The Eastern Province () of Kenya was one of 8 Provinces of Kenya. Its northern boundary ran along with that of Ethiopia; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lay to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province, ran along its western border, and Rift Valley lay to the north west and south west. The provincial capital was Embu.
Overview On 16 July 2009, the province was sub-divided into three: Lower Eastern with Machakos as headquarters, Central Eastern with Embu as headquarters, and Upper Eastern with Marsabit as headquarters; however, those changes never took effect due to the political wrangles in the Kenyan coalition government at the time. The sub-division of provinces was carried out in seven provinces of Kenya, excluding Nairobi. As of March 2013 after the Kenyan general election, 2013, the Eastern Province was subdivided into eight counties, namely: Code County Area (km2) Populationcensus 2009 Capital 10 Marsabit 66,923.1291,166 Marsabit 11 Isiolo 25,336.1143,294 Isiolo 12 Meru 7,0031,356,301 Meru 13 Tharaka-Nithi 2,609.5365,330 Chuka 14 Embu 2,555.9516,212 Embu 15 Kitui 24,385.11,012,709 Kitui 16 Machakos 5,952.91,098,584 Machakos 17 Makueni 8,008.9884,527 Wote Totals 140,698.65,668,123 -
The province was principally inhabited by the Meru, Kamba, Embu, and several pastoralist communities. In 1979, its population was 2.7 million; in 1999, 4,631,779 (according to the 1999 census) and in 2009 the province would have had a population of 5,668,123. In terms of area, it was the second largest province at (140,698.6 km2) in Kenya.
Geography Eastern Province of Kenya includes the Chalbi Desert, Mount Kenya, and the eastern half of Lake Turkana. The climate in the region is arid to semi-arid. Its most important permanent river is Ewaso Ng'iro.
Villages and settlements
See also Makueni County Marsabit County Meru County Tharaka-Nithi County Kitui County Isiolo County Machakos County
References