Tana River County is a

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 ...

in the former

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 ...

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

. 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 west,

Garissa County Garissa County is an administrative county in Kenya. Its capital and largest urban area is Garissa. The county had a population of 841,353 at the 2019 Census, and a land area of about .2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Volume 2. Demogra ...

to the northeast,

Isiolo County Isiolo County is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its population is 268,002 (2019 census) and its capital and largest city is Isiolo. Isiolo County is to be the first county to be developed as part of the Kenya Vision 2030 pro ...

to the north,

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, Somal ...

to the southeast and

Kilifi County Kilifi County was formed in 2010 as a result of a merger of Kilifi District and Malindi District, Kenya. Its capital is Kilifi and its largest town is Malindi. Kilifi county is one of the five counties that harbor the Kenyan Coast with 109k ...

to the south. The capital and largest town is

Hola In molecular biology, the δ (delta) subunit of DNA polymerase III is encoded by the holA gene in '' E. coli'' and other bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one bio ...

(also known as Galole). Apart from the River Tana, there are several seasonal rivers in the county popularly known as lagas, which flow in a west–east direction from Kitui and Makueni Counties, draining into the River Tana and eventually into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

District subdivisions

Despite the large area of th
Tana River district
its only local authority is Tana River County Council. The district has three constituencies: Garsen, Galole and Bura,15 wards, 54 locations, and one hundred nine (109) sub-Location

Religion

The county consists of 81% Muslims, 18% Christians and 1% of people in other religions (including Atheism).

Population

The major ethnic groups are the

Somalis The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

, of which the Wardey are the largest clan. The minority groups are the Pokomo (many of whom are farmers), and the Orma people. The county is generally dry and prone to drought. Rainfall is erratic, with rainy seasons in March–May and October–December. Conflicts have occurred between farmers and other people over access to water. Flooding is also a regular problem, caused by heavy rainfall in upstream areas of the Tana River. A recent survey prepared by ALMRP, Tana River District presented to the Tana River District Steering Group (2004) found that the county is 79% food insecure and with an incidence of poverty at 62% (Interim Poverty Strategy Paper (I-PSP), 2000–2003, Kenya).

2012 ethnic violence

On 22 August 2012, in the worst violent incident in Kenya since 2007, at least 52 people were killed in ethnic violence in Tana River County between the Orma and Pokomo groups.

Villages and settlements

* Ariti * Balguda * Baomo * Baomo * Borobini * Bohoni * Bongonoko * Chathoro * Chewani * Chiffiri * Laini * Ijara * Fitina * Furaha * Handarako * Idsowe * Ingile * Irangi * Wacha Kone *

Wenje Wenje is a settlement in Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , ...

* Maziwa Bura Irrigation and Settlement Project is located in Tana River County. During the years 1981-1988 about 2,200 families from different parts of Kenya were settled in this irrigation scheme. Tana River County consists of forest, woodland and grassland which are minor centers of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

. The forests are designated National Reserve status if they have >4 plant endemics and >7 vertebrate endemics (IUCN, 2003). Despite the apparent adequate natural resources, the region remains marginalized from the rest of the country. Efforts at development always seem to center on the huge River Tana, despite massive failures in all the previous irrigation projects in the district, i.e. Bura,

and th
Tana delta
rice irrigation project which failed after the water works were damaged by the

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date ...

rains in 1998.

References

External links

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Kenya AdminLevels 1-4Tana River District: a showcase of conflict over natural resources
at ITDG
Map of the District
* Bura Irrigation and Settlement Project *http://www.mambolook.com/tana-river {{Authority control Counties of Kenya Tana River (Kenya)