General information

Facts about Kenya

Basic facts

• Name: Republic of Kenya Location: East Africa, bordering Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda and the Indian Ocean
• Size: Kenya covers a total area of approximately 582,650 km². For comparison, Sweden has an area of roughly 450,295 km². Kenya is approximately 1.3 times the size of Sweden in terms of area.
• Population: Approximately 57.5 million inhabitants in 2025.
• Median age: Approximately 20 years on average
• Population density: Approximately 100 people per km², compared with approximately 24 people per km² in Sweden.

Form of government

• Kenya is a unitary state and a multi-party democracy with a president as head of state and head of government.
• There are two primary levels of government: the national government and 47 county governments, according to the new constitution.
• Official languages: English and Swahili.

Religion

• The dominant religion is Christianity – approximately 85% of the population identify as Christian.
• The second largest religion is Islam, with around 10–11% of the population.
• Other religions include traditional African religions, Hinduism and the Bahá’í faith.

Largest cities & urban centres

Here are some of the largest cities in Kenya and estimates of their populations (may vary depending on the source):

• Nairobi (capital) – approx. 5.8 million inhabitants in 2025.
• Mombasa – approx. 1.55 million inhabitants in 2025.
• Nakuru – approx. 450,000 inhabitants.
• Kisumu – approx. 422,000 inhabitants.
• Eldoret – approx. 476,000 inhabitants.

These cities are important as economic, administrative and transport hubs.