Sub-counties are the decentralised units through which
county governments of Kenya will provide functions and services. Except for the parts which fall under urban areas, sub-counties will coincide
with the constituencies created under article 89 of the
Constitution of Kenya
The Constitution of Kenya is the supreme lawof the Republic of Kenya. There have been three significant versions of the constitution, with the most recent redraft being enabled in 2010. The 2010 edition replaced the 1963 independence constit ...
. Sub-counties will be headed by a sub-county administrator, appointed by a County Public Service Board.
Under the former Constitution of Kenya, the
Provinces of Kenya were subdivided into a number of districts (''
wilaya''). In line with restructuring the national administration to fit with the devolved government system brought in by the 2010 Constitution, that came into full effect following elections in March 2013, the 8 provinces and their administrators and districts were replaced by County Commissioners at the
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
level, while former districts existing as of 2013 were re-organised as sub-counties, and had Deputy Commissioners appointed over them.
List of the 46 districts plus the capital of Kenya (since 1992, but prior to 2003)
Following a High Court ruling in September 2009, there were 46 legal districts in Kenya, excluding
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 ...
which constituted a 47th district.
Following the
Kenyan general election, 2013
General elections were held in Kenya on 4 March 2013. Voters elected the President, members of the National Assembly and newly formed Senate. They were the first elections held under the new constitution, which was approved in a 2010 referendum ...
, these districts and Nairobi now constitute 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 ...
which will be the basis for rolling out
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...
as set out in the 2010
Constitution of Kenya
The Constitution of Kenya is the supreme lawof the Republic of Kenya. There have been three significant versions of the constitution, with the most recent redraft being enabled in 2010. The 2010 edition replaced the 1963 independence constit ...
(district headquarters are in parenthesis):
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 at Mombasa and was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili, among oth ...
:
*
Kilifi District (
Kilifi)
*
Kwale District
Kwale County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kwale, although Ukunda is the largest town.
Kwale county has an estimated population of 649,931.
Kwale is mainly an inland county, but it has coastline south of ...
(
Kwale
Kwale is a small town in and the capital of Kwale County, Kenya. It is located at around ; 30 km southwest of Mombasa and 15 km inland. The town has an urban population of 10,063 (2019 census). It is next to the Shimba Hills National ...
)
*
Lamu District (
Lamu
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island ...
)
*
Mombasa District (
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town ...
)
*
Taita-Taveta District (
Wundanyi)
*
Tana River District
Tana River County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. It is named after the Tana River, the longest river in Kenya. It has an area of and a population of 315,943 as of the 2019 census. The county borders Kitui County to the ...
(
Hola)
North Eastern Province:
*
Garissa District (
Garissa
Garissa ( so, Gaarrisa) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province.
Geography
The Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through the Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe Sanc ...
)
*
Mandera District (
Mandera
Mandera ( so, Mandheera) is the capital of Mandera County in the former North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is situated at around , near the borders with Somalia and Ethiopia.
Districts
Mandera is the capital of the Mandera District.
As a whol ...
)
*
Wajir District
Wajir County is a county in the former North Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Wajir. The county has a population of 720,000 and an area of . The county is bordered to the north by Ethiopia, to the northeast by Mander ...
(
Wajir
Wajir ( so, Wajeer) is the capital of the Wajir County of Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province.
History
A cluster of cairns near Wajir are generally ascribed by the local inhabitants to the Maadiinle, a semi-legendary pe ...
)
Eastern Province:
*
Embu District
Embu County is a county of Kenya. The capital of Embu County and the former Eastern province headquarters, Embu is a large and largely metropolitan area with a population of 608,599 persons. The county borders Kirinyaga to the west, Kitui to t ...
(
Embu
Embu may refer to:
Places
; in Brazil
* Embu das Artes
* Embu-Guaçu
; in Kenya
* Embu, Kenya
* Embu County
Other
*Embu people of Kenya
*Embu language
Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of Kenya. It is spoken by the Embu peopl ...
)
*
Isiolo District (
Isiolo
Isiolo is a town in Isiolo County, of which it is the capital. It is located in the upper eastern region of Kenya and geographically considered the centre of the country Kenya. It lies 285 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi. The town grew a ...
)
*
Kitui District
Kitui County is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kitui, although Mwingi is also another major urban centre. The county has a population of 1,136,187 (2019 census). and an area of 30,430 km2 ...
