After the 2013 general election, and the coming into effect of the new constitution, provinces became defunct and the country was now divided into 47 counties. Each county has its own government and therefore there is no central regional capital. Western Province became the Western region, comprising four counties:

Kakamega Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579 (2019 census). Kakamega is 52 km north of Kisumu, the tenth largest city in Ken ...

Bungoma Bungoma is the county town of Bungoma County in Kenya. It was established as a trading centre in the early 20th century. Naming Bungoma, was named from eng'oma—the Bukusu word for drums. The town was originally a meeting place for Bukusu ...

Vihiga Vihiga is a town in Kenya located on the eastern side of the Kakamega Forest. Geography The town is along the road between Kisumu and Kakamega, and only five kilometres north of the equator. Vihiga bears the same name as its county, Vihiga Coun ...

, and Busia.

is the seat of government for Kakamega County, Bungoma County has its seat in

town, Busia County has the Assemble in Busia, Vihiga County in Vihiga town, all the County governments and governors are answerable to the people not to the national government. The Western Region ( sw, Magharibi) of

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

, bordering

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, is one of former Kenya's seven administrative provinces outside

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. It is west of the

Eastern Rift Valley The Gregory Rift is the eastern branch of the East African Rift fracture system. The rift is being caused by the separation of the Somali plate from the Nubian plate, driven by a thermal plume. Although the term is sometimes used in the narrow se ...

and is inhabited mainly by the

Luhya people The Luhya (also known as ''Abaluyia'' or Luyia) comprise a number of Bantu ethnic groups native to western Kenya. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically related tribes. ''Luhya'' refers to both the 20 Luhya clans and their respe ...

. Quakerism is widely practised here. Kenya's second highest mountain,

Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.

is located in

Bungoma County Bungoma County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. Its capital is Bungoma town. It has a population of 1,670,570 of which 812,146 are males 858,389 females as per the 2019 census and an area of 2,069 km2. It has nine constitu ...

. The

Kakamega Forest Kakamega Forest is a tropical rainforest situated in the Kakamega County, Kakamega and Nandi_County, Nandi County of Kenya, northwest of the capital Nairobi, and near to the border with Uganda. It is Kenya's only tropical rainforest and is said to ...

rainforest is part of the area. The province capital was the town of

Geography

Western Region has diverse physical features, from the hills of northern Bungoma County to the plains bordering

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 ...

Busia County Busia is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. It borders Kakamega County to the east, Bungoma County to the north, Lake Victoria and Siaya County to the south and Busia District, Uganda to the west. The county has about 893,000 p ...

. The highest point in the Western Region of

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

is the peak of

, while the lowest point is the town of Busia on the water at

. In 1999 the total population was of 3,358,776 inhabitants within an area of 8,361 km², increasing to 4.334 million for the 2009 decennial census.

Climate

The climate is mainly

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

, with variations due to altitude. Kakamega County is mainly hot and wet most of the year, while Bungoma County is colder but just as wet. Busia County is the warmest, while the hilly Vihiga County is the coldest. The entire province experiences very heavy rainfall all year round, with the long rains in the earlier months of the year.

Economy

Farming is the main economic activity in the province. Bungoma County is sugar country, with one of the country's largest sugar factories, as well as numerous small-holder sugar mills.

Maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

is also grown for subsistence, alongside

pearl millet Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum''; also known as 'Bajra' in Hindi, 'Sajje' in Kannada, 'Kambu' in Tamil, 'Bajeer' in Kumaoni and 'Maiwa' in Hausa, 'Mexoeira' in Mozambique) is the most w ...

and

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

. Dairy farming is widely practised, as well as the raising of poultry. There is a small but important tourist circuit, centering on the biennial circumcision ceremonies. Kakamega County has a mixture of both subsistence and cash crop farming, with

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

being the preferred medium to large scale crop. The County has two sugar factories. There is also a significant tourism industry centering on Kakamega Forest. Busia County experiences perennial floods from the

Nzoia River The Nzoia River is a Kenyan river, rising from Cherangany hills. It passes through Kapsara, Springer ,Moi's bridge then crosses to Kakamega county.It flows south and then west, eventually flowing into Lake Victoria near the town of Port Victoria. ...

, and the dominant economic activity is fishing on Lake Victoria. Limited commercial farming is also practiced, mainly of sugar cane. Subsistence farming of

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

is widely practiced. Vihiga County has large

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

plantations, and is the most densely populated rural area in Kenya. Quarrying for construction materials is a significant activity in the hilly County. Dairy farming is also widely practiced in Vihiga. Western Kenya has many large factories, including sugar processing plants (4 factories). The largest of these is Mumias Sugar, based at

Mumias Mumias is a town in Kakamega County of Kenya. The town has an urban population of 116,358 (2009 census). Mumias was the centre of the Mumias District. The town is linked by road to Kakamega (in east), Busia (west), Bungoma (north), Butere But ...

, to the west of Kakamega. This factory produces the dominant sugar brand in Kenya and is an economic success story. Also in Western Kenya is the largest paper factory in Africa (Pan Paper Mills in

Webuye Webuye, previously named Broderick Falls, is an industrial town in Bungoma County, Kenya. Located on the main road to Uganda, the town is home to the Pan African Paper Mills, the largest paper factory in the region, as well as a number of heav ...

) and chemical processors. Despite this, living standards are generally low and social amenities like running water and electricity are not available to the majority of the province's residents.

Counties

Districts after 2007

Several new districts were created in 2007 in Kenya, also in Western Province:Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and National Security
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References