops like coffee, tea, sugar and cotton. Some farmers are now growing new crops to export -like French beans, chilies, strawberries, mangoes and fresh flowers.

In the driest areas of Kenya, people keep livestock - cows, sheep, goats and camels. These people are pastoralists, and in the dry season some move their animals over large distances in search of grass and shrubs for them to feed on. There are no fences in these dry areas; the herders who live there arrange to share the land. Families live off the milk, meat and skins of their animals. These can also be sold at market for cash.

People like the Turkana, who live in northern Kenya, are skilled at preparing food from wild roots, berries and fruits, which grow even in the driest areas. In these areas, some families can plant fast growing crops like millet and sorghum, in places where rainfall collects close to riverbeds, or where the land dips.

Life in the cities

Many people have moved from the country to the towns to try and find work. Some men come alone to find work, hoping to send money back to their families in their villages. Some people find jobs in shops and offices, in factories, or may work as nannies or cleaners. Others may sell newspapers, soft drinks, sweets and peanuts in the city centre. Some people make and sell things for a living. They become metal-workers, tailors, carpenters, flower-sellers, market traders. This work is known as Jua Kati, which means "hot sun", because the people have to work in the open under the hot sun.

Wangoi is a ten-year old girl who came to Nairobi with her mother and brother. They left their small farm when her father died. Now they live in Kibera, an area of poor housing at the edge of town. "Most days 1 walk into town with my mother - she sells peanuts in the park. We don't like Nairobi, we want to go back to our village and go to school. Mother says she will take us back when she has saved enough money. "

Most of the tea grown in Kenya is sold and shipped to other countries. Coffee is also important, but is being grown less now, because Kenyan farmers do not receive a good price for it. Almost half the money which Kenya earns from its exports comes from sales of tea and coffee. Kenya has to earn this money in order to pay for the things it buys from other countries.

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