(
Kitui
Kitui is a town and capital of Kitui County in Kenya, 180 kilometres east of Nairobi and 105 kilometres east of Machakos. it covers an area approximately 30,496.4 km squares and lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes ...
)
*
Machakos District
Machakos County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, which came into being because of the devolved system of governance occasioned by the 2010 constitution of Kenya. The country's first administrative headquarters are in Machakos Town, which is ...
(
Machakos
Machakos, also called Masaku is a town in Kenya, southeast of Nairobi. It is the capital of the Machakos County, Kenya. Its population is rapidly growing and was 150,041 as of 2009 and Machakos County had a population of 1,421,932 as of 201 ...
)
*
Makueni District (
Makueni)
*
Marsabit District
Marsabit County is a county in Kenya. Covering a surface area of 66,923.1 square kilometres. Marsabit is the second largest county in Kenya. Its capital is Marsabit and its largest town Moyale. According to the 2019 census, the county has a p ...
(
Marsabit)
*
Meru District (
Meru
Meru may refer to:
Geography Kenya
* Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya
** Meru County, created by the merger of
*** Meru Central District
*** Meru North District
*** Meru South District
* Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park
Tanz ...
)
*
Mutomo District
Mutomo District was a former district in the Eastern Province of Kenya.Office of Public CommunicationsList of Provinces, Districts & Contacts Retrieved 17 March 2013. Its population is 180,000. The administrative center of the district is Mutomo. ...
(
Mutomo
Mutomo is an urban centre located in Kenya's Kitui County. It is located in former Mutomo District of which Mutomo Town was its administrative centre. It has a population of 17,000 inhabitants. It is located about 70 km from Kitui and 230 km fr ...
)
*
Tharaka-Nithi District (
Chuka)
Central Province:
*
Kiambu District
Kiambu County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kiambu and its largest town is Thika. Kiambu County is the second most populous after Nairobi County. Kiambu County borders Nairobi and Kajiado Counties to the S ...
(
Kiambu
Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. It is from the capital Nairobi. It has an population of 147,870. It is the capital of the Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proxi ...
)
*
Kirinyaga District
Kirinyaga County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kerugoya and its largest town is Wanguru. In 2019, the county had a population of 610,411 and an area of 1,478.1 km2. The county is bordered to the east ...
(
Kerugoya
Kerugoya is the biggest town in Kirinyaga County. Kerugoya is located 10 kilometres east of Karatina and 40 kilometres west of Embu.
It is situated in the former District of Kirinyaga. Travel directions by road from Nairobi, is through Thika road ...
/
Kutus)
*
Murang'a District (
Murang'a
Murang'a (or Muranga) is a town in Murang'a County of Kenya. Before the independence of Kenya in 1963, this town used to be called Fort Hall. It is the administrative centre of Murang'a County and is mainly inhabited by the Kikuyu people, Kikuy ...
)
*
Nyandarua District (
Nyahururu)
*
Nyeri District
Nyeri County is a county located in the central region of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Nyeri. It has a population of 759,164 and an area of 2361 km2. It is currently under the leadership of H.E. Governor Mutahi Kahiga. Other gove ...
(
Nyeri
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...
)
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 ...
:
*
Baringo District
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 ...
(
Kabarnet)
*
Bomet District (
Bomet
Bomet is the capital and largest town of Bomet County, Kenya. Bomet town has a total population of 110,963 (2009 census). It is located along the B3 Mai Mahiu-Narok-Kisii road. Bomet city is one of the eight sister cities to Milwaukee.
Etymolo ...
)
*
Elgeyo-Marakwet District
*
Kajiado District (
Kajiado
Kajiado is a town in Kajiado County, Kenya. The town is located south of Nairobi, along the Nairobi – Arusha highway (A104 road). Kajiado has an urban population of 24,678 (2019 census). Local people are predominantly of the Maasai tribe.
...
)
*
Kericho District
Kericho County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. The county seats between longitude 35°02' and 35°40' East and between the equator and latitude 0°23' South with an altitude of about 2002m above the sea level. It borders Uasin Gishu County ...
(
Kericho
Kericho is the biggest town in Kericho County located in the highlands west of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Standing on the edge of the Mau Forest, Kericho has a warm and temperate climate making it an ideal location for agriculture and in partic ...
