Kenya (/knj/ or /kinj/), officially the Republic of Kenya, is a sovereign state in the African Great Lakes region of East

Africa. Its capital and largest city is airo!i. "enya lies on the e#$ator %ith the Indian &cean to the so$th'east, (an)ania to the so$th, *ganda to the %est, +o$th +$dan to the north'%est, Ethiopia to the north and +o,alia to the north'east. "enya covers -./,012 k,3 (334,44- s# ,i) and has a pop$lation of a!o$t 44 ,illion in 5$ly 31/3.678 "enya has a %ar, and h$,id cli,ate along its Indian &cean coastline, %ith %ildlife'rich savannah grasslands inland to%ards the capital. airo!i has a cool cli,ate that gets colder approaching 9o$nt "enya, %hich has three per,anently sno%'capped peaks. :$rther inland, there is a %ar, and h$,id cli,ate aro$nd Lake ;ictoria, and te,perate forested and hilly areas in the %estern region. (he northeastern regions along the !order %ith +o,alia and Ethiopia are arid and se,i'arid areas %ith near'desert landscapes. Lake ;ictoria, the %orld<s second largest fresh'%ater lake and the %orld<s largest tropical lake, is sit$ated to the so$th%est and is shared %ith *ganda and (an)ania. "enya is fa,o$s for its safaris and diverse %ildlife reserves and national parks s$ch as the East and =est (savo ational >ark, the 9aasai 9ara, Lake ak$r$ ational >ark, and A!erdares ational >ark. (here are several %orld heritage sites s$ch as La,$ and %orld reno%ned !eaches? s$ch as "ilifi %here international yachting co,petitions are held each year. (he African Great Lakes region, %hich "enya is a part of, has !een inha!ited !y h$,ans since the Lo%er >aleolithic period. (he @ant$ eApansion reached the area fro, =est'Bentral Africa !y the first ,illenni$, AC and the !orders of the ,odern state co,prise the crossroads of the iger'Bongo, ilo'+aharan and Afro'Asiatic ethno'ling$istic areas of the continent, ,aking "enya a ,$lti' c$lt$ral co$ntry. E$ropean and Ara! presence in coastal 9o,!asa dates to the Early 9odern period. E$ropean eAploration of the interior !egan in the /2th cent$ry. (he @ritish E,pire esta!lished the East Africa >rotectorate in /.2-, kno%n fro, /231 as the "enya Bolony. (he Dep$!lic of "enya !eca,e independent in Cece,!er /2E0. :ollo%in