Witu is a small market town in the
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, Somali ...
of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
,
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*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. Formerly it was the capital of
Wituland
Wituland (also Witu, Vitu, Witu Protectorate or Swahililand) was a territory of approximately in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.
Hist ...
.
Location
It is west of the
Witu Forest. It is on the
Garsen–Witu–Lamu Highway
Garsen–Witu–Lamu Highway is a road, under construction in Kenya, connecting the towns of Garsen, Witu and Lamu.
Location
The road starts at Garsen, in Tana River County, pursuing a general easterly direction through Witu to end at Mok ...
(C-112) between
Mkunumbi
Mkunumbi is a historic Swahili settlement in Kenya's Coast Province
The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city ...
, to the east, and
Garsen
Garsen is a small town located in Tana River County, Kenya. It is on the west bank of the Tana River.
Location
Garsen is located on the banks of the Tana River, in Tana River County, approximately south of Hola, the location of the county headq ...
, to the west. A secondary road leads south to
Kipini
Kipini is a historic Swahili settlement in Kenya's Coast Province
The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city a ...
on the coast. The coordinates of Witu, Kenya are: 2°23'20.0"S, 40°26'16.0"E (Latitude:-2.388897; Longitude:40.437769). The average elevation of the town is about .
Population
As of September 2013, the population of the town was estimated at 5,380.
Wituland
Witu was the centre of an inland empire of approximately . It was inhabited by slaves fleeing the Zanzibar slave trade, and was thus a target of attacks from the
Sultanate of Zanzibar
The Sultanate of Zanzibar ( sw, Usultani wa Zanzibar, ar, سلطنة زنجبار , translit=Sulṭanat Zanjībār), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was a state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Sul ...
, circa 1850.
See also
*
List of roads in Kenya
The following is a list of national roads in Kenya, under the jurisdiction of the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA). KenHa classifies International Trunk Roads as Class ‘A’ and National Trunk Roads as Class ‘B’. The list is not exha ...
*
Historic Swahili Settlements
*
Swahili architecture
Swahili architecture is a term used to designate a whole range of diverse building traditions practiced or once practiced along the eastern and southeastern coasts of Africa. Rather than simple derivatives of Islamic architecture from the Arabic ...
References
{{Authority control
Swahili people
Swahili city-states
Swahili culture
Populated coastal places in Kenya
Populated places in Lamu County