MY POSTBOX: KENYA / Jamhuri ya Kenya

Monday, 5 October 2015

KENYA / Jamhuri ya Kenya

Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country in Africa with 47 semiautonomous counties governed by elected governors. At 580,367 square kilometres (224,081 sq mi), Kenya is the world's 48th largest country by total area. With a population of more than 47.6 million people, Kenya is the 29th most populous country. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa. Kisumu City is the third largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria. Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret. Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast.

According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material, the Cushites first settled in the lowlands of Kenya between 3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase referred to as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic. The Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The earliest recorded version of the modern name was written by German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf in the 19th century. While travelling with a Kamba caravan led by the legendary long-distance trader Chief Kivoi, Krapf spotted the mountain peak and asked what it was called. Kivoi told him "Kĩ-Nyaa" or "Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa", probably because the pattern of black rock and white snow on its peaks reminded him of the feathers of the male ostrich. The Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, while the Embu call it "Kirenyaa." All three names have the same meaning.

Kenya has considerable land area devoted to wildlife habitats, including the Masai Mara, where blue wildebeest and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration. More than 1 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras participate in the migration across the Mara River. The "Big Five" game animals of Africa, that is the lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant, can be found in Kenya and in the Masai Mara in particular. A significant population of other wild animals, reptiles, and birds can be found in the national parks and game reserves in the country. The annual animal migration occurs between June and September, with millions of animals taking part, attracting valuable foreign tourism. Two million wildebeest migrate a distance of 2,900 kilometres (1,802 mi) from the Serengeti in neighbouring Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya, in a constant clockwise fashion, searching for food and water supplies. This Serengeti Migration of the wildebeest is listed among the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.

Kenya used stamps of British East Africa Company (1890-1895), British East Africa (1895-1903), East Africa and Uganda Protectorates (1903-1922), Kenya and Uganda (1922-1935) and Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika/Tanzania (1935-1976). The first stamps of independent Kenya were issued on 12 December 1963. East Africa and Uganda Protectorates was the name used by the combined postal service of the British protectorates, British East Africa and Uganda, between 1 April 1903 and 22 July 1920. On 23 July 1920 British East Africa became a Crown Colony of Kenya, with the exception of a coastal strip which remained a protectorate. Stamps were then inscribed "KENYA AND UGANDA".

Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika (KUT) is the name on British postage stamps made for use in the British colonies of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika. The stamps were circulated between 1935 and 1963 by the joint postal service of the three colonies, the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration, reconstituted as part of the East African High Commission from 1948 to 1961, the East African Common Services Organization from 1961 to 1967, and the East African Community from 1967 to 1977. Even after independence, the new separate nations continued to use the KUT stamps, and they remained valid for postage until 1977. The first stamps marked Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika were issued in 1935. A new definitive series in 1960 used simpler and more symbolic designs, and was followed in 1963 by three sets of commemoratives. At this point postal service was taken over by the East African Common Services Organization, which issued commemoratives for the 1964 Summer Olympics inscribed "Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar", even though they were never actually used in Zanzibar. After Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar to form Tanzania, subsequent stamps were inscribed "Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania", with the three names being listed in randomly varying orders.

These stamps were issued in parallel with stamps from each of the newly independent nations. The Common Services Organization continued to issue various commemoratives, at the rate of about 10-12 per year, until early in 1976.

Postal Corporation of Kenya is the company responsible for postal service in Kenya. It is also known as Posta Kenya. Kenyan post system was formerly part of the Kenya Post & Telecommunication Corporation (KP&TC), which was split into Posta, the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and Telkom Kenya in 1999.