)
*
Laikipia District (
Nanyuki)
*
Nakuru District (
Nakuru
Nakuru is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitants, making it the largest ...
)
*
Nandi District (
Kapsabet
Kapsabet is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of Nandi County and is located 40 kilometres southwest of Eldoret on the way to Chavakali.
The name Kapsabet comes from "Kap"- 'belong to/area of' and "sabit" or "sobet" – 'live' and has come t ...
)
*
Narok District (
Narok
Narok (sometimes referred to as Narok Town) is a town west of Nairobi that supports Kenya's economy in south-west of the country, along the Great Rift Valley. Narok is the district capital of the Narok County and stands as the major centre of ...
)
*
Samburu District
Samburu County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province, Kenya. It covers an area of roughly 21,000 km2 (8,000 mi2) in northern Kenya where the Samburu, Turkana and many other tribes live. It stretches north from the Wuaso Ng ...
(
Maralal)
*
Trans Nzoia District (
Kitale
Kitale is an agricultural town in northern Rift Valley Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherangany Hills at an elevation of around . Its population is 106,187 as of 2009. Kitale is the headquarter town of Trans-Nzoia County. Kitale is r ...
)
*
Turkana District (
Lodwar)
*
Uasin Gishu District
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 5 ...
(
Eldoret
Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...
)
*
West Pokot District (
Kapenguria)
Western Province:
*
Bungoma District
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 constit ...
(
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 ...
)
*
Busia (
Busia)
*
Kakamega District
Kakamega County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya and borders Vihiga County to the South, Siaya County to the West, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties to the North and Nandi and Uasin Gishu counties to the East. Its capita ...
(
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 ...
)
*
Vihiga District
Vihiga County is an administrative region in the former Western Province of Kenya whose headquarters are in Mbale, the largest town in the county. The county has a population of 554,622 (2009 census) and an area of 563 km2. Formally a di ...
(
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 Count ...
)
Nyanza Province
Nyanza Province (; sw, Mkoa wa Nyanza) was one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces before the formation of the 47 counties under the 2010 constitution. Six counties were organised in the area of the former province.
The region is locate ...
:
*
Homa Bay District
Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a population of 1,131,950 (2019 census) and an area of 3,154.7 km2. Lake Victoria is a major source of livelihood ...
(
Homa Bay
Homa Bay is a town (and eponymous bay) on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa (in the Luo language ''Got Marahuma'' or ''God Uma'' famous mountain" and Ruma National Park, the latter noted ...
)
*
Kisii Central (
Kisii)
*
Kisumu District
Kisumu County is one of 47 counties in the Republic of Kenya. Its borders follow those of the original Kisumu District, one of the former administrative districts of the former Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquarters is Kisumu City ...
(
Kisumu
Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin.
Apart from being an important p ...
)
*
Migori District (
Migori)
*
Nyamira District
Nyamira County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. It shares common boundaries with what was known as Nyamira District. The main cash crops grown are bananas and tea. The county has a population of 605,576 (2019 census). Its ca ...
(
Nyamira
Nyamira is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of its Nyamira County
Nyamira County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. It shares common boundaries with what was known as Nyamira District. The main cash crops grown are bananas ...
)
*
Siaya District
Siaya County is one of the counties in the former Nyanza Province in the Western part of Kenya. It is bordered by Busia County to the north, Kakamega County and Vihiga County's to the northeast and Kisumu County to the southeast. It shares a ...
(
Siaya)
All these 46 districts (plus Nairobi) have been replaced with 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 ...
since March 2013, promoting them as the first level of administrative subdivisions of the country, and the 8 former provinces (which were the first level of subdivisions) have been dissolved.
New districts started to be created by President Moi, and there were up to 57 districts in 2003 when President Kibaki first came into office.
List of the 70 districts of Kenya (starting 2007)
In early January 2007, 37 new districts were created by the government from the 14 former districts, rising their number to 70.
*
Baringo District
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 ...
(
Kabarnet)
*
Bomet District (
Bomet
Bomet is the capital and largest town of Bomet County, Kenya. Bomet town has a total population of 110,963 (2009 census). It is located along the B3 Mai Mahiu-Narok-Kisii road. Bomet city is one of the eight sister cities to Milwaukee.
