Kenya Districts (original) (raw)

Kenya is divided into provinces, which are subdivided into districts. The table below shows the districts of Kenya as of ~2005, from sources [5] and [6].

Note on areas: The source for the area data lists land, water, and total areas as of 2001-12-31. I have chosen only the land areas. It did not list an area for Ijara, because that district had not yet been created. For some reason, it also lists the area of Meru district (9,922 km.²), although other sources indicate that Meru had been split into smaller districts by that date.

Change history:

According to source [10], there were forty districts as of 1966-07-31, as shown in this table.

1. ~1968: In Nyanza province, Central Nyanza and South Nyanza districts were replaced by Homa Bay, Kisumu, and Siaya districts. The capitals of the new districts were Homa Bay, Kisumu, and Ukwala, respectively. This brought the number of districts to 41.
2. Between ~1969 and ~1989, the following new districts were created: in Eastern province, Makueni district split from Machakos, and Nithi district split from Meru; in Nyanza province, Migori district split from Homa Bay, and Nyamira district split from Kisii; in Rift Valley province, Bomet district split from Kericho; in Western province, Vihiga district split from Kakamega. Some territory was transferred from Turkana to West Pokot district in Rift Valley province. There were 47 districts as a result, as shown in this table (sources [3] and [4]).

1. Between ~1989 and ~1995, the following new districts were created: in Central province, Thika district; in Eastern province, Mwingi district; in Nyanza province, Kuria district; in Rift Valley province, Keiyo, Koibatek, and Trans Mara districts; and in Western province, Mount Elgon district. Thika district was formed by splitting it from Kiambu. The total was now 54 districts.
2. Between ~1995 and ~1997, the following new districts were created: in Eastern province, Mbeere, Meru Central, Meru North, and Moyale districts; in Nyanza province, Rachuonyo and Suba districts; in Western province, Lugari and Teso districts. At the same time, Meru district disappeared from the list. Probably Meru district was divided into Meru Central and Meru North. This made 61 districts.
3. The entries for ~1998 to ~2002 are deduced from source [2].
4. ~1998: Seven new districts were created: in Central province, Maragwa district; in Coast province, Malindi district; in Nyanza province, Bondo, Gucha, Kisii Central, and Nyando districts, while Kisii was eliminated; in Rift Valley province, Bureti district; in Western province, Butere/Mumias district. Kisii district was probably split into Gucha and Kisii Central. The number of districts in Kenya was now 68.
5. ~1999: In Eastern province, Nithi district was split into Tharaka and Meru South. This results in the list of 69 districts reported by the SALB project as of 2000-01-01.
6. ~2002: In North Eastern province, Ijara district created, probably by splitting from Garissa.
7. ~2005: In Rift Valley province, Nandi district split into Nandi North and Nandi South.

Other names of subdivisions:

1. Buret: Bureti (variant)
2. Gucha: South Kisii (variant)
3. Lugari: Lugari/Malava (variant)
4. Maragua: Maragwa (variant)
5. Marakwet: Elgeyo/Marakwet (variant)
6. Meru South: Nithi (variant)
7. Nyamira: North Kisii (variant)
8. Taita Taveta: Taita (variant)
9. Tharaka: Nithi (obsolete); Tharaka Nithi (variant)

Sources:

1. [1] Statistics on Pre-schools by Years and Provinces (http://www.siup.sn/ecdkenya/statistics-main.htm, dead link, retrieved 2000-11-19).
2. [2] Secondary Schools Gross Enrolment Rates, 1998-2003. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (http://www.education.go.ke/Statistics/SecSchGERByGendAndDist.pdf, dead link, retrieved 2005-04-07).
3. [3] Kenya District Boundary Map. USGS, EROS Data Center, citing Kenya Bureau of Statistics, Cartographic Section, 1989: Kenya population census District maps, 1989 (http://igskmncnwb015.cr.usgs.gov/ftp2/vector/admn/keadmn3.gif, dead link, retrieved 2005-04-07).
4. [4] Kenya - Administrative Level 3 Metadata (http://igskmncnwb015.cr.usgs.gov/ftp2/vector/admn/keadmn3.html, dead link, retrieved 2005-04-07). This was the metadata file for source [3].
5. [5] 1999 Census Report. Kenya Central Bureau of Statistics (http://www.cbs.go.ke/pdf/authority.pdf, dead link, retrieved 2005-04-07).
6. [6] Table of land areas. Kenya Central Bureau of Statistics (http://www.cbs.go.ke/agriculture\_land.html, dead link, retrieved 2005-04-07).
7. [7] Kenya County Fact Sheets, Dec. 2011 . Kenya Open Data. (retrieved 2013-03-23).
8. [8] Population and Households, 2009 census . Kenya Open Data. (retrieved 2013-03-23).
9. [9] County Stats . Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (retrieved 2013-03-23).
10. [10] National Atlas of Kenya, 3rd ed. Survey of Kenya, 1970.