Baringo County is one of the 47

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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

. It is located in 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 ...

. Its headquarters and largest town is Kabarnet. The county is home to

Lake Baringo Lake Baringo is, after Lake Turkana, the most northern of the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes, with a surface area of and an elevation of . The lake is fed by several rivers: the Molo, Perkerra and Ol Arabel. It has no obvious outlet; the waters ar ...

Geographical location

Baringo bounded by

Turkana County Turkana County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. It is Kenya's largest county by land area (followed by Marsabit County), and also its northwesternmost. It is bordered by the countries of Uganda to the west; South Sudan ...

and

West Pokot County West Pokot County is a county of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kapenguria. The county covers an area of approximately 9,169.4 square kilometers and stretches a distance of 132 kilometers from North to South. West Pokot County is bordere ...

to the North, Samburu County and Laikipia County to the East,

Nakuru County Nakuru County is a county in Kenya. It is County number 32 out of the 47 Kenyan Counties. Nakuru County is a host to Kenya's Forth City – Nakuru City. On 1 December 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded a City Charter status to Nakuru, ranki ...

and Kericho County to the South,

Uasin Gishu County Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley Province. Eldoret has the county's largest population center as well as its administrative and commercial center. “It lies between longitudes 34 degrees ...

to the South West and

Elgeyo Marakwet County Elgeyo-Marakwet County is one of Kenya's 47 counties. Elgeyo Marakwet County is located in the former Rift Valley Province. Its capital and largest town is Iten. It borders the counties of West Pokot to the north, Baringo County to the east, s ...

to the West. It covers an area of 8,655 km². Baringo County lies between Latitudes 00 degrees 13" South and 1 degree 40" north and Longitudes 35 degrees 36" and 36" degrees 30" East.

Administrative and political units

Baringo has seven administrative sub-counties # Baringo Central # Tiaty East # Tiaty West # Eldama Ravine # Baringo South # Mogotio # Baringo North *Eldama Ravine and Mogotio sub counties combined was formerly Koibatek District*

Administrative and electoral units in Baringo County

Baringo county has a total of thirty electoral wards and one hundred and sixteen locations. The electoral wards is run by an elected member of county assembly where-areas location is led by Chief appointed. Source

Demographics

The county has a population of 666,763 (2019 census) and an area of .

Distribution of population by sex and sub-county

Source

Religion and ethnicities

The county is largely occupied by the Tugen and Pokot people, which are subtribes of the

Kalenjin people The Kalenjin are a group of tribes designated as Highland Nilotes and are descended from Maliri people ''(thus related to Daasanach of Ethiopia.)'' The Kalenjin are cousins with Datooga people of Tanzania and Malawi. In contrast, their desig ...

. The

Tugen people The Tugen are a sub tribe of the Kalenjin people alongside the Nandi, Kipsigis, Keiyo, Pokot, Marakwet, Sabaot, Ogiek, Lembus and Sengwer sub-tribes. They occupy Baringo County and some parts of Nakuru County and Elgeyo Marakwet County ...

include the

Aror Aror (Sindhi: اروهڙ) or Alor or Arorkot (Sindhi: اروهڙ ڪوٽ) is the medieval name of the city of Rohri (in Sindh, modern Pakistan). Aror once served as the capital of Sindh. History As Roruka, capital of the Sauvira Kingdom, it ...

, Samor, Torois,

Keben Keben is a village in Silifke district of Mersin Province at . Distance to Silifke is and to Mersin is . It is situated to the north of Turkish state highway and Göksu River. The population of the village is 672, as of 2011. The village is f ...

, Kakimor, Bokor,

Lembus The lemb, ''lembus'' or ''lembos'' ( grc, λέμβος, ''lembos''; la, lembus) was an ancient wide term covering a range of small ships, which were used for different purposes, both civilian and military. It was small and light, with a low fre ...

, Chapchap and the Sachek of Sacho. Other communities residing in Baringo County include the

Ilchamus The Ilchamus (sometimes spelled Iltiamus, also known as Njemps), are a Maa-speaking people living south and southeast of Lake Baringo, Kenya. They numbered approximately 32,949 people in 2019 and are closely related to the Samburu living more ...

, Turkana,

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 Centr ...

, Numbians, and others.

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

is the most practiced religion in the county. Traditionally, Baringo people believed in a Supreme Being known as '' Asis'', who is represented by the sun; however, currently, most individuals in the county believe in Christianity. The well-known Christian denominations within Baringo County include the African Inland Church (AIC),

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordi ...

(ACK), FGCK and

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 ...

County government

The current County Governor is Benjamin Chesire Cheboi, the deputy governor is Eng. Felix Kipngo'k who is the eldest son of the former deputy governor Charles Kipng'ok who collapsed and died on September 14, 2022 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while boarding a plane to Mombasa; barely a month after taking oath of office. The current Senator is William Kipkorir Cheptumo after overwhelmingly defeating the former senator Gideon Moi on August 9 polls. The current County Women Representative is Flowrence Jematiah Sergon. The County Executive Committee consists of the following: Other CEC Positions shall be updated by Ruzeki once they are filled.

