Kenya - Tips
Kenya
Bureau of African
Affairs
June
2007
Background Note:
Kenya
A lioness and her cub rest in
Kenya's
Masai Mara game reserve, July
2005.
[© AP
Images]
Flag of Kenya is three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red,
and green;
the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield
covering crossed
spears is superimposed at the
center.
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
Republic of
Kenya
Geography
Area: 582,646 sq. km. (224,960 sq mi.); slightly smaller than
Texas.
Cities:
Capital--Nairobi (pop. 2.9 million; 2007 est.). Other cities--Mombasa
(828,500; 2006 est.), Kisumu (322,000; 1999), Nakuru (219,366; 1999),
Eldoret
(193,830;
1999).
Terrain: Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean in
a series
of mountain ridges and plateaus which stand above 3,000
meters (9,000 ft.) in
the center of the country. The Rift Valley
bisects the country above Nairobi,
opening up to a broad arid plain in
the north. Highlands cover the south
before
descending to the shores of Lake Victoria in the
west.
Climate: Tropical in south, west, and central regions; arid and
semi-arid in
the north and the
northeast.
People
Nationality: Noun and
adjective--Kenyan(s).
Population (June 2007 est.): 36.9
million.
Major ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luyia 14%, Luo 14%, Kalenjin 11%,
Kamba 11%,
Kisii 6%, Meru
5%.
Religions: Christian 80%, Muslim 10%, traditional African religions
9%, Hindu
/Sikh/Baha'i/Jewish
1%.
Languages: English (official), Swahili, over 40 other languages from
the
Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic linguistic
groups.
Education: First 8 years of primary school are provided free by
the
government.
Attendance--92% for primary grades. Adult literacy rate--85.1%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--57.4/1,000. Life expectancy--55.3 yrs
(2007
est.).
Work force (1.95 million wage earners): public sector 30%; private
sector
70%. Informal sector workers--6.4 million.
Services--45%; industry and
commerce--35%;
agriculture--20%.
Government
Type:
Republic.
Independence: December 12,
1963.
Constitution:
1963.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state, head of government,
commander
in chief of armed forces). Legislative--unicameral National
Assembly
(parliament). Judicial--Court of Appeal, High Court, various lower
and
special courts, includes
Kadhi (Sharia)
courts.
Administrative subdivisions: 69 districts, joined to form 7 rural
provinces.
Nairobi area has special provincial status. The government
has gazetted 37
more districts, whose ratification was
still in process as of February 2007.
Political parties: Over 100
registered political parties. The ruling party,
the National
Rainbow Coalition (NARC), made up of 14 separately registered
parties, broke up in 2003, although it is still a registered party.
A
Government of National
Unity composed of Members of Parliament from all
political parties was created in 2005. KANU and Liberal Democratic
Party
(LDP) united to reject a draft
constitution in a national referendum in
November 2005 and later formed the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya
(ODM-K)
party in opposition to the
government.
Suffrage: Universal at
18.
Economy
GDP (2006 est.): $22.79
billion.
Annual growth rate (2006):
6.1%.
Gross national income per capita (2006):
$455.
Natural resources: Wildlife,
land.
Agriculture: Products--tea, coffee, sugarcane, horticultural
products, corn,
wheat, rice, sisal, pineapples, pyrethrum, dairy
products, meat and meat
products, hides,
skins. Arable
land--5%.
Industry: Types--petroleum products, grain and sugar milling, cement,
beer,
soft drinks, textiles, vehicle assembly, paper and light
manufacturing.
Trade (2006):
Exports--$3.1 billion: tea, coffee, horticultural products,
petroleum products, cement, pyrethrum, soda ash, sisal, hides and
skins,
fluorspar. Major markets--Uganda,
Tanzania, United Kingdom,
Germany,
Netherlands,
Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, South Africa, United
States.
Imports--$7.2 billion: machinery, vehicles, crude petroleum, iron and steel,
resins and plastic materials, refined petroleum products,
pharmaceuticals,
paper and paper products, fertilizers,
wheat. Major suppliers--U.K., Japan,
South Africa, Germany,
United Arab Emirates, Italy, India, France, United
States, Saudi
Arabia.
PEOPLE
Kenya has a very diverse population that includes three of Africa's
major
sociolinguistic groups: Bantu (67%), Nilotic
(30%), and Cushitic (3%).
