Kenya in other languages: exonyms, Nairobi, ISO codes and 47 counties
Kenya is officially the Republic of Kenya in English and Jamhuri ya Kenya in Swahili, the two official languages, and its ISO codes are KE, KEN and 404. The country name follows in 174 languages and variants and Nairobi in 60; below them come the 47 counties in English and Swahili with their ISO 3166-2 codes.
Official languagesEnglish; Swahili (Kiswahili)
Checked
- alpha-2
- KE
- alpha-3
- KEN
- numeric
- 404
Jamhuri ya Kenya
Republic of Kenya
- English
- KenyaRepublic of Kenya
- Capital
- NairobiNairobi
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026
List of exonyms for Kenya
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Breton, Cornish, Danish, French, West Frisian, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Interlingua, Indonesian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Kinyarwanda, Kurmanji Kurdish, Lingala, Malagasy, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Kirundi, Aromanian, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Zazaki | eng / bre / cor / dan / fra / fry / hat / hun / ina / ind / jav / jnf / kin / kur / lin / mlg / nld / nor / nov / run / rup / swa / swe / tur / zza | Kenya | same as written |
| Afrikaans, Aragonese, Basque, Finnish, Kven, Franco-Provençal, Igbo, Italian, Latin, Limburgish, Ladin, Occitan, Papiamentu, Polish, Romansh, Romanian, Sicilian, Northern Sami, Spanish, Albanian, Saterland Frisian, Tongan, Tok Pisin, Walloon | afr / arg / eus / fin / fkv / frp / ibo / ita / lat / lim / lld / oci / pap / pol / roh / ron / scn / sme / spa / sqi / stq / ton / tpi / wln | Kenia | same as written |
| Lower Sorbian, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovenian | dsb / hrv / hsb / lav / lit / slv | Kenija | same as written |
| Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak | crh / gag / kaa | Keniya / Кения | Keniya |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Kenia | same as written |
| Czech, Slovak | ces / slk | Keňa | same as written |
| Faroese, Maltese | fao / mlt | Kenja | same as written |
| Galician, Nahuatl | glg / nah | Quenia | same as written |
| Asturian | ast | Keña, Kenia | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Keniya / Кенија | Keniya |
| Bambara | bam | Keniya | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Kenija / Кенија / قەنٖىيا | Kenija |
| Catalan | cat | Kènia | same as written |
| Welsh | cym | Cenia | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Kenjo | same as written |
| Estonian | est | Keenia | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Chenie | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Ceinia | same as written |
| Irish | gle | An Chéinia / An Ċéinia | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Cheinney | same as written |
| Hausa | hau | Keniya, Kenya | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Kenýa | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Keneja | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Kenia / Кения | Kenia |
| Malay | msa | Kenya / كيڽا | Kenya |
| Norman French | nrm | Qùenia | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | Quénia / Quênia | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Kinya | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Keniya / केनिया | Keniya |
| Slovio | slo | Kenia / Кениа | Kenia |
| Samogitian | smg | Kėnėjė | same as written |
| Samoan | smo | Kinia | same as written |
| Somali | som | Kiiniya, Kiinya, Keeniya, Keenya | same as written |
| Sardinian | srd | Kénya | same as written |
| Silesian | szl | Kyńjo | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Kénia | same as written |
| Tagalog | tgl | Kenya, Kinya | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Keniýa / Кения | Keniýa |
| Uzbek | uzb | Keniya / Кения / كېنىيە | Keniya |
| Vietnamese | vie | Kê-ni-a | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Keniyän | same as written |
