Nandi Hills | |
|---|---|
  Nandi Hills Location in Kenya | |
| Coordinates: 00°06′01″N35°10′35″E / 0.10028°N 35.17639°E | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| County | Nandi County |
| Elevation | 6,716 ft (2,047 m) |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 73,626 |
Nandi Hills is a town in Nandi County, Kenya and also forms a constituency by itself. The name also refers to the general area of Nandi County, where the urban settlement is located.
Nandi Hills is located in a highland area of lush green rolling hills at the edge of the Great Rift Valley in the southwestern part of Kenya. It is located approximately 303 kilometres (188 mi), by road, northwest of Nairobi, the capital and largest city in the country. [1] The coordinates of Nandi Hills, Kenya are:0°06'01.0"N, 35°10'35.0"E (Latitude:0.100278; Longitude:35.176389). [2] Nandi Hills lies an elevation of approximately 2,047 metres (6,716 ft), above sea level. [3]
The small town named Nandi Hills, is often referred to as the "cradle land of Kenyan running". The area is home to many world-renowned athletes, including Kipchoge Keino, Wilson Kipketer, Janeth Jepkosgei, Augustine Choge, Wilfred Bungei, Henry Rono and Mike Boit. The area is mostly inhabited by the Nandi people. Nandi Hills has a cool and wet climate with two rain seasons during the equinoxes. Temperatures vary between 18 °C and 24 °C which coupled with the rich volcanic soils make the area ideal for growing tea. The scenic area is known for its many tea estates. There is also a golf course, Nandi Bears Club, where several annual tournaments are held annually such as the Gill Trophy, the Kenya Ladies' Golf Union and the prestigious Kenya Breweries Festival of Golf besides rally and cross countries. [4]
It is a very significant area of Rift Valley province and the Kalenjin community. It was a battleground against the Luo and Luhya communities and the burial site of the renowned Nandi seer Koitalel Arap Samoei. He is buried under a symbolic tree. On top of Nandi Hills sits Samoei with its red earth. When Koitalel was killed by British officer Richard Meinertzhagen, some believe the ground turned red on the spot of his death.
The economy of Nandi Hills relies mainly on surrounding tea estates. Many people work on tea farms as pluckers, managers, field maintenance, factory service works, official duties and business. Nandi Hills town has barely a tarmac street despite a lot of taxes accrued from tea farms.
The transport system in Nandi Hills is mainly land-based via tarmac. The Nandi Hills road network connects it to major Kenyan cities including Eldoret, Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu and, ultimately, Nairobi and Mombasa.
The Kipsigis, are one of Kenya's 47 tribes and together with Nandi, Tugen, Marakwet, Sengwer, Pokot and Sebei make up the Kalenjin ethnic identity. It is observed that the Kipsigis and an aboriginal race native to Kenya known as Ogiek have a merged identity. The Kipsigis people speak the Kipsigis language; a Nilotic language which falls under the Nandi-Markweta cluster of the Kalenjin languages. The Kipsigis are the most numerous of the Kalenjin. The latest Census population in Kenya put the kipsigis at 1.972 Million speakers accounting for 45% of all kalenjin speaking people.They occupy the highlands of Kericho stretching from Timboroa to Mara River in the south, the west of Mau Escarpment in the east to Kebeneti in the west. They also occupy, parts of Laikipia, Kitale, Nakuru, Narok, Trans Mara District, Eldoret and Nandi Hills.
Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town is colloquially known as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Eldoret is the fifth most populated urban area in the country after Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Ruiru. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 meters at the airport to more than 2700 meters in nearby areas (7000–9000 feet). The population was 289,380 in the 2009 Census, and it is currently the fastest growing town in Kenya with 475,716 people according to 2019 National Census. Eldoret is on course to be named Kenya's fourth city.