Kenyans
are deeply religious. About 80% of Kenyans are Christian, 10% Muslim,
and 10% follow traditional African religions or other faiths. Most
city
residents retain links with their
rural, extended families and leave the city
periodically to help work
on the family farm. About 75% of the work force is
engaged in
agriculture, mainly as subsistence farmers. The national motto of
Kenya is Harambee, meaning "pull together." In that spirit, volunteers
in
hundreds of communities build schools, clinics,
and other facilities each
year and collect funds to
send students abroad. The six state universities
enroll
about 45,000 students, representing some 25% of the Kenyan students
who qualify for admission. There are six private
universities.
HISTORY
Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans roamed the area
more
than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenya's
Lake Turkana indicate
that hominids lived in the area 2.6
million years
ago.
Cushitic-speaking people from what is now Sudan and Ethiopia moved
into the
area that is now Kenya beginning around 2000 BC. Arab
traders began
frequenting the Kenya coast around the first century AD. Kenya's proximity
to
the Arabian Peninsula invited colonization, and Arab and Persian
settlements
sprouted along the coast by the eighth century. During
the first millennium
AD, Nilotic and Bantu peoples moved into
the region, and the latter now
comprise
two thirds of Kenya's population. The Swahili language, a
Bantu
language with significant Arabic
vocabulary, developed as a trade language
for the
region.
Arab dominance on the coast was interrupted for about 150 years
following the
arrival of the Portuguese in 1498. British exploration
of East Africa in the
mid-1800s eventually led to the establishment
of Britain's East African
Protectorate
in 1895. The Protectorate promoted settlement of the fertile
central highlands by Europeans, dispossessing the Kikuyu and others
of their
land. Some fertile and well watered parts of the Rift Valley
inhabited by the
Maasai and the western highlands inhabited by the
Kalenjin were also handed
over to European settlers. For other
Kenyan communities, the British presence
was slight, especially in the
arid northern half of the country. The settlers
were allowed a voice
in government even before Kenya was officially made a
British colony in 1920, but Africans were prohibited from direct
political
participation until 1944 when a few appointed
(but not elected) African
representatives were permitted to sit in the
legislature.
From 1952 to 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from
the "Mau
Mau" insurgency against British colonial rule in general and
its land
policies in
particular. This rebellion took place almost exclusively in the
highlands of central Kenya among the Kikuyu people. Tens of thousands
of
Kikuyu died in the fighting or in the
detention camps and restricted
villages. British losses were about 650. During this period,
African
participation
in the political process increased
rapidly.
The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council
took place
in 1957. Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963, and
the next year
joined the Commonwealth. Jomo
Kenyatta, an ethnic Kikuyu and head of the
Kenya African National Union (KANU), became Kenya's first President.
The
minority party, Kenya African Democratic
Union (KADU), representing a
coalition of small ethnic groups that had feared dominance by larger
ones,
dissolved itself in 1964 and joined
KANU.
A small but significant leftist opposition party, the Kenya People's
Union
(KPU), was formed in 1966, led by Jaramogi Oginga
Odinga, a former Vice
President and Luo
elder. The KPU was banned shortly thereafter, however, and
its leader
detained. KANU became Kenya's sole political party. At Kenyatta's
death in August 1978, Vice President Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin from
Rift
Valley province, became interim President. By
October of that year, Moi
became
President formally after he was elected head of KANU and designated
its sole nominee for the presidential
election.
In June 1982, the National Assembly amended the constitution, making
Kenya
officially a one-party state. Two months later,
young military officers in
league with some opposition
elements attempted to overthrow the government in
a violent but
ultimately unsuccessful coup. In response to street protests
and donor pressure, Parliament repealed the one-party section of
the
constitution in
December 1991. In 1992, independent Kenya's first multiparty
elections were held. Divisions in the opposition contributed to
Moi's
retention of the
presidency in 1992 and again in the 1997 election. Following
the 1997
election Kenya experienced its first coalition government as KANU
was forced to cobble together a majority by bringing into government
a few
minor
parties.
In October 2002, a coalition of opposition parties joined forces with
a
faction which broke away from KANU to
form the National Rainbow Coalition
(NARC). In
December 2002, the NARC candidate, Mwai Kibaki, was elected the
country's third President. President Kibaki received 62% of the vote,
and
NARC also won 59% of the parliamentary seats.
Kibaki, a Kikuyu from Central
province, had served as a Member
of Parliament since Kenya's independence in
1963. He served in senior
posts in both the Kenyatta and Moi governments,
including Vice President and Finance Minister. In 2003, internal
conflicts
disrupted the NARC government, culminating in
its defeat in 2005 in a
referendum over the government's draft constitution. The new
opposition
became the Orange Democratic
Movement of Kenya (ODM-K)--an alliance of former
NARC members and
KANU, among others. In early 2006, pro-government supporters
formed
the NARC-Kenya party to rival the ODM-K. Kenya is scheduled to hold
presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections on
December 29,
2007.