| Võro | vor | Keeniä | same as written |
| Wolof | wol | Keeñaa | same as written |
| Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmyk | abq / alt / ava / bul / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xal | Кения | Kenija |
| Chuvash, Mongolian, Ossetian | chv / mon / oss | Кени | Keni |
| Rusyn, Ukrainian | rue / ukr | Кенія | Kenija |
| Abkhaz | abk | Кениа | Kenia |
| Bashkir | bak | Кения / Keniya | Keniya |
| Belarusian | bel | Кенія / Kienija | Kienija |
| Chechen | che | Кени / Keni | Keni |
| Kazakh | kaz | Кения / كەنيا / Kenïya | Kenïya |
| Kabardian | kbd | Кениэ | Keniă |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Кения / كەنىيا / Keniya | Keniya |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | К’ени / K’ênî | K’ênî |
| Meadow Mari | mhr | Кений | Kenij |
| Macedonian | mkd | Кенија | Kenija |
| Serbian | srp | Кенија / Kenija | Kenija |
| Tatar | tat | Кения / Keniä / كېنىيە | Keniä |
| Tajik | tgk | Кения / کینیه / Kenija | Kenija |
| Arabic | ara | كينيا | Kīniyā |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | کئنییا / Keniya | Keniya |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | کێنیا / Kênya | Kênya |
| Persian | fas | کنیا / Keniyâ | Keniyâ |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | کینیا | Kīnyā |
| Dari | prs | کینیا | Kēnyā |
| Pashto | pus | کېنيا | Kenyā |
| Sindhi | snd | ڪينيا | Kēnyā |
| Uyghur | uig | كېنىيە / Kéniye / Кения | Kéniye |
| Urdu | urd | کینیا | Kīnyā / Kēnyā |
| Dhivehi | div | ކެންޔާ | Kenyā |
| Hebrew | heb | קניה | Qenyah |
| Ladino | lad | קינייה / Kenya | Kenya |
| Yiddish | yid | קעניע | Kenye |
| Kabyle | kab | ⴽⴻⵏⵢⴰ / Kenya | Kenya |
| Amharic | amh | ኬንያ | Kenya |
| Greek | ell | Κένυα | Kénya |
| Armenian | hye | Քենիա | K̕enia |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | კენია | Kenia |
| Laz | lzz | კენია / K’enia | K’enia |
| Hindi | hin | कीनिया, केन्या, केनिया | Kīniyā, Kenyā, Keniyā |
| Bengali | ben | কেনিয়া | Keniyā |
| Gujarati | guj | કેન્યા | Kenyā |
| Odia | ori | କେନିୟା | Keniyā |
| Punjabi | pan | ਕੀਨੀਆ | Kīnīā |
| Sinhala | sin | කෙන්යාව | Kenyāva |
| Kannada | kan | ಕೀನ್ಯಾ | Kīnyā |
| Malayalam | mal | കെനിയ | Keniya |
| Tamil | tam | கென்யா, கெனியா | Keṉya, Keṉiya |
| Telugu | tel | కెన్యా | Kenyā |
| Chinese | zho | 肯尼亞/肯尼亚 | Kěnníyà |
| Japanese | jpn | ケニア | Kenia |
| Korean | kor | 케냐 | Kenya |
| Tibetan | bod | ཁེ་ནི་ཡ། | Kʰe.ni.ya |
| Dzongkha | dzo | ཀེ་ནི་ཡ། | Ke.ni.ya |
| Burmese | mya | ကင်ညာ | Kĩña |
| Thai | tha | เคนยา | Kʰēnyā |
| Lao | lao | ເກເນຍ | Kēniya |
| Khmer | khm | កេនយ៉ា | Kenyā |
Somali gives four spellings, Hindi three. Irish appears in standard spelling and in the older Gaelic type, An Chéinia and An Ċéinia. Languages written in more than one script show each form, separated by a slash.
A country named after a mountain
Kenya takes its name from Mount Kenya. The modern form was first written down in the 19th century by the German missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf, who travelled with a Kamba caravan and asked its leader, Kivoi, what the peak was called; the answer was recorded as Kĩ-Nyaa or Kĩlĩma-Kĩinyaa. The Kikuyu name of the mountain, Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga, is usually read as the mountain with brightness.
Because English and Swahili both write Kenya, the name passed into other languages in a stable Latin form. Most adaptations change only the vowel or the n: Kenia in German, Italian, Spanish and Polish, Kenija in Croatian and Latvian, Keňa in Czech and Slovak, Quénia and Quênia in the two Portuguese norms. Welsh has Cenia, Scottish Gaelic Ceinia.
Outside Latin script the name keeps its two syllables plus a final -ia or -ya: Кения in Russian, كينيا in Arabic, קניה in Hebrew, ケニア in Japanese. Korean 케냐 and Amharic ኬንያ follow the English pronunciation more closely.