Etymolo ...
)
*
Bondo District (
Bondo)
*
Bungoma District
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 constit ...
(
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 ...
)
*
Buret District (
Litein)
*
Busia (
Busia)
*
Butere/Mumias District Butere/Mumias District was an administrative district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Butere. The district had a population of 476,928 (1999 census) and an area of 939 km In 2010, the district was eliminated and incorpo ...
(
Butere
Butere is a town in Kakamega County of the former Western Province (Kenya), Western Province of Kenya. It has an urban population of 4,725 (2009 census). Until 2010, the town was the capital of the former Butere/Mumias District.
Transportation l ...
)
*
Embu District
Embu County is a county of Kenya. The capital of Embu County and the former Eastern province headquarters, Embu is a large and largely metropolitan area with a population of 608,599 persons. The county borders Kirinyaga to the west, Kitui to t ...
(
Embu
Embu may refer to:
Places
; in Brazil
* Embu das Artes
* Embu-Guaçu
; in Kenya
* Embu, Kenya
* Embu County
Other
*Embu people of Kenya
*Embu language
Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of Kenya. It is spoken by the Embu peopl ...
)
*
Garissa District (
Garissa
Garissa ( so, Gaarrisa) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province.
Geography
The Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through the Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe Sanc ...
)
*
Gucha District Gucha District was a former district in Nyanza Province, western Kenya. It was also known by the name: South Kisii District or Ogembo District. In 1999, its population was approximately 461,00 Its district headquarters were at Ogembo which houses mo ...
(
Ogembo
Ogembo is a small farming town in Kisii County, Kenya. Her inhabitants are the abagusii community. The town started around 1860 by the locals and around 1920s it became a commercial center for the Indians and a government centre for the colonial r ...
)
*
Homa Bay District
Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a population of 1,131,950 (2019 census) and an area of 3,154.7 km2. Lake Victoria is a major source of livelihood ...
(
Homa Bay
Homa Bay is a town (and eponymous bay) on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa (in the Luo language ''Got Marahuma'' or ''God Uma'' famous mountain" and Ruma National Park, the latter noted ...
)
*
Ijara District (
Ijara
Ijara is a town and Sub-County in Garissa County, Kenya. It was previously capital of the former Ijara District. It is located 100 km north of Lamu and 180 km south of Garissa.
Alternate meanings
''Ijara'' means rent in Arabic. ...
)
*
Isiolo District (
Isiolo
Isiolo is a town in Isiolo County, of which it is the capital. It is located in the upper eastern region of Kenya and geographically considered the centre of the country Kenya. It lies 285 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi. The town grew a ...
)
*
Kajiado District (
Kajiado
Kajiado is a town in Kajiado County, Kenya. The town is located south of Nairobi, along the Nairobi – Arusha highway (A104 road). Kajiado has an urban population of 24,678 (2019 census). Local people are predominantly of the Maasai tribe.
...
)
*
Kakamega District
Kakamega County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya and borders Vihiga County to the South, Siaya County to the West, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties to the North and Nandi and Uasin Gishu counties to the East. Its capita ...
(
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 ...
)
*
Keiyo District (
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 ...
/
Tambach)
*
Kericho District
Kericho County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. The county seats between longitude 35°02' and 35°40' East and between the equator and latitude 0°23' South with an altitude of about 2002m above the sea level. It borders Uasin Gishu County ...
(
Kericho
Kericho is the biggest town in Kericho County located in the highlands west of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Standing on the edge of the Mau Forest, Kericho has a warm and temperate climate making it an ideal location for agriculture and in partic ...
)
*
Kiambu District
Kiambu County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kiambu and its largest town is Thika. Kiambu County is the second most populous after Nairobi County. Kiambu County borders Nairobi and Kajiado Counties to the S ...
(
Kiambu
Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. It is from the capital Nairobi. It has an population of 147,870. It is the capital of the Kiambu County, which bounds the northern border of Nairobi. Other proxi ...
)
*
Kilifi District (
Kilifi)
*
Kirinyaga District
Kirinyaga County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kerugoya and its largest town is Wanguru. In 2019, the county had a population of 610,411 and an area of 1,478.1 km2. The county is bordered to the east ...
(
Kerugoya
Kerugoya is the biggest town in Kirinyaga County. Kerugoya is located 10 kilometres east of Karatina and 40 kilometres west of Embu.
