Eastleigh | |
|---|---|
Suburb | |
 Eastleigh Mall, Eastleigh | |
  Eastleigh Location of Eastleigh. | |
| Coordinates: 1°16′00″S36°51′00″E / 1.26667°S 36.85000°E | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| County | Nairobi City |
| Sub-county | Kamukunji |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.9 km2 (2.7 sq mi) |
| Population (2019) [1] | |
| • Total | 152,484 |
| • Density | 42,330/km2 (109,600/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Eastleigh is a mixed-use neighbourhood in Nairobi, Kenya. It is located east of the central business district. It is known for its business prowess. [2] [3]
Eastleigh was founded in 1921. At this time, it was formally called Nairobi East Township. While the colonial government originally tried to segregate citizens by race and ethnicity, failures at doing so in the Eastleigh neighbourhood more or less stopped the practice under colonial rule, so class became the general segregating factor afterwards. [4] The colonial government allotted Nairobi's residential estates by race, and Eastleigh was targeted for Asians and elite Africans who worked as clerks, builders, or shoemakers. [5] Eastleigh was originally a large Kenyan Asian enclave until independence in 1963. In recent years, the suburb has been dominated by Somalis. [3]
Eastleigh Airport (Moi Air Base) is located in the northern part of Eastleigh. The base was the site of the British Royal Air Force base known as RAF Eastleigh. The dual-use facility was also the main civilian international airport in Nairobi for the period 1943–1958 before the opening of the new airport at Embakasi (since named Jomo Kenyatta International Airport). [6]
Since 2012, the neighbourhood and various areas across Kenya have experienced a number of terrorist attacks linked to the Al-Shabaab militant group, which were launched in retaliation for the Kenyan military's deployment of troops in southern Somalia against the insurgents. [7]
Administratively, Eastleigh is divided into Airbase, Eastleigh North, and Eastleigh South. It contains the California and Maina Wanjigi neighbourhoods. The whole of Eastleigh is under the sub-county of Kamukunji.
In addition to California and Maina Wanjigi, Eastleigh is further partitioned into three areas:
The postal code for Eastleigh is 00610 [8]
Eastleigh is mostly inhabited by Somalis, except for a few indigenous residents. [3] The suburb's commercial sector is likewise dominated by Somalis, with most businesses owned by the Somali community. [3]
Businesses in the suburb range from small stalls to shopping malls and night lodges. Products are typically imported from Mogadishu and Dubai, and include designer clothing, jewelry and even camel milk. Starting in late 2012, a mass exodus of Somali residents was reported after a prolonged period of harassment by the Kenyan police and public. Hundreds of Somali entrepreneurs withdrew between Sh10 to Sh40 billion from their bank accounts, with the intention of reinvesting most of that money back home in Somalia. The collective departures most affected Eastleigh's real estate sector, as landlords struggled to find Kenyans able to afford the high rates of the apartments and shops vacated by the Somalis. [9]
There are a lot of schools located in Eastleigh and its vicinity, they include;
Group of Schools ranging from High school to primary
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to 'place of cool waters', a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper had a population of 4,397,073 in the 2019 census. The city is commonly referred to as 'The Green City in the Sun'.
Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has an estimated urban population of 2,610,483.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport serving Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airport and Eldoret International Airport. Located in the Embakasi suburb 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of Nairobi's central business district, the airport has scheduled flights to destinations in over 50 countries. Originally named Embakasi Airport, the airport's name was changed in 1978 to honour Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first President and Prime Minister. The airport served over 7 million passengers in 2016, making it the seventh busiest airport in passenger traffic on the continent.
Moi Air Base, formerly known as RAF Eastleigh and Eastleigh Airport is a military airport located to the east of Nairobi, in the Eastleigh suburb. The airport is used by the Kenya Air Force. Additionally, the airfield is the home of the East African School of Aviation run by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, which was established at the airport in 1954 as the DCA training school. The airport is also used to train Kenyan Air Cadets.
African Express Airways is a Somali-owned Kenyan airline with its head office at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Embakasi, Nairobi, Kenya.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was a Multinational force formed by the African Union. The operation deployed to Somalia soon after the Islamic Courts Union was deposed by troops from Ethiopia during a large scale invasion in late 2006. The missions primary objective was to maintain the regime change between the ICU and the newly installed Transitional Federal Government, implement a national security plan and train the TFG security forces. As part of its duties, AMISOM later supported the Federal Government of Somalia in its war against Al-Shabaab. AMISOM was the most deadly peacekeeping operation in the post-war era.
Parklands is a neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, the capital and largest city in Kenya. It is divided into numbered avenues. The name arises from the proximity of the area to City Park, Nairobi.
Westlands is a mixed-use neighbourhood in Upper Parklands in Nairobi. Located 3.0 kilometres (2 mi) from Nairobi's central business district, it sits on the westerly areas of the larger Parklands area of Nairobi.
Mohamed Qanyare Afrah (Somali: Maxamed Qanyare Afrax, Arabic: محمد افراح قنياري} was a Somali faction leader and politician who was based south of Mogadishu in the Daynile District. He came in third position in Somalia's first election as a federal country on 10 October 2004 and was subsequently appointed minister of public security in the government of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi, He served as minister of security in 2006 but was dismissed after ignoring calls by the Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi to stop fighting forces of the Islamist Courts. He continued to participate actively in Somali political affairs being reelected to the first post transitional federal parliament of Somalia as a member of parliament, he resigned from his seat representing his clan in the summer of 2013, his seat in the Federal Parliament of Somalia was taken over by his son Cabdiweli Mohamed Qanyare.
Italian Somalis are Somali-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Somalia during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Somalia. Most of the Italians moved to Somalia during the Italian colonial period.
Upper Hill is a neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The district has seen an increase in major construction in recent years, with several multinational corporations setting up offices.
Wajir Airport is an international airport in Wajir County, Kenya.
Kenyan Somalis are citizens and residents of Kenya who are of Somali ethnic descent. They have historically inhabited the North Eastern Province, previously called the Northern Frontier District, which was carved out of the Jubaland region of present-day southern Somalia during the colonial period. Following the civil war in Somalia that broke out in 1991, many Somalis sought asylum in the Somali-inhabited enclaves of Kenya. An entrepreneurial community, they established themselves in the business sector, particularly in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh.
Yusuf Hassan Abdi is a Kenyan politician, diplomat, social activist and former journalist. After working many years with the United Nations, he joined the Kenya parliament as a legislator in 2011.
The Somali–Kenyan conflict has been an issue within Kenya since the colonial period. Problems have ranged from skirmishes between the two communities and have led to terrorist attacks, police harassment, extortion, home invasions, physical violence, and massacres perpetrated against Somalis and Kenyans.
On 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upmarket mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that started during the siege. The attack resulted in 71 total deaths, including 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers, and all four gunmen. Approximately 200 people were wounded in the massacre.
Said Jama korshel, also known as Said Qorshel, is a Somali politician. He served as the Minister of Air and Land Transport of Somalia from January 2014 to January 2015.
Mohamed Ali Nur, popularly known as "Ambassador Americo", was the Somali Ambassador to Kenya from October 2007 to April 2015. He was also a candidate in the 2017 Somali presidential election.
Muthaiga is an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi. In 2019, media reports indicated that it was the most affluent and most expensive neighbourhood in the entire country.
Jimi Richard Wanjigi is a Kenyan businessman and political strategist.
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