Kericho
Kericho is the biggest town in Kericho County located in the highlands west of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Standing on the edge of the Mau Forest, Kericho has a warm and temperate climate making it an ideal location for agriculture and in particular, the large scale cultivation of tea.
The town is strategically located along Kenya's western tourism circuit with access to Lake Victoria, the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Ruma National Park.
As of the 1999 census, the town has a population of 150,000. Kericho is the home town of the Kipsigis, who are a part of the Kalenjin people.
The etymology of Kericho is unclear. One theory has it that it was home to the region's first hospital, built by the colonial British at the start of the 20th century. This is in reference to, the word for medicine in the Kipsigis language. Other theories have it that the town was named for a local medicine man called Kipkerich or after a Maasai chief, Ole Kericho who was killed in the 18th Century by the Abagusii.
The town is strategically located along Kenya's western tourism circuit with access to Lake Victoria, the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Ruma National Park.
As of the 1999 census, the town has a population of 150,000. Kericho is the home town of the Kipsigis, who are a part of the Kalenjin people.
The etymology of Kericho is unclear. One theory has it that it was home to the region's first hospital, built by the colonial British at the start of the 20th century. This is in reference to, the word for medicine in the Kipsigis language. Other theories have it that the town was named for a local medicine man called Kipkerich or after a Maasai chief, Ole Kericho who was killed in the 18th Century by the Abagusii.
Map - Kericho
Map
Country - Kenya
Flag of Kenya |
Kenya's earliest inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, like the present-day Hadza people. According to archaeological dating of associated artifacts and skeletal material, Cushitic speakers first settled in Kenya's lowlands between 3,200 and 1,300 BC, a phase known as the Lowland Savanna Pastoral Neolithic. Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic speakers) began migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya around 500 BC. Bantu people settled at the coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD. European contact began in 1500 AD with the Portuguese Empire, and effective colonisation of Kenya began in the 19th century during the European exploration of the interior. Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895 and the subsequent Kenya Colony, which began in 1920. Numerous disputes between the UK and the colony led to the Mau Mau revolution, which began in 1952, and the declaration of independence in 1963. After independence, Kenya remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The current constitution was adopted in 2010 and replaced the 1963 independence constitution.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
KES | Kenyan shilling | Sh | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
EN | English language |
SW | Swahili language |