Uasin Gishu District

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Uasin Gishu District is one of the seventy-one districts of Kenya, located in the Rift Valley Province. The city of Eldoret is its capital, administrative center and commercial center.

The Uasin Gishu District has a cool and temperate climate and is located on a plateau. It borders the Trans-Nzoia District.

In 1908, fifty eight families of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans settlers "trekked" to the Uashin Gishu plateau from Nakuru after a journey from South Africa by sea and by rail from Mombasa. They were followed by sixty more families in 1911 and more later.[1] The town of Eldoret was established in the midst of the farms they created.

There is a large population of immigrants from England, Scotland, South Africa and Zimbabwe, who have come to settle and farm.

Contents

[edit] Local authorities

Authority Type Population* Urban pop.*
Eldoret Municipality 193,830 167,016
Burnt Forest Town 30,557 3,180
Wareng County 398,318 15,271
* 1999 census. Source: [1]

[edit] Historical

In 1903 Theodor Herzl negotiated with British officials to obtain land for a permanent Jewish settlement. The British government eventually offered up the Uasin Gishu plateau, which at the time was part of British East Africa. The British plan for Jewish settlement in this area was eventually aborted.[2]

[edit] Administrative divisions

Division Population* Urban pop.* Headquarters
Ainabkoi 77,297 18,799 Ainabkoi
Kapsaret 93,162 55,056 Kapsaret[3]
Kesses 84,894 0 Kesses
Moiben 92,717 6,172 Chepkoilel (Moiben)
Soy 165,127 46,338 Eldoret
Turbo 109,508 46,900 Turbo
* 1999 census. Sources: [2], [3],

[edit] Constituencies

The district has three constituencies:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Red strangers: the white tribe of Kenya, ISBN 1857252063, by Christine Stephanie Nicholls
  2. ^ Bar-Yosef, Eitan, and Nadia Valman. The Jew in Late-Victorian and Edwardian Culture: Between the East End and East Africa. 2009. p.22
  3. ^ next to simat

Coordinates: 0°31′00″N 35°17′00″E / 0.516667°N 35.2833°E / 0.516667; 35.2833

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