Meru North District was one of the unconstitutionally created
districts of Kenya, located in that country's
Eastern Province. In 1992, it was split from the large Meru District, along with
Meru Central District,
Meru South District Meru South District was one of the unconstitutionally created districts of Kenya, located in that country's Eastern Province. In 1992, it was split from the large Meru District, along with Meru Central District, Meru North District, and Tharaka ...
(Nithi), and
Tharaka District. Since the Supreme Court's decision in September 2009, Meru North is again part of
Meru County
Meru County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, located in the former Eastern Province. The county lies between 0° 6′ North and 0° 1′ South and between latitudes 37° West and 38° East. It borders Isiolo County to the North, Tharaka/Nit ...
.
The area of Meru North District is the home of the
Ameru (Meru) tribe, which is sometimes described as being related to other tribes living around the
Mount Kenya region: the
Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language.
It may also refer to:
* Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya
*Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people
*Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...
and the
Embu people. The Ameru are generally called "
Bantu
Bantu may refer to:
*Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages
*Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language
* Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle
*Black Association for National ...
" people who have been native to the Mt. Kenya area for many, many years — well before colonization of Kenya by
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
in the 19th Century. The people are now predominantly
Christian —
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
,
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
,
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, and other denominations, reflecting the work of missionaries — with also minorities of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n descent, who are mainly
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s, and African/Arab descent, who are
Muslims. There are also has some resident Europeans predominantly British in ancestry.
Meru is well known for its production of
khat
Khat or qat ( ''ch’at''; Oromo: ''Jimaa'', so, qaad, khaad, khat or chat, ar, القات ''al-qāt'') is a flowering plant native to eastern and southern Africa. Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant, which is said to cause e ...
, known locally as ''miraa'', and its supply to the rest of the country's major towns.
Because of the rich soils in the area, this plant thrives and most of the residents benefit from its sale. Trading in this commodity is a boon to other vendors, for example it stimulates the sale of banana leaves to ''miraa'' traders to protect the khat harvest from drying.
The district headquarters was in the town of
Maua. There were four constituencies in the district:
*
Igembe South Constituency
*
Igembe North Constituency
*
Tigania East Constituency
*
Tigania West Constituency
References
External links
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Kenya AdminLevels 1-4(.pdf)
Former districts of Kenya
{{EasternKE-geo-stub