Districts of Kenya

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].

DistrictHASCCodPopulationArea(km.²)Capital
BaringoKE.RV.BA701264,9788,646Kabarnet
BometKE.RV.BO702382,7941,882Bomet
BondoKE.NY.BO611238,780987Bondo
BungomaKE.WE.BN801876,4912,069Bungoma
BuretKE.RV.BU718316,882955Litein
BusiaKE.WE.BS802370,6081,124Busia
Butere/MumiasKE.WE.BT808476,928939Mumias
EmbuKE.EA.EB401278,196729Embu
GarissaKE.NE.GA501329,93944,952Garissa
GuchaKE.NY.GU601460,939661Tabaka
Homa BayKE.NY.HB602288,5401,160Homa Bay
IjaraKE.NE.IJ50462,571Ijara
IsioloKE.EA.IS402100,86125,698Isiolo
KajiadoKE.RV.KJ704406,05421,903Kajiado
KakamegaKE.WE.KK804603,4221,395Kakamega
KeiyoKE.RV.KY703143,8651,439Iten/Tambach
KerichoKE.RV.KR705468,4932,111Kericho
KiambuKE.CE.KB201744,0101,324Kiambu
KilifiKE.CO.KF301544,3034,779Kilifi
KirinyagaKE.CE.KY202457,1051,478Kerugoya/Kutus
Kisii CentralKE.NY.KI603491,786649Kisii
KisumuKE.NY.KU604504,359919Kisumu
KituiKE.EA.KT403515,42220,402Kitui
KoibatekKE.RV.KO706138,1632,306Eldama Ravine
KuriaKE.NY.KR605151,887581Kehancha
KwaleKE.CO.KW302496,1338,295Kwale
LaikipiaKE.RV.LK707322,1879,229Nanyuki
LamuKE.CO.LM30372,6866,167Lamu
LugariKE.WE.LU805215,920670Lugari
MachakosKE.EA.MC405906,6446,281Machakos
MakueniKE.EA.MK404771,5457,966Makueni
MalindiKE.CO.ML307281,5527,751Malindi
ManderaKE.NE.MD502250,37226,744Mandera
MaraguaKE.CE.MA207387,969868Maragua
MarakwetKE.RV.EM708140,6291,588
MarsabitKE.EA.MB406121,47861,296Marsabit
MbeereKE.EA.MR407170,9532,093Mbeere
Meru CentralKE.EA.MT408498,8802,982Meru
Meru NorthKE.EA.MN411604,0503,942Maua
Meru SouthKE.EA.MS412205,4511,093Chuka
MigoriKE.NY.MG606514,8972,005Migori
MombasaKE.CO.MM304665,018230Mombasa
Mount ElgonKE.WE.ME803135,033944Mount Elgon
MoyaleKE.EA.MO40953,4799,390Moyale
Murang'aKE.CE.MU203348,304930Murang'a
MwingiKE.EA.MW410303,82810,030Mwingi
NairobiKE.NA.NB1012,143,254696Nairobi
NakuruKE.RV.NK7091,187,0397,242Nakuru
NandiKE.RV.NA710578,7512,899Kapsabet
NarokKE.RV.NR711365,75015,098Narok
NyamiraKE.NY.NM607498,102896Nyamira
NyandaruaKE.CE.NN204479,9023,304Ol Kalou
NyandoKE.NY.NN612299,9301,168Muhoroni
NyeriKE.CE.NY205661,1563,356Nyeri
RachuonyoKE.NY.RA608307,126945Oyugis
SamburuKE.RV.SA712143,54721,127Maralal
SiayaKE.NY.SI609480,1841,520Siaya
SubaKE.NY.SU610155,6661,055Mbita
Taita TavetaKE.CO.TT305246,67117,128Voi
Tana RiverKE.CO.TR306180,90138,446Tana River
TesoKE.WE.TE806181,491559Malaba
TharakaKE.EA.NT413100,9921,570
ThikaKE.CE.TH206645,7131,960Thika
Trans MaraKE.RV.TM713170,5912,846Trans Mara
Trans NzoiaKE.RV.TN714575,6622,487Kitale
TurkanaKE.RV.TU715450,86068,388Lodwar
Uasin GishuKE.RV.UG716622,7053,328Eldoret
VihigaKE.WE.VI807498,883563Vihiga
WajirKE.NE.WJ503319,26155,501Wajir
West PokotKE.RV.WP717308,0869,064Kapenguria
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision
    codes    . The middle two letters identify the province. For
    key, see "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries".
  • Cod: District code used by Central Bureau of Statistics.
  • Population: 1999-08-24 census.

