Elgeyo-Marakwet County is one of

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

's 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 ...

. Elgeyo Marakwet County 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 capital and largest town is

Iten Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya. Iten serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. The town is located along the road between Eldoret and Kabarnet at the junction of the road heading to Kapsowar ...

. It borders the counties of

West Pokot 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 border ...

to the north,

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 location Baringo bounded by Turkana County an ...

to the east, southeast and south, Uasin Gishu to the southwest and west, and Trans Nzoia to the northwest.

Demographics

The total population of Elgeyo-Marakwet County is 454,480 persons, of this 227,317 are females, 227,151 males and 12 intersex persons. There are 99,861 households in the county with an average size of 4.5 persons per household with a density population of 150 persons per square km.

Geography, geology and topography

The

Kerio River The Kerio River is a river in Turkana County, Kenya. It flows northward into Lake Turkana. It is one of the longest rivers in Kenya, originating near the equator. Course The Kerio River rises on the north slopes of the Amasya Hills to the west o ...

binds the county on the eastern side. From its

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smal ...

the

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

gradually rises towards the west. The

Elgeyo Escarpment Elgeyo escarpment is a fault-scarp caused by post-Miocene faulting. Miocene beds are still visible. The escarpment is part of the western wall of the Great Rift Valley. The northwest part of Kenya has three main geographic zones running in parall ...

stands out distinctly and causes elevation differences of up to 1,500 m. In the northern and southern part of the county the topography is rugged, giving way to more subdued relief differences going westwards. The underlying

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

mainly consists of

gneisses Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

from the Basement System. The

Cherangany Hills The Cherang'any Hills are a range of hills in the western highlands of Kenya. The hills are one of Kenya's five main forests and catchment areas. The highlands, the large central plateau, is divided by the Mau Escarpment which rises from the bord ...

rise gently to form the western half of the

Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it ...

and extend northwest in a broken chain to

Mount Moroto Mount Moroto, also Moroto Mountain (), is a mountain in the Northeastern part of Uganda. The native name for this mountain was "Moru To" (meaning "the western mountain" derived from the words "Moru" meaning mountain and "To" meaning west). It w ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

. Non-volcanic in origin, the Cherangany Hills resulted from subsequent erosion of the raised western ridge of the Eastern Rift Valley. The range is approximately 30 miles (48 km) long and 25 miles (40 km) wide and averages 9,000 feet (2,700 metres) in height; its highest point reaches more than 11,000 feet (3,370 metres). Many of the summits are covered with huge groundsels and

lobelias ''Lobelia'' () is a genus of flowering plants comprising 415 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions.Huxley, A., ed. (1992 ...

. Some of the hills include Kameleogon (3581 m), Chebon (3375 m), Chepkotet (3370 m), Alaleigelat (3350 m) and Sodang (3211 m).

Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

Temperatures range from a minimum of 12 °C which is extremely cold with mists and even frost to some extent to a maximum of 22 °C. Rainfall ranges annually from 800 to 2300 mm High above sea level.⁵

Religion and ethnicity

The county is mainly occupied by

Keiyo :''Keiyo may also refer to Keiyo, a district in Kenya, ''Keiyo Line'' a railway line in Japan or Elgeyo escarpment'' The Elgeyo (also known as Keiyo) are an ethnic group who are part of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group of Nilotic origin. They l ...

, Sengwer also called Cherangany and Marakwet are part of the larger ethnic grouping of eight culturally and linguistically related ethnic groups known as the

Kalenjin Kalenjin may refer to: * 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 Tan ...

.
Marakwet is a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin. It is made up of the sub-dialects Almoo, Endoow, Markweta (the sub-dialect giving rise to the common name), and Sombirir (Borokot) who presently predominantly live in Marakwet District in the North Rift Valley Province. Some now live in Trans Nzoia East and Uasin Gishu North districts and in other towns.
The name Keiyo or Elgeyo has been used interchangeably to describe the Keiyo people. The latter name is disputed as a corruption of the true name, which was coined by the Uasin-Gishu Maasai, who were the Keiyo's neighbours in the mid-9th century at the western side of Eldoret.

Administrative and Political Units

Elgeyo - Marakwet is divided into 4 sub-counties, 20 county assemblies wards, 68 locations and 199 sub-locations. Below is the distribution of the county assemblies wards. Source

County government

Wisley Rotich who succeeded Alex Tolgos is the current County Governor. He is currently serving his first term as governor. Onesmus Kipchumba Murkomen is the current (2021) senator of the county. and County Women Representative is Caroline Jeptoo Ng'elechei, all of the United Republican Party, an affiliate of the

Jubilee Alliance The Jubilee Alliance was a political alliance in Kenya. History The alliance was established to support the joint presidential election ticket of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto in the 2013 general elections. At the time of the election, its me ...

. The county has four constituencies in the National Assembly, and twenty ward seats in its County Assembly. The Speaker was Albert Kochei. File:Alex Tolgos.jpg, Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos File:Kipchumba Murkomen.jpg, Elgeyo Marakwet senator Onesmus Kipchumba Murkomen File:Susan Kipketer Chebet.jpg, Elgeyo Marakwet Women Representative Susan Kipketer Chebet

County Executive Committee

Source

County Ward Representatives

Health

There are a total of 129 health facilities in the county with an averages of 3.7 km access distance from one health centre to another. The county has 626 medical personnel cutting across different of medical profession.

Transport and Communication

The is covered with 292.1 km of earth, 1,415.3 km of

murram A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the rural areas of developed nations such as Canada and the Unit ...

and 92.2 km of

bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

. As at 2014 there were 8 postal offices across the county with 1,600 installed letter boxes, 1,112 rented letter boxes and 488 vacant letter boxes.

Economy

Economic activity in the county is characterized by mixed farming, which consists mainly of livestock and subsistence farming. Other activities include small business, tourism and fluorspar mining in Kerio Valley. Oil Prospecting by

Tullow Oil Tullow Oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in Tullow, Ireland, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. His ...

Company is ongoing in Kerio Valley. As at 2014 county had 62,190,000 cattle, 7,220,000 goats and 10,232,000 sheep.

Tourism

Major Tourist Attractions are File:Kerio river.JPG, Kerio river File:Chebloch gorge.JPG, Cheploch gorge File:Elgeyo escapment.jpg, Elgeyo escapment File:Elgeyo marakwet valley.jpg, Elgeyo marakwet valley File:Torok waterfall.jpg, Torok waterfall File:Paraglading in elgeyo marakwet.jpg, Paragliding in Kerio Escarpment near Iten. File:Rimoi.jpg, Rimoi National Park File:Sergoit hill.jpg, Sergoit hill

Education systems

There are a total of 554 ECD centres, 418 primary schools and 112 secondary schools in the county. Source

Health

Sports

Major sports activity

The county is notable for its long-standing tradition of producing top athletes who have represented Kenya in many international athletics events. Kenya-iten-olympics-340 227

Demographics

Geography, geology and topography

Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

Religion and ethnicity

Administrative and Political Units

County government

County Executive Committee

County Ward Representatives

Health

Transport and Communication

Economy

Tourism

Education systems

Health

Sports

Major sports activity

Notable sport personalities

Important towns

Eminent people

Services and urbanisation

See also

References

External links