Economics

The economy of the county is mainly agro-based. The main food crops grown are maize, pigeon peas, beans, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, sorghum, cassava and finger millet while the cash crops are coffee, cotton, macadamia and pyrethrum. Livestock products include honey, beef, mutton as well as hides and skins. However, little value addition is done to these products.

Urbanization

Major urban centres in the county are Kabarnet,

Eldama Ravine Eldama Ravine is a town in Baringo County, Kenya, a few miles north of the equator, geographical coordinates 0° 30' 0" North, 35° 43' 0" East. It was established as an administrative point by British colonialists and later served as a transit r ...

Marigat Marigat is a small town in Baringo County Baringo County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. It is located in the former Rift Valley Province. Its headquarters and largest town is Kabarnet. The county is home to Lake Baringo. Geographical lo ...

, Mogotio,

Kabartonjo Kabartonjo is the district headquarters of Baringo North District, Baringo County, Kenya. Kabartonjo has a population of about 2,000. Its residents are mainly of the Arror dialect of the Tugen sub-tribe in the Kalenjin cluster but members of oth ...

, Chemolingot and Tangulbei.

Tourism and wildlife

Major attractions include: *

Lake Bogoria Lake Bogoria (formerly Lake Hannington) is a saline, alkaline lake that lies in a volcanic region in a half-graben basin south of Lake Baringo, Kenya, a little north of the equator. Lake Bogoria, like Lake Nakuru, Lake Elementeita, and Lake Ma ...

and Kapedo Hotsprings * Lake Bogoria Game Reserve is home to rare kudus, antelopes, zebras, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, mongoose, monkeys, baboons and jackals. At the shores of Lake Bogoria are more than two millions lesser flamingoes and 350 bird species total. *

* Lake Baringo Snake Park has many snake species such as the black mamba, puff adder, boomslang and spitting cobra, monitor lizards, crocodiles and tortoises. * Lake Kamnarok * Kabarnet National Museum and Kipsaraman Community Museum * Ruko Conservancy * Cheploch Gorge Major tourist hotels in the county are: * Sunmaya Resort and World Trail Camps, Ainobmoi * Lake Bogoria Hotel and Spa Resort * Kabarnet Hotel, Kabarnet * Sinkoro Hotel Ltd, Kabarnet * Soi Safari Lodge * Sportsline Hotel, Kabarnet * Taidy's Restaurant, Eldama Ravine * Kibelion Hotel, Emining * Lalwa Safari Lodge, Koriema

Education

Kabarnet town hosts a number of university campuses including those of Baringo University,

Mount Kenya University Mount Kenya University (MKU) is a private, multi-campus, university in the municipal county of Thika, Kenya. The university was founded by Prof. Simon N. Gicharu and has since become one of the largest private universities in Kenya, with an es ...

Egerton University Egerton University is a public university in Kenya. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Kenya. Location The main campus of the university is located in Njoro, a small community approximately , southwest of the town of Nakuru. T ...

, and

Kisii University Kisii University is a public university located in Kisii. It was founded in 1965 as a primary teachers’ training college on a 61-acre land that was donated by the County Council of Gusii. The college continued up to 1983 when it was upgraded t ...

. Secondary schools include Kabarnet High School,solian girls, Baringo High School, Kapropita High School, and Kituro High School, Tabagon Girls, Pemwai Girls, Tenges Boys among others There are six hundred and eighty seven primary schools, out of this 601 are public and 86 are private schools. In Secondary school category they are a total of one hundred and fifty nine (159) schools; one hundred and forty seven being public secondary schools and twelve being private public secondary schools.

Health

Kabarnet County Referral Hospital is the largest and best public hospital in the county. There are a total of 172 health facilities; seven level four, 25 level three and 140 level 2 centres.

Transport and infrastructure

The county headquarters is linked to Nakuru and Eldoret by class C roads which fall under the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA). In January 2016, Fly-SAX began twice-weekly flights between Lake Baringo Airport and Nairobi–Wilson, becoming the first airline to serve the airport. There are 339 km bitumen, 2141 murram and 995 km earth roads in the county. As at 2014 a total of 9 postal offices were spread across the county with letter boxes of 2950 installed, 2510 rented and 440 vacant.

Constituencies

The county has six constituencies: Baringo Central, Baringo South, Baringo North,

, Mogotio, and Tiaty.

Villages and settlements

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20181126221543/https://www.findingkenya.com/baringo-county *https://web.archive.org/web/20130511020558/https://opendata.go.ke/facet/counties/Baringo *https://web.archive.org/web/20140322145500/http://baringo-county.kbo.co.ke/ *http://www.aridland.go.ke/districts.asp?DistrictID=8 *http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/VBOL-6TNC5G?OpenDocument
Map of the DistrictBaringo County32 Best Places to See in Baringo County - Finding Kenya Travel Directory
*http://www.kenyacountyguide.co.ke/baringo-county-030/ *http://baringo.go.ke/ *https://www.education.go.ke/ {{Authority control Counties of Kenya