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Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga. It is a part of Lamu County. The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Manda Island and Lamu Island. Smaller islands include Kiwayu, which lies in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve, and Manda Toto. Today the largest town in the archipelago is Lamu Town, on Lamu Island. The town is on the World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag .... The archipelago contains several archaeological/historical sites of great significance, such as Takwa and Manda Town (both on Manda Island) and Shanga (on Pate Island). Some have been partially excavated in later years, shedding important new lig ...
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Lamu Town
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, it is the headquarter of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town contains the Lamu Fort on the seafront, constructed under Fumo Madi ibn Abi Bakr, the Rulers of Pate, Sultan of Pate, and was completed after his death in the early 1820s. Lamu is also home to 23 mosques, including the Riyadha Mosque, built in 1900, and a donkey sanctuary. History Early history The original name of the town is Amu, which the Arabs termed Al-Amu (الآمو) and the Portuguese "Lamon". The Portuguese applied the name to the entire island as Amu was the chief settlement. Lamu Town on Lamu Island is Kenya's oldest continually inhabited town, and was one of the original Swahili people, Swahili settlements along coastal East Africa, believed to ...
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Manda Toto
Manda may refer to: Places * Kafr Manda, Arab town in the Lower Galilee * Manda Upazila, an upazila in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh * Manda, former union council incorporated into Dhaka South City Corporation in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Manda, Kale, a village in Burma * Manda, Guinea, a town in the Labé Region * Manda, Jammu, India, a village * Manda (zamindari), an erstwhile feudal estate in India, near Allahabad * Manda (Tanzanian ward), an administrative ward in Dodoma Region, Tanzania * Manda, Missouri, a ghost town in the United States * Manda National Park, Chad * Manda Island, Lamu Archipelago, Kenya People * Manda people, an ethnic and linguistic group in southern Tanzania * Manda (name), a list of people with the given name or surname Fictional characters * Manda Best, in the soap opera ''EastEnders'' * Manda (kaiju), a dragon-based kaiju that appears in Japanese monster films * Manda, a giant snake in the ''Naruto'' manga series Other uses * ''Manda' ...
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Coast Province
The Coast Province () was one of Kenya's eight provinces prior to 2010. It covered the entire country's coastline on the Indian Ocean. Its capital city was Mombasa. It was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili peoples, among others. The province covered an area of 79,686.1 km2. Tourist attraction Some of the province's important towns included Kilifi, Malindi, Watamu and Lamu in the north, and Mwandimu and Magunda in the south. Some of the coastal population was located in resort and beach settlements such as Kiongwe and Kipini. Diani Beach was one of the province's major tourist centres, with palm trees and white sandy beaches like Mombasa. Malindi is where Vasco da Gama picked up his pilot to navigate with the monsoon winds to India; Mambrui appears to be the site where contact occurred with the Chinese during the era of the Yongle Emperor and the expeditions of Zheng He. Watamu is a small fishing community and contains East Africa's first marine national pa ...
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Lamu Archipelago
The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga. It is a part of Lamu County. The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Manda Island and Lamu Island. Smaller islands include Kiwayu, which lies in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve, and Manda Toto. Today the largest town in the archipelago is Lamu Town, on Lamu Island. The town is on the World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag .... The archipelago contains several archaeological/historical sites of great significance, such as Takwa and Manda Town (both on Manda Island) and Shanga (on Pate Island). Some have been partially excavated in later years, shedding important new lig ...
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Kiwayuu Island
Kiwayuu (alternative spelling Kiwayu) is a small island in the eastern part of the Lamu Archipelago in the Kiunga Marine National Reserve in Kenya. Its main economic activity is fishing, and there is one school, one clinic and one well on the island. Its main tourist attractions are the tidal pools and snorkeling/diving pools on its eastern side, in the Indian Ocean. It's mainly populated by people of the Bajuni ethnic community who farm and fish on the island. There are no cars or electricity on the island except solar and wind power. It has two high-end fly-in tourist lodges, and the pristine beauty attracts visitors from all over the world. The island is also famous for beautiful handmade curious created by locals from flip flops that wash onto the beach every rainy season. The weather is hot and dry, with most people remaining indoors from 10am to 3pm due to extreme heat. The beaches on the island are stunning, clean and safe, when compared to many Kenyan beaches. ...