GOVERNMENT
The unicameral National Assembly consists of 210 members elected to a
term of
5 years from single-member constituencies, plus 12 members
nominated by
political parties on a
proportional representation basis. The president
appoints the vice president and cabinet members from among those
elected to
the assembly. The attorney general and the speaker
are ex-officio members of
the National
Assembly.
The judiciary is headed by a High Court, consisting of a Chief
Justice and
High Court judges and judges of Kenya's Court
of Appeal, all appointed by the
president.
Local administration is divided among 69 rural districts, each headed
by a
commissioner appointed by the president. The
government has proposed 37 more
districts, but these are not yet
ratified by Parliament. The districts are
joined to form
seven rural provinces. Nairobi has special provincial status.
The
Ministry of State in charge of Provincial Administration and
Internal
Security supervises the administration of
districts and
provinces.
Principal Government
Officials
President--Mwai
Kibaki
Vice President--Moody
Awori
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Raphael
Tuju
Ambassador to the United States--Peter
Ogego
Ambassador to the United Nations--Zachary
Muita-Muburi
Consulate General Los Angeles--Ms. Nyambura
Kamau
Kenya maintains an embassy in the United States at 2249 R Street
NW,
Washington, DC
20008 (tel. 202-387-6101, website: http://www.kenyaembassy.com
)
and consulates in Los Angeles and New
York.
POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
Since independence, Kenya has maintained remarkable stability despite
changes
in its political system and crises in neighboring countries.
Particularly
since the re-emergence of multiparty
democracy, Kenyans have enjoyed an
increased degree of
freedom.
In December 2002, Kenyans held democratic and open elections, which
were
judged free and fair by international
observers. The 2002 elections marked an
important turning point in
Kenya's democratic evolution as the presidency and
the parliamentary
majority passed from the party that had ruled Kenya since
independence to a coalition of new political parties. The government lost
a
referendum over its draft constitution in November 2005. This
vote too was
widely accepted as free, fair and
credible.
Under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki, the NARC coalition promised to
focus its
efforts on generating economic growth, improving and
expanding education,
combating corruption and
rewriting the constitution. The first two goals were
largely met, but
progress toward the second two goals has been
limited.
President Kibaki's current
cabinet consists of Members of Parliament from
allied parties and others recruited from opposition parties who joined
the
cabinet without the approval of their party
leaderships.
In early 2006, revelations from investigative reports of two
major
government-linked corruption scandals rocked Kenya and led to
resignations,
including three ministers (one of whom was later
re-appointed). In March
2006, another major
scandal was uncovered involving money laundering and tax
evasion in
the Kenyan banking system. The government's March 2006 raid on the
Standard Group media house conducted by masked Kenyan police
was
internationally condemned and was met with outrage by Kenya media and
civil
society. The government did not provide a sufficient
explanation. No one has
been held
accountable.
ECONOMY
After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through
public
investment, encouragement of
smallholder agricultural production,
and
incentives for private
(often foreign) industrial investment. Gross domestic
product (GDP)
grew at an annual average of 6.6% from 1963 to
1973.
Agricultural production grew by 4.7% annually during the same
period,
stimulated by
redistributing estates, diffusing new crop strains, and opening
new
areas to cultivation. After experiencing moderately high growth
rates
during the 1960s and 1970s, Kenya's economic
performance during the last two
decades has been far below its
potential. The economy grew by an annual
average of only 1.5% between 1997 and 2002, which was below the
population
growth estimated at 2.5% per annum, leading to
a decline in per capita
incomes.
The decline in economic performance in the last two decades
was
largely due to inappropriate agricultural
policies, inadequate credit, and
poor international terms
of trade contributing to the decline in agriculture.
Kenya's
inward-looking policy of import substitution and rising oil prices
made Kenya's manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The government began
a
massive intrusion in the private
sector. Lack of export incentives, tight
import
controls, and foreign exchange controls made the domestic environment
for investment even less
attractive.
From 1991 to 1993, Kenya had its worst economic performance
since
independence. Growth in GDP stagnated, and agricultural production
shrank at
an annual rate of 3.9%. Inflation reached a record 100% in
August 1993, and
the government's budget deficit was over 10%
of GDP. As a result of these
combined problems,
bilateral and multilateral donors suspended program aid to
Kenya in
1991. In the 1990s, the government implemented economic
reform
measures to stabilize the
economy and restore sustainable growth. In 1994,
nearly
all administrative controls on producer and retail prices, imports,
foreign exchange and grain marketing were removed. The Government of
Kenya
privatized a range of publicly owned companies,
reduced the number of civil
servants, and introduced
conservative fiscal and monetary policies. By the
mid-1990s, the government lifted price controls on petroleum products.
