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| subdivision_type = CountryKenya}}| established_title = Formed| established_date = 4 March 2013| seat_type = Capital and largest town| seat = Nakuru| parts_type = Other towns| parts_style = para| p1 = NaivashaCounty Governors of Kenya>Governor| leader_name = Susan Kihika| area_total_km2 = 7,509.5| area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | elevation_m = VIA=SCRIBD, | population_as_of = 2019| population_density_km2 = autoEast Africa Time>EAT| utc_offset = +3weblink}}| footnotes = }}Nakuru County is a county in Kenya. It is county number 32 out of the 47 Kenyan counties. Nakuru County is a host to Kenya's Fourth City – Nakuru City. On 1 December 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded a City Charter status to Nakuru,WEB, 1 December 2021, Wednesday, 2021-12-01, Nakuru becomes Kenya's fourth city,weblink 2022-10-24, Business Daily, en, ranking it with Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu as the cities in Kenya. With a population of 2,162,202 (2019 census), it is the third most populous county in Kenya after Nairobi County and Kiambu County, in that order. With an area of 7,496.5 km2,  it is Kenya's 19th largest county in size. Until 21 August 2010, it formed part of Rift Valley Province.

Population

{{Historical populations 522,709 849,096 1,187,039 1,603,325 2,162,202 |align = none| footnote = source:Kenya: Administrative Division population statistics}}

Religion

Religion in Nakuru County WEB,weblink 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics, 2 May 2021, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, dmy, {| class="wikitable"! style="width:100px;"|Religion (2019 Census)! style="width:80px;"|NumberCatholicism>|349,526Protestant >|703,882Evangelical Churches >|647,780African instituted Churches >|154,007Eastern Orthodoxy>Orthodox12,182Christians>Other Christians140,000Islam>|25,479Hindu >|1,660|4,568|30,379Atheists>|67,640|4,937|267

Sites of interest

Nakuru County is home to Lake Nakuru, Lake Elmenteita and Lake Naivasha, which are some of the Rift Valley soda lakes. Lake Nakuru is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingoes nesting along the shores. The surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink. The number of flamingos on the lake varies with water and food conditions and the best vantage point is from Baboon Cliff. Also of interest, an area of 188 km around the lake fenced off as a sanctuary to protect Rothschild giraffe and black rhinos.Other sites of interest around Nakuru include Menengai Crater, an extinct volcano 2,490 m (8,167 ft) high, and the Nakuru National Park which is a wildlife zone. The views of the crater itself, as well as the surrounding countryside, are spectacular.Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site, discovered by the Leakeys in 1926, is considered a major Neolithic and Iron Age site. The adjoining museum features are from various nearby excavations.WEB, Hyrax Hill Museum – National Museums of Kenya,weblink 2023-06-07, en-US, The second-largest surviving volcanic crater in the world, the Menengai Crater is 2500 meters above sea level at its highest point. The crater plunges 500 m down from the rim and the summit is accessible by foot or vehicle 8 km from the main road.WEB, 2020-09-02, Menengai Crater {{!, Kenya Safari Tour Destinations {{!}} Explore Kenya |url=https://www.lakenakurukenya.com/menengai-crater/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Lake Nakuru National Park |language=en-US}} The mountain is also surrounded by a nature reserve.The Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology is a tourist attraction. It is a giant institute established in 1979 by the leaders and people of Rift Valley.

Urban areas

Surrounding towns include Lanet, which lies approximately 10 km from Nakuru. Lanet is predominantly a residential town and is home to an army base. Njoro is another urban town that lies 20 km in the outskirts of Nakuru, and is a small agricultural town with a local university aimed at promoting agricultural development in Kenya, namely Egerton University (est. 1934). Naivasha is another major significant urban Centre in Nakuru County, which sits at the floor of the Great Rift Valley and serves as a major transit of goods. Travelers passing through Naivasha usually make stopovers along the Naivasha – Nakuru Highway to enjoy the beautiful and scenic escarpments of the Great Rift Valley.">

Urban Centres{| class"sortable wikitable"