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Zheng He
Zheng He (also romanized Cheng Ho; 1371–1433/1435) was a Chinese eunuch, admiral and diplomat from the early Ming dynasty, who is often regarded as the greatest admiral in History of China, Chinese history. Born into a Muslims, Muslim family as Ma He, he later adopted the surname Zheng conferred onto him by the Yongle Emperor (). Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng commanded seven Ming treasure voyages, treasure voyages across Asia under the commission of the Yongle Emperor and the succeeding Xuande Emperor (). According to legend, Zheng's largest ships were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded, and carried hundreds of sailors on four decks. A favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whom Zheng assisted in the Jingnan campaign that overthrew the previous Jianwen Emperor in 1402, Zheng He rose to the top of the Ming Government of the Ming Empire, imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing. Early life and family Zheng was born Ma He to a Musl ...
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Swahili (people)
The Swahili people (, وَسوَحِيلِ) comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab, and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the East African coast across southern Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and northern Mozambique, and various archipelagos off the coast, such as Zanzibar, Lamu, and the Comoro Islands. The original Swahili distinguished themselves from other Bantu peoples by self-identifying as Waungwana (the civilised ones). In certain regions, such as Lamu Island, this differentiation is even more stratified in terms of societal grouping and dialect, hinting at the historical processes by which the Swahili have coalesced over time. More recently, through a process of Swahilization, this identity extends to any person of African descent who speaks Swahili as their first language, is Muslim, and lives in a town of the main urban centres of most of modern-day Tanzania and coastal Kenya, northern Mozambique, or the Comoros. The name ''Swahili' ...
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Shanga, Pate Island
Shanga is an archaeological site located in Pate Island off the eastern coast of Africa. The site covers about . Shanga was excavated during an eight-year period in which archaeologists examined Swahili origins. The archaeological evidence in the form of coins, pottery, glass and beads all suggest that a Swahili community inhabited the area during the eighth century. Evidence from the findings also indicates that the site was a Muslim trading community that had networks in Asia. Location Shanga is located on Pate Island—part of the Lamu Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It is near the northern coast of Kenya. Coordinates: 41.04 E 2.08 S. Topography Pate Island was formed as a result of fossilized coral reefs. Shanga itself is located on the southern part of the island that faces the Indian Ocean. The island is bordered by mangroves on land and by coral reefs on the shore. Mangroves tend to grow along the shore because they require the salt. Overall, the island has poor soil a ...
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Takwa
The Takwa settlement is situated on the south side of Manda Island, in the Lamu District in the coastal province of Kenya. They are the ruins of a town which was abandoned around the 18th century. The Takwa site can be easily reached from Lamu town. The ruins were first excavated by James Kirkman in 1951. In 1972 the site was cleared again under the supervision of James de Vere Allen, the Curator of the Lamu Museum. Takwa was never a large place. It was founded around 1500, and probably abandoned around 1700. Kirkman thought that it was perhaps a place where holy men or religious people retreated. The Great Mosque at Takwa is relatively well preserved. The other structure of importance is the Pillar Tomb, which has an inscription with the date of 1681–1682. It is reported that when Takwa was abandoned, its inhabitants settled just across the bay at Shela on Lamu Island. Twice a year the people of Shela come to the Pillar Tomb in Takwa to pray for rain.Martin, 1973, p. 27 ...
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World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site is nominated by its host country and determined by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to be a unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable, having a special cultural or physical significance, and to be under a sufficient system of legal protection. World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains or wilderness areas, and others. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humankind and serve as evidence of humanity's intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natu ...
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Kiunga Marine National Reserve
Kiunga Marine National Reserve is situated along the Indian Ocean coast of Lamu District, Coast Province, Kenya. Kiunga park covers . The park covers an area with approximately 50 islands and coral reefs in the Lamu Archipelago The Lamu Archipelago is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. The islands lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga. It is a part of Lamu County. The largest of the islands are Pate Island, Man .... It borders the Boni and Dodori National Reserves. The Coast is humid with mean annual temperatures ranging from 22 to 34 °C. Rainfall is about 500 mm/year. It is located at an altitude of 30 meters above MSL. The outer islands of the Reserve host many seabirds. Species nesting here include roseate tern, sooty gull, white-cheeked tern, bridled tern and brown node. References External links * Marine parks of Kenya National parks of Kenya {{Africa-protected-area-stub ...
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Lamu Island
Lamu Island is a port, city, and island just off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean approximately 150 miles from Mombasa. It is a part of the East African country of Kenya. Lamu was founded in the 12th century. Lamu is one of the longest-established and best-preserved remaining settlements of the Swahili tradition in east Africa that remains today. The island has continually been inhabited for over seven hundred years, and continues to be an important center in eastern Africa. Swahili culture The island of Lamu is a Swahili settlement filled with culture. Prior to the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, people of various countries and regions migrated to the island of Lamu. Traders and sailors from the Arabian Peninsula, China, India and South-East Asia traveled across the Indian Ocean to the East African Coast to reach the island of Lamu. The diverse mixture of sailors and traders with the native people of the Lamu island created distinguishable social classes and a diver ...
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