Eastern Province (Kenya)
The Eastern Province (Swahili: Mashariki) of Kenya is one of seven regions of the country. Its northern boundary is with Ethiopia; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lie to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province, run along its western border. The provincial capital is Embu. On 16 July 2009, the province was sub-divided in to 3 Sub-Provinces namely lower eastern with Machakos as headquarters, central eastern with Meru as headquarters, and upper eastern with Marsabit as headquarters; however it still remains to be seen how these changes will take effect due to the political instability in the current coalition government. The sub-division of provinces were carried out in all seven Provinces of Kenya, excluding Nairobi.
The province is principally inhabited by the Meru and Kamba and several pastoralist communities. In 1979 its population was 2.7 million; in 1999, 4,631,779 (according to the 1999 census). In terms of area, it is the second largest province (159,891 km²).
Read more about Eastern Province (Kenya): Geography, Districts
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