Vihiga | |
|---|---|
  Vihiga Location of Vihiga | |
| Coordinates: 00°03′00″N34°43′30″E / 0.05000°N 34.72500°E | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| County | Vihiga County |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 118,696 [1] |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Vihiga is a town in Kenya located on the eastern side of the Kakamega Forest.
The town is located along the Kisumu-Kakamega highway, five kilometres north of the equator. Vihiga bears the same name as its county, Vihiga County. Vihiga municipality had a population of 118,696 [1] according to the 2009 census and 95,292 in the 2019 census, a decrease of 23,404, 11%. [2]
Vihiga municipality has six wards; two of them (Central Maragoli and Wamuluma) belong to Vihiga Constituency while the remaining four wards (Chavakali, Izawa, Lyaduywa and North Maragoli) are part of the Sabatia Constituency. In the 2002 general elections, all six civic seats were won by the National Rainbow Coalition.
Maragoli are the dominant ethnic group in the area. The town is also known as Maragoli with the Tiriki, Idakho and Banyore being the other ethnic groups in this locale. As a county, Vihiga has its administrative headquarters in Mbale township, located within the Vihiga municipality. Vihiga is also a name of one of its divisions. Other divisions include Sabatia, Hamisi, Lwanda and Emuhaya. The people living in Vihiga primarily identify themselves as "Maragoli" and speak a language called Maragoli. This language is quite distinct from other Luhya ethnic groups and was the first Luhya language used to translate the Bible. The majority of the Maragoli people were primarily converted into the Quaker denomination of Christians, which is practiced to this day.
The demography of Kenya is monitored by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics. Kenya is a multi-ethnic state in East Africa. Its total population was at 47,558,296 as of the 2019 census.
Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579. The town has an urban population of 107,227.
The Luhya are a Bantu people and the second largest ethnic group in Kenya. The Luhya belong to the larger linguistic stock known as the Bantu. The Luhya are located in western Kenya and Uganda. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically united clans. Once known as the Kavirondo, multiple small tribes in North Nyanza came together under the new name Baluhya between 1950 and 1960. The Bukusu are the largest Luhya subtribe and account for almost 30% of the entire Luhya population.
Western Province was one of Kenya's seven administrative provinces outside Nairobi. It is inhabited mainly by the Luhya people. Quakerism is widely practised here. Kenya's second highest mountain, Mount Elgon is located in Bungoma District. The Kakamega Forest rainforest is part of the area. The province capital was Kakamega. After the 2013 general election, and the coming into effect of kenya's new constitution, provinces became defunct and the country is currently divided into 47 counties. Each county has its own government and therefore there is no central regional capital. Western Province became the Western region, comprising four counties: Kakamega, Bungoma, Vihiga, and Busia.
Busia is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. It is located directly east of the border town of Busia, Uganda, and borders Lake Victoria to the southwest, Siaya County to the southeast, and Bungoma County and Kakamega County to the east. The county is composed of six sub-counties, and had a population of 893,681 as of the most recent census in 2019.
Kakamega County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. It borders Vihiga County to the South, Siaya County to the West, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties to the North and Nandi, and Uasin Gishu counties to the East. It's capital and largest town is Kakamega town. The County has a population of 1,867,579, and an area of 3,033.8 km2.
Narok County is a county in southwestern Kenya with an estimated population of 1,157,873 according to 2019 Census. The dominant ethnic group is the Maasai. Its capital and largest town is Narok, with the only other major urban centre being Kilgoris. Narok County Government was formed by the County Governments Act of 2012 as prescribed in the 2010 Constitution of Kenya. Narok County governor is Patrick Ole Ntutu after winning in the 2022 elections and his Deputy is Tamalinye K. Koech.
Kapsabet is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of Nandi County and is located 40 kilometres southwest of Eldoret on the way to Chavakali.
Vihiga County is a County located in the former Western Province of Kenya with its headquarters in Mbale, the largest town in the county. According to the 2009 census,the county has a population of 554,622 and an area of 563 km2. Vihiga was formerly a district, split from Kakamega District in 1990. The 2019 census recorded a population of 590,013, an increase of 35,391 from the 2009 count.
Sabatia Constituency is an electoral constituency in Western Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Vihiga County. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections. It has a population of 131,628.
The Maragoli, or Logoli (Ava-Logooli), are now the second-largest ethnic group of the 6 million Luhya nation in Kenya, numbering around 2.1 million, or 15% of the Luhya people according to the last Kenyan census. Their language is called Logoli, Lulogooli, Ululogooli, or Maragoli. The name Maragoli probably emerged later on or after interaction of the people with missionaries of the Quaker Church.
Mbale is a town in Kenya and is the capital and largest town of Vihiga County. It is also called Maragoli, after the indigenous inhabitants of the area.
Held in Mbale town every 26 December, the Maragoli Cultural Festival was for a long time, in decades gone by, the biggest event of the year in the region - coming a day after Christmas: probably the biggest holiday in Kenya; and frequently attended by the former president Daniel Arap Moi.
Luanda is a market town in the Vihiga County of Kenya, located along the Kisumu-Busia highway. It was one of the administrative divisions in Emuhaya district between 2007 and 2009. Luanda has grown over the past ten years with several banks, and supermarkets establishing within the locality. Luanda serves as the main town for Emuhaya and Luanda subcounties. The predominant tribe in Luanda are the Banyore people.
The Idakho(Abitakho, Idakho, Abidakho) are a Luhya sub-group that reside primarily in the fertile Kakamega District, Western Kenya. Idakho is administratively known as Ikolomani, Ikolomani being the only Constituency in the region.
Tiriki or Hamisi is home to the Tiriki subtribe of the Abaluyia. Hamisi Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Vihiga County. Hamisi Constituency includes seven electoral wards: Shiru Ward, Gisambai Ward, Shamakhokho Ward, Banja Ward, Muhudu Ward, Tambua ward, and Jepkoyai Ward. It has a population of 159,241 people.
Bunyore is a locality in the Vihiga County in the western province of Kenya. It is largely inhabited by Luhya, who speak the OLunyole dialect of the Luhya language. In the local language, the place is known as Ebunyore and its people as the Abanyore. It is divided into eight locations namely Central Bunyore, West Bunyore, South Bunyore, South-West Bunyore, East Bunyore, North Bunyore, North East Bunyore, and Wekhomo. Prior to 1990, Bunyore was under Kakamega District, divided into East and West Bunyore locations. As population increased, the former West Bunyore was split into Central, West, South and South West locations while the former East Bunyore was split into North, North East, Wekhomo and East Bunyore locations in order to better serve the people.
Tiriki Clan
Idakho, Isukha, and Tiriki are mutually intelligible Kenyan languages within the Luhya ethnic group. They are a set of languages closely related to some other Luhya ethnic groups like Maragoli, but less so in comparison to others, like Bukusu,Tachoni or Samia.
Vihiga District was an administrative district in the Western Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Mbale. The district had a population of 498,883 and an area of 563 km2. Vihiga District was split from Kakamega District in 1990. By the 2009, Vihiga itself had been split into three smaller districts of Vihiga, Emuhaya, and Hamisi. All with a combined population of 554,622; the smaller Vihiga District with a population of 221,294.
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