Eastern Province (Kenya)

Eastern Province
Mkoa wa Mashariki
Former Province

Location of the Former Province in Kenya.
Coordinates: 0°0′N 38°0′E / 0.000°N 38.000°E / 0.000; 38.000Coordinates: 0°0′N 38°0′E / 0.000°N 38.000°E / 0.000; 38.000
Country  Kenya
No. of Counties: 8
Capital Embu
Area
 • Total 140,698.6 km2 (54,324.0 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 • Total 5,668,123[1]
Time zone EAT (UTC+3)
Mount Kenya was found in the former Eastern Province (capital Embu; click map to enlarge)

The Eastern Province (Swahili: Mashariki) of Kenya was one of 8 Provinces of Kenya. Its northern boundary ran along with that of Ethiopia; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lay to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province, ran along its western border. The provincial capital was Embu.

Overview

On 16 July 2009, the province was sub-divided into 3 Sub-Provinces namely lower eastern with Machakos as headquarters, central eastern with Meru as headquarters, and upper eastern with Marsabit as headquarters; however those changes never took effect due to the political wrangles in the Kenyan coalition government at the time. The sub-division of provinces were carried out in all seven Provinces of Kenya, excluding Nairobi. As of March 2013 after the Kenyan general election, 2013, the Eastern Province was subdivided into 8 counties namely:

Code County Former Province Area (km2) Population
Census 2009 		Capital
10 Marsabit Eastern 66,923.1291,166 Marsabit
11 Isiolo Eastern 25,336.1143,294 Isiolo
12 Meru Eastern 6,9301,356,301 Meru
13 Tharaka-Nithi Eastern 2,409.5365,330 Chuka
14 Embu Eastern 2,555.9516,212 Embu
15 Kitui Eastern 24,385.11,012,709 Kitui
16 Machakos Eastern 5,952.91,098,584 Machakos
17 Makueni Eastern 8,008.9884,527 Wote
Totals 140,698.65,668,123 -

The province was principally inhabited by the Meru, Kamba and Embu and several pastoralist communities. In 1979 its population was 2.7 million; in 1999, 4,631,779 (according to the 1999 census) and in 2009 the province would have had a population of 5,668,123.[2] In terms of area, it was the second largest province at (140,698.6 km²) in Kenya.

Geography

Eastern Province of Kenya includes the Chalbi Desert, Mount Kenya, and the eastern half of Lake Turkana. The climate in the region is arid to semi-arid. Its most important permanent river is Ewaso Ng'iro.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.knbs.or.ke/censuspopulation.php
  2. ↑ "Kenya Census 2009".
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