Nairobi in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Latvian, Swahili | eng / fra / lav / swa | Nairobi | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Nairobi | same as written |
| Lithuanian, Samogitian | lit / smg | Nairobis | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Nayrobi / Најроби | Nayrobi |
| Bosnian | bos | Nairobi / Најроби / نايرۉبٖى | Nairobi |
| Esperanto | epo | Najrobo | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Naròbaidh | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Nairobi | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Naíróbí | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Naîrobî | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Nairobium | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Nairobi / Найроби | Nairobi |
| Malay | msa | Nairobi / نايروبي | Nairobi |
| Somali | som | Nayroobi | same as written |
| Tagalog | tgl | Nayrobi | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Naýrobi / Найроби | Naýrobi |
| Uzbek | uzb | Nayrobi / Найроби / نەيرابى | Nayrobi |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Найроби | Najrobi |
| Bashkir | bak | Найроби / Nayrobi | Nayrobi |
| Belarusian | bel | Найробі / Najrobi | Najrobi |
| Kazakh | kaz | Найроби / نايروبي / Nayrobï | Nayrobï |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Найроби / نايروبئ / Nayrobi | Nayrobi |
| Serbian | srp | Најроби / Najrobi | Najrobi |
| Tatar | tat | Найроби / Nayrobi / نايروبى | Nayrobi |
| Tajik | tgk | Найроби / نیرابی / Najrobi | Najrobi |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Найробі | Najrobi |
| Arabic | ara | نيروبي | Nayrūbī |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | نایروبی / Nayrobi | Nayrobi |
| Persian | fas | نایروبی / Nâyrobi | Nâyrobi |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | نیروبی | Nærobī |
| Pashto | pus | نيروبي | Nayrōbī |
| Uyghur | uig | نايروبى / Nayrobi / Найроби | Nayrobi |
| Urdu | urd | نیروبی | Nærōbī |
| Hebrew | heb | נירובי / ניירובי, נאירובי | Nayrōbī, Nāyrōbī |
| Yiddish | yid | נײַראָבי | Nayrobi |
| Amharic | amh | ናይሮቢ | Nayrobi |
| Greek | ell | Ναϊρόμπι | Naïrómpi |
| Armenian | hye | Նայրոբի | Nayrobi |
| Georgian | kat | ნაირობი | Nairobi |
| Hindi | hin | नैरोबी | Nærobī |
| Nepali | nep | नाइरोबी | Nāirobī |
| Bengali | ben | নাইরোবি | Nāirobi |
| Punjabi | pan | ਨੈਰੋਬੀ | Nærobī |
| Kannada | kan | ನೈರೋಬಿ | Nairōbi |
| Malayalam | mal | നെയ്റോബി | Neyṟōbi |
| Tamil | tam | நைரோபி | Nairōpi |
| Telugu | tel | నైరోబి | Nairōbi |
| Chinese | zho | 內羅畢/内罗毕 | Nèiluóbì |
| Japanese | jpn | ナイロビ | Nairobi |
| Korean | kor | 나이로비 | Nairobi |
| Thai | tha | ไนโรบี | Nairōbī |
| Khmer | khm | ណៃរុប៊ី | Ṇairubī |
Lithuanian and Samogitian add the ending -is (Nairobis), Esperanto writes Najrobo and Latin Nairobium.
The 47 counties of Kenya with ISO 3166-2 codes
Kenya's first level consists of 47 counties, numbered KE-01 to KE-47 in alphabetical order. Each row gives the county's name in English and in Swahili, the short name ISO 3166-2 uses and the county seat.
| ISO 3166-2 | English | Swahili | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counties majimbo47 | |||||
| KE-01 | Baringo County | Jimbo la Baringo | Baringo | KabarnetKabarnet | |
| KE-02 | Bomet County | Jimbo la Bomet | Bomet | BometBomet | |
| KE-03 | Bungoma County | Jimbo la Bungoma | Bungoma | BungomaBungoma | |
| KE-04 | Busia County | Jimbo la Busia | Busia | BusiaBusia | |
| KE-05 | Elgeyo Marakwet County | Jimbo la Elgeyo Marakwet | Elgeyo/Marakwet | ItenIten | |
| KE-06 | Embu County | Jimbo la Embu | Embu | EmbuEmbu | |
| KE-07 | Garissa County | Jimbo la Garissa | Garissa | GarissaGarissa | |
| KE-08 | Homa Bay County | Jimbo la Homa Bay | Homa Bay | Homa BayHoma Bay | |
| KE-09 | Isiolo County | Jimbo la Isiolo | Isiolo | IsioloIsiolo | |
| KE-10 | Kajiado County | Jimbo la Kajiado | Kajiado | KajiadoKajiado | |
| KE-11 | Kakamega County | Jimbo la Kakamega | Kakamega | KakamegaKakamega | |
| KE-12 | Kericho County | Jimbo la Kericho | Kericho | KerichoKericho | |
| KE-13 | Kiambu County | Jimbo la Kiambu | Kiambu | KiambuKiambu | |
| KE-14 | Kilifi County | Jimbo la Kilifi | Kilifi | KilifiKilifi | |