It is situated in the former District of Kirinyaga. Travel directions by road from Nairobi, is through Thika road ...
/
Kutus)
*
Kisii Central (
Kisii)
*
Kisumu District
Kisumu County is one of 47 counties in the Republic of Kenya. Its borders follow those of the original Kisumu District, one of the former administrative districts of the former Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquarters is Kisumu City ...
(
Kisumu
Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin.
Apart from being an important p ...
)
*
Kitui District
Kitui County is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Kitui, although Mwingi is also another major urban centre. The county has a population of 1,136,187 (2019 census). and an area of 30,430 km2 ...
(
Kitui
Kitui is a town and capital of Kitui County in Kenya, 180 kilometres east of Nairobi and 105 kilometres east of Machakos. it covers an area approximately 30,496.4 km squares and lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes ...
)
*
Koibatek District (
Eldama Ravine)
*
Kuria District
Kuria District was an administrative district in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kehancha (sometimes spelled as ''Kihancha''). The district has a population of 256,086 (2009 census) and an area of 581/km2. It is inhabited by a m ...
(
Kehancha
Kehancha is a town in Kenya's Migori County
Migori County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of southwestern Kenya. It is located in Southwestern Kenya and borders Homa Bay County (North), Kisii County (North E), Narok (South East), ...
)
*
Kwale District
Kwale County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kwale, although Ukunda is the largest town.
Kwale county has an estimated population of 649,931.
Kwale is mainly an inland county, but it has coastline south of ...
(
Kwale
Kwale is a small town in and the capital of Kwale County, Kenya. It is located at around ; 30 km southwest of Mombasa and 15 km inland. The town has an urban population of 10,063 (2019 census). It is next to the Shimba Hills National ...
)
*
Laikipia District (
Nanyuki)
*
Lamu District (
Lamu
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island ...
)
*
Lugari District (
Lugari)
*
Machakos District
Machakos County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, which came into being because of the devolved system of governance occasioned by the 2010 constitution of Kenya. The country's first administrative headquarters are in Machakos Town, which is ...
(
Machakos
Machakos, also called Masaku is a town in Kenya, southeast of Nairobi. It is the capital of the Machakos County, Kenya. Its population is rapidly growing and was 150,041 as of 2009 and Machakos County had a population of 1,421,932 as of 201 ...
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Makueni District (
Makueni)
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Malindi District Malindi District was a former administrative district in the Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital was the coastal town of Malindi. When it was eliminated and merged into Kilifi County in 2010, the district had a population of 544,30 Malindi Town i ...
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Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban cent ...
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Mandera District (
Mandera
Mandera ( so, Mandheera) is the capital of Mandera County in the former North Eastern Province of Kenya. It is situated at around , near the borders with Somalia and Ethiopia.
Districts
Mandera is the capital of the Mandera District.
As a whol ...
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Maragua District (
Maragua)
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Marakwet District Marakwet District is a defunct administrative district in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsowar. The district had a population of 140.629. Local people are predominantly of the Marakwet tribe.
The district was cr ...
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Kapsowar
Kapsowar is a Town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Prior to March 2013, it was located in the former Rift Valley Province. In 1994, Kapsowar became the headquarters of the former Marakwet District. Prior to this, the Marakwet and Keiyo tribes we ...
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Marsabit District
Marsabit County is a county in Kenya. Covering a surface area of 66,923.1 square kilometres. Marsabit is the second largest county in Kenya. Its capital is Marsabit and its largest town Moyale. According to the 2019 census, the county has a p ...
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Marsabit)
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Mbeere District
Mbeere District was a former administrative district in the Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Siakago. The district had a population of 170,950 and an area of 2,093 km2. The district was split from Embu District in 1996. In 20 ...
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Mbeere
The Mbeere or Ambeere people are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the former Mbeere District in the now-defunct Eastern Province of Kenya. According to the 2019 Kenya National census, there are 195,250 Ambeere who inhabit an area of 2,093 km ...
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Meru Central District (
Meru
Meru may refer to:
Geography Kenya
* Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya
** Meru County, created by the merger of
*** Meru Central District
*** Meru North District
*** Meru South District
* Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park
Tanz ...
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Meru North District 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 (Nithi), and T ...