! Town || Type || Population (2009)|| Rank in Kenya (Population Size)Nakuru >| 4Naivasha>| 9Molo, Kenya>Molo Town 40,651 60Gilgil>| 69Njoro>| 82Mai Mahiu>| 112Subukia >| 139Dundori>| 166Salgaa>| 174Mau Narok >| 178Bahati, Nakuru County>Bahati Town 3,833 184Rongai>| 213Olenguruone>| 214 {{wide image|Nakuru Panorama.jpg|1000px|align-cap=center|Nakuru Municipality panorama with Lake Nakuru in the background}}File:Sunset at Lake Naivasha.jpg|thumb|Sunset at Lake NaivashaLake NaivashaFile:Quiet dusk over Lake Naivasha (5232083375).jpg|thumb|Dusk at Lake NaivashaLake Naivasha{| class="wikitable"|+ Administrative divisions!Division !Population*!Urban pop.*!Headquarters| Dundori| Elburgon| Gilgil| Mau Summit| Keringet|||| Mau Narok| SubukiaMolo, Kenya>Molo| Naivasha| Nakuru| Njoro| Olenguruone| RongaiTotal >1,187,039 >338,338 >| - {{smallerACCESS-DATE=2007-09-28 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20070928170744/HTTP://WWW.CCK.GO.KE/HTML/FINAL_ANNEX1_COVER_STATUS.PDF TITLE=URBAN POVERTY ESTIMATES FOR KENYA'S PROVINCES, DISTRICTS, DIVISIONS AND LOCATIONS FORMAT=XLS ACCESS-DATE=2011-07-18, }}

Nakuru County Peace Accord

The Nakuru County Peace Accord (or "Rift Valley Peace Accord") refers to the peace agreement signed on 19 August 2012 between elders of the Agikuyu (see also Kikuyu) and Kalenjin communities as well as other ethnic groups of Kenya.WEB, 7 June 2012, Media Breakfast Meeting on Nakuru Peace Accord – Speech by NCIC Chairman, Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia,weblink dead,weblink" title="archive.today/20141220155132weblink">weblink 20 December 2014, 20 December 2012, National Cohesion and Integration Commission, which was designed to address sources of ethnic conflict and a history of violence in the rift valley region of Kenya.BOOK, Wairimu Nderitu, Alice,weblink From the Nakuru County Peace Accord to Lasting Peace, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2014, It was signed following a 16-month-long peace process led by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management

Politics

The county has eleven constituencies which are represented in the Parliament of Kenya:

• Naivasha Constituency represented by Hon. Jayne Wanjiru Njeri – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Nakuru Town West Constituency represented by Hon. Samuel Arama – Jubilee Party
• Nakuru Town East Constituency represented by Hon. David Gikaria – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Kuresoi South Constituency Hon. Joseph Kipkosgei Tonui – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Kuresoi North Constituency Hon. Alfred Kiprono Mutai – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Molo Constituency represented by Hon. Francis Kuria Kimani – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Rongai Constituency represented by Hon. Paul Chebor – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Subukia Constituency represented by Hon. Samuel Kinuthia Gachobe – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Njoro Constituency represented by Hon. Charity Kathambi Chepkwony – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Gilgil Constituency represented by Hon. Martha Wangari Wanjira – United Democratic Alliance (UDA)
• Bahati Constituency represented by Hon. Irene Njoki – Jubilee Party

Nakuru County was seen as the epicenter of violence in the aftermath of the disputed 2007 Presidential Elections which left over 1,100 people dead and over 300,000 displaced nationwide.WEB, UN HUMAN RIGHTS TEAM ISSUES REPORT ON POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE IN KENYA,weblink 2022-10-25, OHCHR, en,

Notable residents

• Carole Kariuki, businesswoman and executiveWEB,weblink Carole Kariuki, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Private Sector Alliance: Short Biography, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), KEPSA, Nairobi, 18 November 2017, 18 November 2017,

See also

{{commons category|Nakuru County}}

• Narok County
• Kajiado County
• Baringo County
• Laikipia County
• Kericho County
• Bomet County
• Nyandarua County
• Kiambu County
• Nakuru County Council

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• Nakuru County Directory Kenya
• Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Kenya AdminLevels 1-4

{{First and second-level administrative divisions of Kenya}}{{Authority control}}