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Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga, near the Coast Province. It is a part of Lamu District. The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Manda Island and Lamu Island. Smaller islands include Kiwayu, which lies in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve, and Manda Toto. Today the largest town in the archipelago is Lamu Town, on Lamu Island. The town is on the World Heritage List. The archipelago contains several archaeological/historical sites of great significance, such as Takwa and Manda Town (both on Manda Island) and Shanga (on Pate Island). Some have been partially excavated in later years, shedding important new light on Swahili history and culture. There are some other accounts that mention Chinese ships of Zheng He's fleet sinking near Lamu Island in Kenya in 1415. Survivors settled on the island and married local women. This has been proven r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamu Town
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. It is the headquarters of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town contains the Lamu Fort on the seafront, constructed under Fumo Madi ibn Abi Bakr, the sultan of Pate, and was completed after his death in the early 1820s. Lamu is also home to 23 mosques, including the Riyadha Mosque, built in 1900, and a donkey sanctuary. History Early history The original name of the town is Amu, which the Arabs termed Al-Amu (آامو) and the Portuguese "Lamon". The Portuguese applied the name to the entire island as Amu was the chief settlement. Lamu Town on Lamu Island is Kenya's oldest continually inhabited town, and was one of the original Swahili settlements along coastal East Africa. It is believed to have been established in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manda Toto
Manda may refer to: Places * Kafr Manda, Arab town in the Lower Galilee * Manda Upazila, an upazila in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh * Manda, Kale, a village in Burma * Manda, Guinea, a town in the Labé Region * Manda, Jammu, India, a village * Manda (zamindari), an erstwhile feudal estate in India, near Allahabad * Manda (Tanzanian ward), an administrative ward in Dodoma Region, Tanzania * Manda, Missouri, a ghost town in the United States * Manda National Park, Chad * Manda Island, Lamu Archipelago, Kenya People * Manda people, an ethnic and linguistic group in southern Tanzania * Manda (name), a list of people with the given name or surname Fictional characters * Manda Best, in the soap opera ''EastEnders'' * Manda (kaiju), a dragon-based kaiju that appears in Japanese monster films * Manda, a giant snake in the ''Naruto'' manga series Other uses * ''Manda'' (beetle), a genus of insects in the family Staphylinidae * Beth manda, a place of worship for follower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamu County
Lamu County is a county of Kenya located along the North Coast of the country and is one of the six Coastal Counties in Kenya. Its capital is the town of Lamu. It borders Tana River County to the southwest, Garissa County to the north, Somalia to the northeast, and the Indian Ocean to the South. The county has a land surface of , including the mainland and over 65 islands that form the Lamu Archipelago. The total length of the coastline is , while the land water mass area stands at . As of the 2019 census, Lamu County had a population of 143,920, making it the least populated county in Kenya. Demographics The county is made of a cosmopolitan population composed of communities such as Boni, Ormas, Swahilis, Arabs, Koreni, Kikuyu, and other migrant communities from the rest of the country. The county has a total population of 143,920 of which 76,103 are males 67,813 females and 4 intersex persons. There are 37,963 households with an average household size of 3.7 person ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga, near the Coast Province. It is a part of Lamu District. The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Manda Island and Lamu Island. Smaller islands include Kiwayu, which lies in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve, and Manda Toto. Today the largest town in the archipelago is Lamu Town, on Lamu Island. The town is on the World Heritage List. The archipelago contains several archaeological/historical sites of great significance, such as Takwa and Manda Town (both on Manda Island) and Shanga (on Pate Island). Some have been partially excavated in later years, shedding important new light on Swahili history and culture. There are some other accounts that mention Chinese ships of Zheng He's fleet sinking near Lamu Island in Kenya in 1415. Survivors settled on the island and married local women. This has been proven r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiwayuu Island
Kiwayuu (alternative spelling Kiwayu) is a small island in the eastern part of the Lamu Archipelago in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve in Kenya. Its main economic activity is fishing, and there is one school, no clinic and one well on the island. Its main tourist attractions are the tidal pools and snorkeling/diving pools on its eastern side, in the Indian Ocean. The nearest hospital is on Lamu Island outside of Lamu town. Travel from Kiwayuu to Lamu is 7 hours by dhow, or 2 hours by mirror boat. See also *Kiwayu Airport * Historic Swahili Settlements *Swahili architecture External links *Jeffrey GettlemanBare Feet, Sand Stairs and Isolation to Suit a Prince July 22, 2007, The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...Kiwayu on Google map (zoom in) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zheng He
Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred by the Yongle Emperor. Commissioned by the Yongle Emperor and later the Xuande Emperor, Zheng commanded seven expeditionary treasure voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. According to legend, his larger ships carried hundreds of sailors on four decks and were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded. As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whom Zheng assisted in the overthrow of the Jianwen Emperor, he rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing. Early life and family Zheng He was born Ma He () to a Muslim family of Kunyang, Kunming, Yunnan, during the Ming dynasty of China. He had an older brother and four sisters. Zheng He' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swahili (people)
The Swahili people ( sw, WaSwahili) comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya, northern Mozambique, the Comoros Islands, southwestern Somalia and Northwest Madagascar. The original Swahili distinguished themselves from other Bantu peoples by self-identifying as Waungwana (the civilised ones). In certain regions (e.g. Lamu Island), this differentiation is even more stratified in terms of societal grouping and dialect, hinting to the historical processes by which the Swahili have coalesced over time. More recently, however, Swahili identity extends to any person of African descent who speaks Swahili as their first language, is Muslim and lives in a town on the main urban centres of most of modern-day Tanzania and coastal Kenya, northern Mozambique and the Comoros, through a process of swahilization. The name ''Swahili'' originated as an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shanga, Pate Island
Shanga is an archaeological site located in Pate Island off the Eastern Coast of Africa. The site covers about . Shanga was excavated during an eight-year period in which archaeologists examined Swahili people, Swahili origins. The archaeological evidence in the form of coins, pottery, glass and beads all suggest that a Swahili community inhabited the area during the eighth century. Evidence from the findings also indicates that the site was a Muslim trading community that had networks in Asia. Location Shanga is located on Pate Island — part of the Lamu Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It is near the northern coast of Kenya. Coordinates: 41.04 E 2.08 S. Topography Pate Island was formed as a result of fossilized coral reefs. Shanga itself is located on the southern part of the island that faces the Indian Ocean. The island is bordered by mangroves on land and by coral reefs on the shore. Mangroves tend to grow along the shore because they require the salt. Overall the isla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takwa
The Takwa settlement is situated on the south side of Manda Island, in the Lamu District in the coastal province of Kenya. They are the ruins of a town which was abandoned around the 18th century. The Takwa site can be easily reached from Lamu town. The ruins were first excavated by James Kirkman in 1951. In 1972 the site was cleared again under the supervision of James de Vere Allen, the Curator of the Lamu Museum. Takwa was never a large place. It was founded around 1500, and probably abandoned around 1700. Kirkman thought that it was perhaps a place where holy men or religious people retreated. The Great Mosque at Takwa is relatively well preserved. The other structure of importance is the Pillar Tomb, which has an inscription with the date of 1681–1682. It is reported that when Takwa was abandoned, its inhabitants settled just across the bay at Shela on Lamu Island. Twice a year the people of Shela come to the Pillar Tomb in Takwa to pray for rain.Martin, 1973, p. 27 T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural heritage, cultural and natural heritage, natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to Human, humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiunga Marine National Reserve
Kiunga Marine National Reserve is situated along the Indian Ocean coast of Lamu District, Coast Province, Kenya. Kiunga park covers . The park covers an area with approximately 50 islands and coral reefs in the Lamu Archipelago. It borders the Boni and Dodori National Reserve Dodori National Reserve is a protected area located in Lamu East District of Coast Province in Kenya. It was documented in 1976 and its 877 km² encompasses an important woodland and forest area that historically supported large populations of wildl ...s. The Coast is humid with mean annual temperatures ranging from 22 to 34 °C. Rainfall is about 500 mm/year. It is located at an altitude of 30 meters above MSL. The outer islands of the Reserve host many seabirds. Species nesting here include roseate tern, sooty gull, white-cheeked tern, bridled tern and brown node. References External links * Marine parks of Kenya National parks of Kenya {{Africa-protected-area-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lamu Island
Lamu Island is a port, city, and island just off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean approximately 150 miles from Mombasa. It is a part of the East African country of Kenya. Lamu was founded in the 12th Century. Lamu is one of the longest established, and best preserved remaining settlements of the Swahili tradition in east Africa that remains today. The island has continually been inhabited for over seven hundred years, and continues to be an important center in eastern Africa. Swahili Culture The island of Lamu is a Swahili settlement filled with culture. Prior to the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, people of various countries and regions migrated to the island of Lamu. Traders and sailors from the Arabian Peninsula, China, India and South-East Asia traveled across the Indian Ocean to the East African Coast to reach the island of Lamu. The diverse mixture of sailors and traders with the native people of the Lamu island created distinguishable social classes and a diver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