| KE-15 | Kirinyaga County | Jimbo la Kirinyaga | Kirinyaga | Kerugoya / KutusKerugoya / Kutus | |
| KE-16 | Kisii County | Jimbo la Kisii | Kisii | KisiiKisii | |
| KE-17 | Kisumu County | Jimbo la Kisumu | Kisumu | KisumuKisumu | |
| KE-18 | Kitui County | Jimbo la Kitui | Kitui | KituiKitui | |
| KE-19 | Kwale County | Jimbo la Kwale | Kwale | KwaleKwale | |
| KE-20 | Laikipia County | Jimbo la Laikipia | Laikipia | NanyukiNanyuki | |
| KE-21 | Lamu County | Jimbo la Lamu | Lamu | LamuLamu | |
| KE-22 | Machakos County | Jimbo la Machakos | Machakos | MachakosMachakos | |
| KE-23 | Makueni County | Jimbo la Makueni | Makueni | WoteWote | |
| KE-24 | Mandera County | Jimbo la Mandera | Mandera | ManderaMandera | |
| KE-25 | Marsabit County | Jimbo la Marsabit | Marsabit | MarsabitMarsabit | |
| KE-26 | Meru County | Jimbo la Meru | Meru | MeruMeru | |
| KE-27 | Migori County | Jimbo la Migori | Migori | MigoriMigori | |
| KE-28 | Mombasa County | Jimbo la Mombasa | Mombasa | MombasaMombasa | |
| KE-29 | Murang’a County | Jimbo la Murang’a | Murang'a | Murang’aMurang’a | |
| KE-30 | Nairobi County | Jimbo la Nairobi | Nairobi City | NairobiNairobi | |
| KE-31 | Nakuru County | Jimbo la Nakuru | Nakuru | NakuruNakuru | |
| KE-32 | Nandi County | Jimbo la Nandi | Nandi | KapsabetKapsabet | |
| KE-33 | Narok County | Jimbo la Narok | Narok | NarokNarok | |
| KE-34 | Nyamira County | Jimbo la Nyamira | Nyamira | NyamiraNyamira | |
| KE-35 | Nyandarua County | Jimbo la Nyandarua | Nyandarua | Ol KalouOl Kalou | |
| KE-36 | Nyeri County | Jimbo la Nyeri | Nyeri | NyeriNyeri | |
| KE-37 | Samburu County | Jimbo la Samburu | Samburu | MaralalMaralal | |
| KE-38 | Siaya County | Jimbo la Siaya | Siaya | SiayaSiaya | |
| KE-39 | Taita Taveta County | Jimbo la Taita Taveta | Taita/Taveta | VoiVoi | |
| KE-40 | Tana River County | Jimbo la Tana River | Tana River | HolaHola | |
| KE-41 | Tharaka Nithi County | Jimbo la Tharaka Nithi | Tharaka-Nithi | ChukaChuka | |
| KE-42 | Trans Nzoia County | Jimbo la Trans Nzoia | Trans Nzoia | KitaleKitale | |
| KE-43 | Turkana County | Jimbo la Turkana | Turkana | LodwarLodwar | |
| KE-44 | Uasin Gishu County | Jimbo la Uasin Gishu | Uasin Gishu | EldoretEldoret | |
| KE-45 | Vihiga County | Jimbo la Vihiga | Vihiga | VihigaVihiga | |
| KE-46 | Wajir County | Jimbo la Wajir | Wajir | WajirWajir | |
| KE-47 | West Pokot County | Jimbo la West Pokot | West Pokot | KapenguriaKapenguria | |
Codes and ISO names: ISO 3166-2:KE on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026. English and Swahili names and seats: the 2016 edition of this list.
From eight provinces to 47 counties
Until 2014 the ISO list showed eight provinces with three-digit codes, from KE-110 for Nairobi to KE-800 for the Western province. In Swahili they were Kati (Central), Pwani (Coast), Mashariki (Eastern), Kaskazini Mashariki (North Eastern), Nyanza, Bonde la Ufa (Rift Valley) and Magharibi (Western), with Nairobi as the eighth. ISO deleted all eight on 30 October 2014 and coded the 47 counties in their place.
In Swahili each county is a jimbo, plural majimbo, and the name follows with la: Jimbo la Mombasa, Jimbo la Turkana. Some ISO names differ slightly from the usual English form. ISO writes Elgeyo/Marakwet and Taita/Taveta with a slash and calls the capital's county Nairobi City.
The flag is drawn after the Wikimedia Commons file: black, red and green bands separated by white fimbriations, with a red, black and white shield over two crossed white spears in the centre, in the proportion 2:3.
Questions about Kenya's names and counties
What is Kenya called in Swahili?
Kenya. The official name is Jamhuri ya Kenya, the Republic of Kenya, and the language itself is Kiswahili.
What are Kenya's ISO codes?
KE (alpha-2), KEN (alpha-3) and 404 (numeric) in ISO 3166-1.
How many counties does Kenya have?
47, coded KE-01 Baringo to KE-47 West Pokot. They replaced the eight provinces in the ISO list in October 2014.
Where does the name Kenya come from?
From Mount Kenya, whose local name Krapf recorded in the 19th century as Kĩ-Nyaa.
How is Nairobi written in Arabic and Russian?
نيروبي (Nayrūbī) in Arabic and Найроби in Russian.