Karungu (Karunga) is a village in Kenya on the shore above

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

, near the frontier with Tanzania. Administratively it is in Karungu Location, Karungu Division,

Migori County Migori County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of southwestern Kenya. It is located in Southwestern Kenya and borders Homa Bay County (North), Kisii County (North E), Narok (South East), Tanzania (West and South) and Lake Victoria to th ...

History

Located on the headland overlooking Karungu Bay, the village was originally expected to grow into a bustling port. A stone pier was built in the late 1800s and a customs house, but the project failed due to endemic malaria. The nearby village of Sori eventually surpassed Karungu and became the market town. Nevertheless, Karungu had already given its name to the bay and the administrative division. In World War I, in September 1914, the Germans, from

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

, occupied Karungu after falling back from their attack on Kisi. The steamer ''Winifred'' attempted to drive them off but was not successful until joined by the ''Kavirondo''. The Germans retreated back to Shirati.

Notes

Migori County Populated places in Nyanza Province {{NyanzaKE-geo-stub