ABSTRACT
Kenya lies astride the Equator and is, by African standards, a medium-sized country. It has boundaries with Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, a coastline on the Indian Ocean and a small share of Lake Victoria. From 1895, Kenya was under direct British colonial administration and one key aspect of this was the leasing of land to white settlers. This possession of land particularly affected the main tribe, the Kikuyu, who instigated and led a guerrilla war against the UK from 1952 until 1956. The state became a republic on 12 December 1964 with Jomo Kenyatta, leader of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) as president; party rule through KANU has been continuous since that date. In June 1967 Kenya had joined with Uganda and Tanzania to form the East African Community (EAC), but this was disbanded 10 years later. The main geopolitical issues concern the boundaries and the relations of Kenya with Somalia and Ethiopia.
