Fort Ternan is a small town in

Kericho County Kericho County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. The county seats between longitude 35°02' and 35°40' East and between the equator and latitude 0°23' South with an altitude of about 2002m above the sea level. It borders Uasin Gishu County ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, located 50 kilometres east of

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Kenya by population, third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victor ...

and five kilometres east of

Koru The ''koru'' () is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It is an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. Its shape "conveys the ide ...

. It is named after Col. Trevor Ternan C.M.G.D.S.O. Fort Ternan is located at the western border of the former

Rift Valley Province Rift Valley Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa) of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the Kenyan general election, 2013. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces i ...

.Rough Guide Map of Kenya Fort Ternan forms a ward of

Kipkelion West Constituency Kipkelion West is a constituency in Kenya. It is one of six constituencies in Kericho County Kericho County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. The county seats between longitude 35°02' and 35°40' East and between the equator and latitude ...

and

Kipsigis Kipsigis may refer to: *the Kipsigis people of Kenya *Kipsigis language Kipsigis (or Kipsikii, Kipsikiis) is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster, It is spoken mainly in Kericho and Bomet counties in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the m ...

town council. Fort Ternan is also a

location In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

in the Chilchila

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

Transport

It is served by a railway station on the branch line to Kisumu on the national railway system. The railway is heavily graded in the vicinity of this station. The Highway Construction running From Nakuru To Kisumu through Londiani has connected the town to Kericho and Kisumu. There are local road leading to highly productive highland areas like Kipsinende, Cherara, Kokwet, Chepkechei, Koisagat, Chepkitar, Lelu etc.

Paleontology

Fossils of the specimen

Kenyapithecus ''Kenyapithecus wickeri'' is a fossil ape discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961 at a site called Fort Ternan in Kenya. The upper jaw and teeth were dated to 14 million years ago. One theory states that ''Kenyapithecus'' may be the common ances ...

were first found by

Louis Leakey Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...

in Fort Ternan in 1962. There is a prehistoric site and museum about 15 km from Fort Ternan Town.

Economic activity

The main economic activity is cash crop farming. Coffee, sugar cane and tea (in a few high altitude areas) are grown in small-scale holding farms. Adjacent to the town is Kipkelion Coffee millers where most of the coffee is supplied by farmers. Other crops grown around the town are subsistence crops such as maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, etc.

Education

The town is surrounded by a number of both primary and secondary schools. There is also an upcoming institute – Kipsinende Technical Institute.

References

{{Coord, 00, 12, 00, S, 35, 21, 00, E, display=title Populated places in Rift Valley Province Kericho County Rift Valley Province

Transport

Paleontology

Economic activity

Education

See also

References