 

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.

NamePopulationArea(km.²)CapitalProvince
Baringo150,40010,627KabarnetRift Valley
Bungoma241,9003,074BungomaWestern
Busia172,4001,629BusiaWestern
Central Nyanza626,4004,615Nyanza
Elgeyo/Marakwet161,0002,722TambachRift Valley
Embu134,7002,714EmbuEastern
Garissa80,60043,931GarissaNorth Eastern
Isiolo54,60025,605IsioloEastern
Kajiado68,40020,963KajiadoRift Valley
Kakamega600,2003,520KakamegaWestern
Kericho340,5004,890KerichoRift Valley
Kiambu431,3002,448KiambuCentral
Kilifi247,80012,414KilifiCoast
Kirinyaga158,6001,437KerugoyaCentral
Kisii526,1002,196KisiiNyanza
Kitui284,70029,389KituiEastern
Kwale157,8008,257KwaleCoast
Laikipia61,3009,702NanyukiRift Valley
Lamu23,0006,506LamuCoast
Machakos571,60014,178MachakosEastern
Mandera75,50026,470ManderaNorth Eastern
Marsabit37,50072,732MarsabitEastern
Meru473,8009,922MeruEastern
Mombasa179,600210MombasaCoast
Murang'a369,8002,476Fort HallCentral
Nairobi343,500684NairobiNairobi
Nakuru227,9007,024NakuruRift Valley
Nandi167,2002,745KapsabetRift Valley
Narok110,10018,513NarokRift Valley
Nyandarua100,7003,543NyandaruaCentral
Nyeri274,5003,284Thomson's FallsCentral
Samburu56,60020,808MaralalRift Valley
South Nyanza481,6005,714Nyanza
Taita90,20016,959WundanyiCoast
Tana River42,70038,695GaloleCoast
Trans Nzoia86,1002,468KitaleRift Valley
Turkana159,30060,824LodwarRift Valley
Uasin Gishu92,0003,784EldoretRift Valley
Wajir112,80056,501WajirNorth Eastern
West Pokot59,0005,076KapenguriaRift Valley
  • Population: 1962-08-15 census, proleptic for boundary changes.
  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]).
NameHASC
BaringoKE.RV.BA
BometKE.RV.BO
BungomaKE.WE.BN
BusiaKE.WE.BS
Elgeyo-MarakwetKE.RV.EM
EmbuKE.EA.EB
GarissaKE.NE.GA
Homa BayKE.NY.HB
IsioloKE.EA.IS
KajiadoKE.RV.KJ
KakamegaKE.WE.KK
KerichoKE.RV.KR
KiambuKE.CE.KB
KilifiKE.CO.KF
KirinyagaKE.CE.KY
KisiiKE.NY.KI
KisumuKE.NY.KU
KituiKE.EA.KT
KwaleKE.CO.KW
LaikipiaKE.RV.LK
LamuKE.CO.LM
MachakosKE.EA.MC
MakueniKE.EA.MK
ManderaKE.NE.MD
MarsabitKE.EA.MB
MeruKE.EA.ME
MigoriKE.NY.MG
MombasaKE.CO.MM
MurangaKE.CE.MU
NairobiKE.NA.NB
NakuruKE.RV.NK
NandiKE.RV.NA
NarokKE.RV.NR
NithiKE.EA.NT
NyamiraKE.NY.NM
NyandaruaKE.CE.NN
NyeriKE.CE.NY
SamburuKE.RV.SA
SiayaKE.NY.SI
Taita-TavetaKE.CO.TT
Tana RiverKE.CO.TR
Trans-NzoiaKE.RV.TN
TurkanaKE.RV.TU
Uasin GishuKE.RV.UG
VihigaKE.WE.VI
WajirKE.NE.WJ
West PokotKE.RV.WP
  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.
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