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Maua)
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Meru South District (
Chuka)
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Migori District (
Migori)
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Mombasa District (
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town ...
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Mount Elgon District
Mount Elgon District (Mt. Elgon District) was an administrative district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kapsokwony. In 2010, it was merged into Bungoma County.
Geography and demographics
The district was located on south ...
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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. )
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Moyale District (
Moyale
Moyale is a market town on the border between Ethiopia and Kenya, and is the administrative centre for two Ethiopian woredas, Moyale of Oromia Region and Moyale of Somali Region.
Moyale is the main border post on the Nairobi-Addis Ababa road, ...
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Murang'a District (
Murang'a
Murang'a (or Muranga) is a town in Murang'a County of Kenya. Before the independence of Kenya in 1963, this town used to be called Fort Hall. It is the administrative centre of Murang'a County and is mainly inhabited by the Kikuyu people, Kikuy ...
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Mwingi District Mwingi District was a former district of Kenya, located in the now defunct Eastern Province. The district had a population of 303.828 (1999 census). Its capital was Mwingi town.
Local people are mostly of the Akamba tribe. North of Mwingi town, ...
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Mwingi
Mwingi is a town in the Kitui County in the Eastern Region of the Republic of Kenya. It has an urban population of 15,970 (2009 census). The town is located along the A3 Road between Nairobi and Garissa, north of its county capital Kitui, and eas ...
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Nairobi District (
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 ...
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Nakuru District (
Nakuru
Nakuru is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitants, making it the largest ...
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Nandi
Nandi may refer to:
People
* Nandy (surname), Indian surname
* Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe
* Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi
* Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afric ...
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Kapsabet
Kapsabet is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of Nandi County and is located 40 kilometres southwest of Eldoret on the way to Chavakali.
The name Kapsabet comes from "Kap"- 'belong to/area of' and "sabit" or "sobet" – 'live' and has come t ...
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Narok District (
Narok
Narok (sometimes referred to as Narok Town) is a town west of Nairobi that supports Kenya's economy in south-west of the country, along the Great Rift Valley. Narok is the district capital of the Narok County and stands as the major centre of ...
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Nyamira District
Nyamira County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. It shares common boundaries with what was known as Nyamira District. The main cash crops grown are bananas and tea. The county has a population of 605,576 (2019 census). Its ca ...
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Nyamira
Nyamira is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of its Nyamira County
Nyamira County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. It shares common boundaries with what was known as Nyamira District. The main cash crops grown are bananas ...
)
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Nyandarua District (
Ol Kalou)
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Nyando District Nyando district was a former district in Kenya which broke away from Kisumu District in Nyanza Province in 1998. Nyando district bordered the Rift Valley Province. The district is named after the Nyando River.
Its capital was a small town called ...
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Awasi)
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Nyeri District
Nyeri County is a county located in the central region of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Nyeri. It has a population of 759,164 and an area of 2361 km2. It is currently under the leadership of H.E. Governor Mutahi Kahiga. Other gove ...
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Nyeri
Nyeri is a town situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It is the county headquarters of Nyeri County. The town was the central administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province. Following the dissolution of the former pr ...
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Rachuonyo District
Rachuonyo District was an administrative district in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kosele, and previously, Oyugis. The district had a population of 307,126 (1999 census) and an area of 945 km². The district had two co ...
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Oyugis)
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Samburu District
Samburu County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province, Kenya. It covers an area of roughly 21,000 km2 (8,000 mi2) in northern Kenya where the Samburu, Turkana and many other tribes live. It stretches north from the Wuaso Ng ...
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Maralal)
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Siaya District
Siaya County is one of the counties in the former Nyanza Province in the Western part of Kenya. It is bordered by Busia County to the north, Kakamega County and Vihiga County's to the northeast and Kisumu County to the southeast. It shares a ...
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Siaya)
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Suba District Suba District was an administrative district in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Mbita Point. The district had a population of 155,666 and an area of 1,055 km Suba district was named after the Suba (Kenya), Suba people, wh ...
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Mbita Mbita Point is a town in the former province of Nyanza, Kenya, currently in Homa Bay County, on the shores of Lake Victoria. It is home to the Thomas Odhiambo campus of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). A public p ...
