Witu | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 The Post Office at Witu, on the way to Lamu | |
  Witu Location within Kenya  Witu Location within the Horn of Africa  Witu Location within Africa | |
| Coordinates: 02°23′20″S40°26′16″E / 2.38889°S 40.43778°E | |
| Country | Kenya |
| Counties | Lamu County |
| Elevation | 22 m (72 ft) |
| Population (2013 Estimate) | |
| • Total | 5,380 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Witu [1] is a small market town in the Lamu County of Kenya, East Africa. Formerly it was the capital of Wituland.
It is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of the Witu Forest. It is on the Garsen–Witu–Lamu Highway (C-112) between Mkunumbi, 33 kilometres (20.5 mi) to the east, and Garsen, 44 kilometres (27.3 mi) to the west. A secondary road leads 21 kilometres (13.0 mi) south to Kipini on the coast. [2] The coordinates of Witu, Kenya are: 2°23'20.0"S, 40°26'16.0"E (Latitude:-2.388897; Longitude:40.437769). [3] The average elevation of the town is about 22 metres (72 ft). [4]
As of September 2013, the population of the town was estimated at 5,380. [5]
Witu was the centre of an inland empire of approximately 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi). It was inhabited by slaves fleeing the Zanzibar slave trade, and was thus a target of attacks from the Sultanate of Zanzibar, circa 1850.
Zanzibar is an insular semi-autonomous state which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centre in Kilifi County.
The Swahili people comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya, northern Mozambique, the Comoros Islands, southwestern Somalia and Northwest Madagascar. The original Swahili distinguished themselves from other Bantu peoples by self-identifying as Waungwana. In certain regions, this differentiation is even more stratified in terms of societal grouping and dialect, hinting to the historical processes by which the Swahili have coalesced over time. More recently however, Swahili identity extends to any person of African descent who speaks Swahili as their first language, is Muslim and lives in a town on the main urban centres of most of modern-day Tanzania and coastal Kenya, northern Mozambique and the Comoros, through a process of swahilization.
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated 341 kilometres (212 mi) by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. It is the headquarters of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wituland was a territory of approximately 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi) in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.
Pate (Paté) Island is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. It is the largest island in the Lamu Archipelago, which lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga in the former Coast Province. The island is almost completely surrounded by mangroves.
Lamu County is located in the Northern Coast of Kenya and is one of the Six Coastal Counties in Kenya. It borders Tana River County in the southwest, Garissa County to the north, Republic of Somalia to the northeast and the Indian Ocean to the South. It lies 1° 40’ and 2° 30’ south and longitude 40° 15’ and 40° 38’ east. The county has a land surface of 6,273.1 km that include the mainland and over 65 islands that form the Lamu Archipelago. The total length of the coastline is 130 km while land water mass area stands at 308 km.
Lamu Island is a port, city, and island just off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean approximately 150 miles from Mombasa. It is a part of the East African country of Kenya. Lamu was founded in the 12th Century. Lamu is one of the longest established, and best preserved remaining settlements of the Swahili tradition in east Africa that remains today. The island has continually been inhabited for over seven hundred years, and continues to be an important center in eastern Africa.
Swahili architecture is a term used to designate a whole range of diverse building traditions practiced or once practiced along the eastern and southeastern coasts of Africa. Rather than simple derivatives of Islamic architecture from the Arabic world, Swahili stone architecture is a distinct local product as a result of evolving social and religious traditions, environmental changes, and urban development.
The Sultanate of Zanzibar, also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was a state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Sultanate's territories varied over time, and at their greatest extent spanned all of present-day Kenya and the Zanzibar Archipelago off the Swahili Coast. After a decline, the state had sovereignty over only the archipelago and a 16-kilometre-wide (10 mi) strip along the Kenyan coast, with the interior of Kenya constituting the British Kenya Colony and the coastal strip administered as part of that colony de facto.
Mpeketoni is a town in Lamu County, on the Kenyan coast. It is a settlement scheme started in 1960s by the first president of the Republic of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta near a fresh water lake bearing his name.
The Mombasa–Garissa Road, also B8 Road (Kenya) is a major highway in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. The road connects the port city of Mombasa to the inland city of Garissa. This road is composed of the Mombasa–Malindi Road and the Malindi–Garissa Road.
Garsen is a small town located in Tana River County, Kenya. It is on the west bank of the Tana River.
Mokowe is a small town in Kenya's Lamu County in what was previously Coast Province.
Msambweni in Swahili) is a small fishing town and constituency in Kwale County of southeastern Kenya, formerly in Kwale District of Coast Province. The origin of the name, Msambwe is a hardy and wild fruits tree indigenous to Msambweni. A few remnants of the Msambwe trees are still existing at Mkunguni Beach, Sawa Sawa Village. By road, Msambweni is 55.4 kilometres (34.4 mi) south of Mombasa and 46.5 kilometres (28.9 mi) northeast of Lunga Lunga on the Tanzanian border. As of 2009, the town had a population of 11,985 people.
Isebania, also Isibania, is a town in Tarime District, Mara Region, in northern Tanzania, at the border with Kenya.
The Garissa–Nuno–Modogashe–Wajir Road is a road in Kenya, connecting the towns of Garissa, Nuno, Modogashe and Wajir.
Garsen–Witu–Lamu Highway is a road, under construction in Kenya, connecting the towns of Garsen, Witu and Lamu.
Lake Kenyatta, also Lake Mukunganya, is a lake in Lamu County, in southeastern Kenya.
Lamu Wind Power Station, also Lamu Wind Farm, is a planned 90 MW (120,000 hp) wind-powered power station in Kenya.