In
1995, foreigners were allowed to invest in the
Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).
In July 1997, the Government of Kenya
refused to meet commitments made
earlier to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on governance reforms. As a
result, the IMF suspended lending for 3 years, and the World Bank
also put a
$90-million structural adjustment credit on
hold.
The Government of Kenya took some positive steps on reform, including
the
establishment of the Kenyan Anti-Corruption
Authority in 1999, and the
adoption of measures to improve the transparency of government
procurements
and reduce the government payroll. In July 2000,
the IMF signed a $150
million
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), and the World
Bank
followed suit shortly after with a $157
million Economic and Public Sector
Reform credit. The
Anti-Corruption Authority was declared unconstitutional in
December
2000, and other parts of the reform effort faltered in 2001. The IMF
and World Bank again suspended their
programs.
Net foreign direct investment (FDI) was negative from 2000-2003, but
started
trickling back in 2004, as demonstrated by an increase in the
number of
enterprises operating in
Export Processing Zones (EPZs) from 66 to 74 between
2003 and 2004.
The value of total investments increased from Ksh18.7 billion
(U.S.
$247.3 million) in 2005 to Ksh20.1 billion (over U.S. $278.3 million)
in 2006. Following the end of the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA)
textile
agreement in January
2005, several textile and apparel factories closed,
leaving 68 EPZ enterprises. In 2006, this number increased to 70
EPZ
enterprises.
The economy began to recover after 2002, registering 2.8% growth in
2003,
4.3% in 2004, 5.8% in 2005, and 6.1 % in
2006. Under the leadership of
President Kibaki, who took over on December 30, 2002, the Government of
Kenya
began an ambitious economic reform program and resumed its
cooperation with
the World Bank and the IMF. The National
Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government
enacted the Anti-Corruption and
Economic Crimes Act and Public Officers
Ethics Act in May 2003 aimed at fighting graft in public offices. There
was
some movement to reduce corruption in 2003, but the
government did not
sustain that
momentum. Other reforms especially in the judiciary,
public
procurement etc, led to the unlocking
of donor aid and a renewed hope of
economic
revival.
In November 2003, following the signing into law of key
anti-corruption
legislation and other
reforms by the new government, donors reengaged as the
IMF approved a
three-year $250 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
and
donors committed $4.2 billion in support over 4 years. In December 2004,
the IMF approved Kenya's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
(PRGF)
arrangement
equivalent to U.S. $252.8 million to support the government's
economic and governance reforms. However, the government's ability
to
stimulate economic
demand through fiscal and monetary policy remains fairly
limited while the pace at which the government is pursuing reforms in
other
key areas remains slow. Although the Privatization Law
was enacted in 2005,
modest steps have been made on privatizing
of parastatals apart from Kenya
Electricity Generating
Company (KenGen) and the concessioning of
Kenya
Railways, while civil
service reform is limited despite the government's
assertion that reforms would be undertaken. Accelerating growth to
achieve
Kenya's potential and reduce the poverty that
afflicts more than 56% of its
population will require continued
de-regulation of business, improved
delivery of government services, addressing structural reforms,
massive
investment in new
infrastructure (especially roads), reduction of chronic
insecurity caused by crime, and improved economic governance
generally.
The current expansion is fairly broad-based and is built on a
stable
macro-environment fostered by government, and the
resilience,
resourcefulness, and improved confidence of the private sector.
Nairobi
continues to be the primary
communication and financial hub of East Africa.
It enjoys the
region's best transportation linkages,
communications
infrastructure, and trained personnel, although these advantages are
less
prominent than in past years. On January 31,
2007, the government signed a
$2.7 million contract with
Tyco Telecommunications to perform an undersea
survey for the construction of a fiber-optic cable to Fujairah in the United
Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) called the East African Marine Systems
(TEAMS). Two
other fiber-optic cables projects are being
pursued to link Kenya to the rest
of East Africa and India. Once TEAMS
and the domestic fiber-optic cables
planned
by the government are completed, the economy is expected to benefit
significantly from reduced internet access prices and improved
capacity. A
wide range of foreign firms maintain regional
branches or representative
offices in the
city. In March 1996, the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and
Uganda re-established the East African Community (EAC). The EAC's
objectives
include harmonizing tariffs and customs regimes, free
movement of people, and
improving regional infrastructures. In March
2004, the three East African
countries signed a
Customs Union Agreement paving the way for a
common
market. The Customs Union
and a Common External Tariff were established on
January
1, 2005, but the EAC countries are still working out exceptions to
the tariff. Rwanda and Burundi have since joined the community. In
May 2007,
during a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
(COMESA) Summit, 13
heads of state endorsed a move to
adopt a COMESA customs union and set
December 8, 2008 as the target date for its
adoption.