The Kalenjin are a group of a group of tribes designated as Highland Nilotes and are descended from Maliri people (thus related to Daasanach of Ethiopia.) The Kalenjin are cousins with Datooga people of Tanzania and Malawi. In contrast, their designation groups them with other Nilotes including Maasai, Luo,Turkana and Nuer, Dinka among others. They are indigenous to East Africa, residing mainly in what was formerly the Rift Valley Province in Kenya and Eastern slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda. Upon their arrival in the forest region of Mau, the Kalenjin assimilated the aboriginal hunter-gatherer race known as Okiek. They number 6,358,113 individuals as per the Kenyan 2019 census and an estimated 300,000 in Uganda mainly in Kapchorwa, Kween and Bukwo districts They have been divided into 11 culturally and linguistically related tribes: Kipsigis, Nandi (937,000), Sebei Keiyo, Marakwet, Sabaot (296,000), Pokots, Tugen, Terik, Sengwer, and Ogiek. They Kalenjin speak the Nadi-Marakweta languages but can also be inclusive of Akie language in Tanzania and Pokot language spoken in Kenya; all being classified collectively as Kalenjin Language; while in combination with Datooga languages of Tanzania, this cluster is called Southern Nilotic languages.
Limuru is a town in central Kenya. It is also the name of a parliamentary constituency and an administrative division. The population of the town, as of 2004, was about 4,800. In a census taken in 2019 the population had increased to 159,314.
The Nandi are part of the Kalenjin, a Nilotic tribe living in East Africa. The Nandi ethnic group live with close association and relation with the Kipsigis tribe. They traditionally have lived and still form the majority in the highland areas of the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya, in what is today Nandi County. They speak the Nandi dialect of the Kalenjin language.
Nakuru is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitants, making it the largest urban center in the Rift Valley, with Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County following closely behind. The city lies along the Nairobi Nakuru Highway, a distance of 160 kilometers from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It is the fourth largest city in Kenya, behind Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu respectively. It lies about 1,850 m above sea level.
Machakos, also called Masaku is a town in Kenya, 63 km (39 mi) southeast of Nairobi. It is the capital of the Machakos County, Kenya. Its population is rapidly growing and was 150,041 as of 2009 and Machakos County had a population of 1,421,932 as of 2019. People who live here are mostly of the Akamba ethnicity. Machakos is surrounded by hilly terrain, with a high number of family farms.
Nandi County is in the North Rift of Kenya, occupying an area of 2,884.4 square kilometres. Its capital, Kapsabet, is the largest town in the county while other towns include Mosoriot, Tinderet, Kobujoi, Kaiboi, Kabiyet and Nandi Hills. According to a 2019 census, the county had a population of 885,711, made up of a number of Kenyan communities, the majority of whom belong to the native tribe called Nandi.
Mara Serena Airport is an airstrip in Masai Mara, Kenya.
Nanyuki Airfield is an airport in Nanyuki, Kenya.
Koitalel Arap Samoei was an Orkoiyot, the supreme chief of the Nandi people of Kenya. He led the Nandi resistance against British colonial rule.
Ndumberi is a municipality division in Central Province, Kenya. It is located at an elevation of about 1,820 m. The surrounding catchment has a population of about 18,000. It is located 3 km NW of Kiambu, the capital of the Kiambu County.
Kericho Airport is an airport in Kenya.
The Nandi Resistance was a military conflict that took place in present-day Kenya between 1890 and 1906. It involved members of the Kalenjin ethnic group, mainly from the Nandi section, and the British colonial administration. The close of the 19th century, a time referred to as the "pacification period" by Matson, saw a number of local populations that resisted British colonial rule. Of these, the Nandi resistance would stand out for being the longest and most tenacious.
Koitaleel Samoei University College is a planned university in Nandi County, Kenya, due to open in 2015.
Suam, Uganda is a border crossing between Uganda and Kenya. The settlement sits directly across the Suam River from Suam, Kenya.
Kwanza is a town in Trans-Nzoia County in western Kenya, close to the international border with Uganda. It is the headquarters of Kwanza Ward, one of the constituent wards in Kwanza Constituency.
Barsirian Arap Manyei was the last widely recognized Nandi Orkoiyot and Kenya's longest serving political detainee.
In June 1905, between 900 and 1850 ethnic Kipsigis men, women and children were killed in a punitive expedition by the colonial British government forces led by Major Pope Hennessy. This was as a result of a raid by the Kipsigis on the Maasai which saw the Kipsigis part with Maasai cows, women and children to which the government demanded redress and return of the spoils of the raid but to which the Kipsigis returned in insults and turned down the warning. In effect, this led to alienation of tribal land to what would become part of Kenyan White Highlands.