Vehicle registration plates of Kenya
The current series of vehicle registration plates in Kenya are on a white plate with black lettering and look quite similar to UK suffix style registrations. The format is LLL NNNL, where ‘L’ denotes a letter and ‘N’ denotes a digit. The older series of number plates were black with white or silver lettering. Later in the older series the front plates were reflective white with black lettering and the rear plates were reflective yellow with black lettering. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics there are over 1,626,380 vehicles in Kenyan road as at  2011. 1920-1989. It is not known when the first vehicle was registered in Kenya, but it is thought to be before 1920. Single letters were attributed to each of the 14 registration districts i.e. N=Kiambu, E=Kisumu, J=Kitale, B, H, T, W=Nairobi, A=Mombasa, C=Nakuru, D=Kericho, F=Eldoret, G=Nyeri, K=Muranga (Fort Hall), L=Kisii, Q=Machakos, S=Lamu, V=Isiolo, Y=Nanyuki. A serial number of 1-9999 followed, on white on black plates, save for public  transport vehicles, ie buses, taxis and hire cars, which used black on white. The 1950 K-prefix series was a change to a three-letter numbering system, necessitated by the increasing number of vehicles being registered. It was introduced on a regional basis as follow; All plates began with K, followed by the regional code (below) and a serial letter A-Z, not using letters I or O. Other number were issued The numbering system was centralised in 1980 and after that date all Kenya numbers are in sequence. Between 1980 and 1984 the unused numbers from Nakuru (KS), Mombasa  (KT) and Kisumu (KU) were issued, KW (1984) being the first number that was never used regionally. 1989-2007. After the registration of vehicle KZZ 999, the second generation was started in 1989. The series follow KAA 001A to KAZ 999Z The present KAA xxx A series had, the advantage being that each third letter of the number provided for 23,976 registrations instead of the previous 999. Hence for the series to be finished about 575424 vehicle will be registered. KAF, KAO, KAI were omitted. 2007-2014. After the registration of vehicle KAZ 999Z, the third generation was started in  2007 as KBA 001A. The series will run from KBA 001A to KBZ 999Z In 2014, the government announced a revamp of the registration plates to a new look, featuring electronic chips 2014-2020. After the registration of vehicle KBZ 999Z, the fourth generation was started in 2014 as KCA 001A. The series ran from KCA 001A to KCZ 999Z 2020-2021. After the registration of vehicle KCZ 999Z, the fifth generation was started in September 2020 with KDA 001A. The series will run from KDA 001A to KDZ 999Z 2021 December- now. KDH001A onwards. Special plates. There are other  number sequences that are used in Kenya. Diplomatic and United Nations codes. The diplomatic number given to the embassies were assigned in the order that they recognized Kenya’s independence, with Germany (then West Germany) as the first country to recognize Kenya's independence having the diplomatic plate 1 CD. As of 2008, the diplomatic / UN sequence assignation was as below: 1 CD - Germany 2 CD - Russian Federation 3 CD - Ethiopia 4 CD - China 5 CD - Norway 6 CD - Hungary 7 CD - Egypt 8 CD - Serbia 9 CD - Italy 10 CD - France 11 CD - Slovakia 12 CD - Denmark 13 CD  - Japan 14 CD - Sudan 15 CD - Austria 16 CD - India 17 CD - Australia 18 CD - Canada 19 CD - Holy See (The Vatican) 20 CD - Finland 21 CD - Switzerland 22 CD - Britain 23 CD - Liberia 24 CD - Israel 25 CD - Nigeria 26 CD - Ghana 27 CD - Netherlands 28 CD - Malawi 29 CD - USA 30 CD - Belgium 31 CD - Sweden 32 CD - Pakistan 33 CD - Poland 34 CD - Korea 35 CD - Bulgaria 36 CD - Greece 37 CD - Cuba 38 CD - Kuwait 39 CD - Spain 40 UN - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 41 UN - World Health Organization (WHO) 42 UN - United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 43 UN - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (The World Bank) 44 UN - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 45 UN - World Food Programme (WFP) 45 CD - Romania 46 CD - Thailand 47 CD - The African Union (A.U) 48 CD - Colombia 49 CD - India 50 CD - Somalia 51 CD - Brazil 52 CD - Turkey 53 CD - Lesotho 54 CD - Zambia 55 CD - Madagascar 56 CD - Malaysia 57 CD - D.R. Congo (DRC) 58 CD - eSwatini 59 CD - Sri Lanka 60 CD - Iraq 61 CD - Rwanda 62 UN - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees / UN Refugee  Agency (UNHCR) 63 UN - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Eastern & Southern African Regional Office 64 CD - Iran 65 CD - Cyprus 66 CD - Argentina 67 UN - United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) 68 CD - Philippines 69 CD - Burundi 70 CD - Chile 71 CD - Oman 72 CD - League of Arab States / Arab League 73 CD - European Union 74 CD - Yemen 75 CD - Kenya Mission to UNEP 76 CD - Côte d'Ivoire (Consulate) 77 CD - Bangladesh 78 CD - Saudi Arabia 79 UN - United Nations Office for Project Services / (UNOPS) 80 CD - Libya 81 CD - Ireland (Consulate) 82 CD - United Nations Centre for Human Settlements  / UN-Habitat (Kenya Mission) 83 CD - Algeria 84 CD - Palestine 85 CD - Uganda 86 CD - Mexico 87 CD - Morocco 88 CD - Costa Rica (Consulate) 89 CD - Gabon (Consulate) 90 UN - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Kenya Country Office 91 CD - Indonesia 92 CD - Portugal 93 CD - Venezuela 94 CD - Zimbabwe 95 CD - International Civil Aviation Organization (I.C.A.O) 96 CD - Asian Development Bank 97 CD - Tanzania 99 CD - Peru 100 CD - International Finance Corporation (I.F.C) 101 CD - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Norwegian Mission 102 CD - Mozambique 103 CD - South Africa 104 CD - Eritrea 105 UN - United Nations Office in  Nairobi (UNON) 106 CD - Czech Republic 107 CD - The Aga Khan 108 UN - UNFPA 110 UN - UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) 112 UN - International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) 113 UN - United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) 115 CD - Ukraine 116 CD - Sahrawi 117 CD - Djibouti 118 CD - Sierra Leone 121 CD - South Sudan 123 CD - United Arab Emirates