Tourism is now Kenya's largest foreign exchange earning sector,
followed by
flowers, tea and coffee. In 2006 tourism generated
$803 million, up from $699
million the previous year. Africa is
Kenya's largest export market, followed
by the European Union (EU).
Kenya benefits significantly from the African
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Although Congress renewed the
AGOA
third-country fabric
provision in December 2006 to provide more time to
develop local cotton and fabric production that meets the buyers'
rigorous
standards, its apparel industry is struggling to
hold its ground against
Asian competition.
Kenya's main exports to the U.S. are
AGOA-program
garments, but it continues to run a trade deficit with the
U.S.
Kenya faces profound environmental challenges brought on by high
population
growth, deforestation, shifting climate patterns,
and the overgrazing of
cattle in marginal
areas in the north and west of the country. Significant
portions of the population will continue to require emergency food
assistance
in the coming
years.
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Despite internal tensions in Sudan and Ethiopia, Kenya has maintained
good
relations with its northern neighbors. Recent
relations with Uganda and
Tanzania have
improved as the three countries work for mutual
economic
benefit.
Kenya has hosted and played an active role in the negotiations to
resolve the
civil war in Sudan and to reinstate a central government
authority in
Somalia. The
Sudan peace negotiations have made major progress, resulting in
the
signing in Kenya of agreements between the Khartoum government and
the
southern Sudan rebels to put an end to the
two-decade-long war. On January 9,
2005 a Sudan North-South
Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed in Nairobi.
Negotiations in the Somali National Reconciliation Conference resulted at
the
end of 2004 in the establishing of Somali Transitional Federal
Institutions
(Assembly, President, Prime Minister, and
Government). Until early 2005,
Kenya served
as a major host both for these institutions and for refugees
from Somalia as well as Sudan. Between May and June 2005, members of
the
Somalia Transitional Federal Institutions
relocated to
Somalia.
Kenya maintains a moderate profile in Third World politics. Kenya's
relations
with Western countries are generally friendly, although
current political and
economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on
Western
pressures.
U.S.-KENYAN
RELATIONS
The United States and Kenya have enjoyed cordial relations since
Kenya's
independence. More than 5,000 U.S.
citizens live in Kenya. In 2006 a record
86,528 Americans
visited Kenya, up 17.6% from 2005. About two-thirds of the
resident Americans are missionaries and their families. U.S.
business
investment is
estimated to be more than $285 million, primarily in commerce,
light
manufacturing, and the tourism
industry.
U.S. assistance to Kenya promotes broad-based economic development as
the
basis for continued progress in political,
social, and related areas of
national
life. U.S. aid strategy is designed to achieve four
major
objectives--improving health care, including family planning and
AIDS
prevention; increasing
rural incomes by assisting small enterprises and
boosting agricultural productivity; promoting sustainable use of
natural
resources; and strengthening
democratic institutions. The Peace Corps has 150
volunteers in
Kenya.
Principal U.S.
Officials
Ambassador--Michael E.
Ranneberger
Deputy Chief of Mission--Pamela
Slutz
USAID Mission Director--Stephen
Haykin
Public Affairs Officer--Robert C.
Kerr
The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is located on UN Avenue, Nairobi, P.O. Box
606,
Village Market, Nairobi (tel. 254-20-363-6000;
fax 254-20-363-6157).
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans
traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public
Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all
countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political
disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about
terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that
pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings
are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad
should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet
web site at
http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution,
Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs
Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a
safe
trip abroad, are also available at
http://www.travel.state.gov.
For
additional information on international
travel, see
http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens who traveling or
residing
abroad to register via the State Department's travel
registration website or
at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
abroad. Registration will make your
presence and whereabouts known in
case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will
enable you to receive up-to-date information on security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained
by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular
toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of
State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service
representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00
a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP
(877-394-8747) and a web site at
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the
most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements,
and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A
booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government
Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://
www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global
access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background
Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of
Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website
http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market
information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free
export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides
authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from
the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities,
and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.
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Background
notes
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