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Taita-Taveta District (
Wundanyi)
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Tana River District
Tana River County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. It is named after the Tana River, the longest river in Kenya. It has an area of and a population of 315,943 as of the 2019 census. The county borders Kitui County to the ...
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Tana River)
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Teso District (
Malaba)
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Tharaka District
Tharaka-Nithi County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in Kenya's former Eastern Province. The county has an area of 2609 km2 and as of the 2019 census a population of 393,177.
Tharaka-Nithi County is the home to the Chuka, Mutha ...
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Tharaka)
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Thika District Thika District is a former administrative district in the Central Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Thika. The district was adjacent to the northeastern border of Nairobi. The district had a population of 645.71
In 2010, the district was e ...
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Thika
Thika Thika (pronounced θika is an industrial town and a major commerce hub in Kiambu County, Kenya, lying on the A2 road 42 kilometres (26 mi) Northeast of Nairobi, near the confluence of the Thika and Chania Rivers. Although Thika town is ...
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Trans Mara District (
Kilgoris
Kilgoris is a town in Narok County, Kenya. The town has a population of 70,475 (2019 census). Kilgoris is one of two major urban centres in Narok County; the other being Narok town.
Maasai people, Maasai are the indigenous and prominent tribe in ...
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Trans Nzoia District (
Kitale
Kitale is an agricultural town in northern Rift Valley Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherangany Hills at an elevation of around . Its population is 106,187 as of 2009. Kitale is the headquarter town of Trans-Nzoia County. Kitale is r ...
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Turkana District (
Lodwar)
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Uasin Gishu District
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 5 ...
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Eldoret
Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...
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Vihiga District
Vihiga County is an administrative region in the former Western Province of Kenya whose headquarters are in Mbale, the largest town in the county. The county has a population of 554,622 (2009 census) and an area of 563 km2. Formally a di ...
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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 Count ...
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Wajir District
Wajir County is a county in the former North Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Wajir. The county has a population of 720,000 and an area of . The county is bordered to the north by Ethiopia, to the northeast by Mander ...
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Wajir
Wajir ( so, Wajeer) is the capital of the Wajir County of Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province.
History
A cluster of cairns near Wajir are generally ascribed by the local inhabitants to the Maadiinle, a semi-legendary pe ...
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West Pokot District (
Kapenguria)
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Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...
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Mandera
More recent (defunct) districts (after 2007 up to March 2013)
Many more districts have been created since then, such that in July 2009 there were 254 districts (an up to 256 districts plus Nairobi on 20 September 2009, when the High Court outlawed 210 of them).
The creation of new districts has been criticised by opponents for being waste of money and a populist attempt to please local residents. The government, however, say new districts bring services closer to the people and will provide security.
The following list contains 208 districts, taken from a Kenyan government website in July 2009 (the list is incomplete, but their number stopped growing after the High Court decision in September 2009):
Sub-counties (since March 2013)
In August 2009, however, the
High Court of Kenya
The High Court of Kenya is a court of unlimited original jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters established under article 165 of the constitution of Kenya
The Constitution of Kenya is the supreme lawof the Republic of Kenya. There have be ...
declared all districts created after 1992 illegal. The judge stated that the districts were created ''"in complete disregard of the law"''. As a result, Kenya had only 46 legal districts (excluding Nairobi with its special constitutional status as the capital of the country).
[The Standard, 27 September 2009]
After Ringera, House to take on Kibaki over new districts
/ref> Following the March 2013 elections, these 46 districts – together with the City of Nairobi – constitute 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 ...
into which Kenya is now divided administratively, and they are also the 47 constituencies for the elections to the National Senate.
All the former districts have disappeared (as well as the former 8 provinces whose devolution was transferred to the new 47 counties), and are now considered only as "sub-counties", without autonomy; they are used in urban areas for a limited organisation for providing public services locally. These remaining sub-counties are transitional and could be replaced by more efficient cooperative structures grouping the local services in organised cities and their surrounding towns, either for dedicated missions or for temporary plans; so they may be deeply reorganised or disappear at any time. The remaining sub-counties already do not match with the subdivision of the new 47 counties into electoral-only "wards" (based on resident population, to determine the number of elected seats for each county in the National Senate.
Nairobi sub-counties
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Districts Of Kenya
Subdivisions of Kenya
Kenya, Districts
Kenya 1
Kenya geography-related lists