Karen is a suburb of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, lying south-west of Nairobi's central business district. The suburb of Karen borders the Ngong Forest and is home to the Ngong Racecourse. Karen and Langata previously formed a somewhat isolated area of mid to high-income residents, but the two suburbs have become increasingly interconnected and linked to the rest of Nairobi through the expansion of the eponymous Langata Road and Ngong Road, the latter project completed in 2021.

History

Karen was previously in Ngong County. After

received city status in 1950 the counties were redefined. In 1963 Karen was placed under the Nairobi City Council's administration.De Lame, p
177
"Karen was earlier an integral part of Ngong County. Nairobi acquired the status of City in 1950, which led to a redefinition of the counties, and in 1962, Karen was placed under the administration of the City Council." It is generally considered that the suburb is named after

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...

, the Danish author of the colonial memoir '' Out of Africa''; her farm occupied the land where the suburb now stands. Blixen declared in her later writings that "the residential district of Karen" was "named after me," although it has never been formally recognised. Blixen's home is still standing and forms the centerpiece of the Karen Blixen Museum, a key local tourist attraction. Other tourist attractions are the AFEW Giraffe Center, the exclusive Giraffe Manor, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage, and the Oloolua Forest nature trails. On 1 September 2017 the first interreligious conference of the DIMMID in Africa took place at the Subiaco Center of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing.

Cityscape

Karen is a vibrant residential suburb characterized by big mansions, many trees, a tranquil atmosphere, and plush gardens this is due to the areas minimum acreage requirement for all homeowners.De Lame, p
176
Karen is also home to an increasing number upscale restaurants, hotels, and malls such as The Hub and The Waterfront. There is a branch of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in Karen.

Government

The Karengata Association manages Karen and Langata. It was organized in 1940 and by 2010 it had begun to manage the area's

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

Demographics

Karen is mainly populated by the wealthier demographic of Kenyans, as well as the political class.

Education

The West Nairobi School is located in Karen. The current campus opened in 2000. The Nairobi Japanese School is located in the Lang'ata area, in proximity to Karen.image1.jpg
"
Archive
Nairobi Japanese School. Retrieved on August 27, 2013.

Notable residents

* Ellinor Catherine Cunningham van Someren (1915–1988), entomologist * Gurner Robert Cunningham van Someren, ornithologist * Jan Bonde Nielsen, oil tycoon

General references

* De Lame, Danielle. "Grey Nairobi: Sketches of Urban Socialities." In: Charton-Bigot, Hélène and Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres (editors). ''Nairobi Today: The Paradox of a Fragmented City''
African Books Collective
2010. p. 167-214. , 9789987080939. The source edition is an English translation, published b
Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd.
of

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

in association with the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA

of Nairobi. The book was originally published in French as ''Nairobi contemporain: Les paradoxes d'une ville fragmentée'', Karthala Editions (''Hommes et sociétés'', ISSN 0993-4294). French version article:
Gris Nairobi: Esquisses de sociabilités urbaines
" p. 221-284. , 9782845867871. ** Includes a section on Karen and Langata, titled "Karen and Langata: Gardens and Suburbs", p. 174-179 (In French: "Karen et Langata, jardins et faubourgs", p. 231-237).