| Official Name: | Nakuru County |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Coordinates: | -0.5°N 36°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Kenya |
| Established Title: | Formed |
| Established Date: | 4 March 2013 |
| Seat Type: | Capital and largest town |
| Seat: | Nakuru |
| Parts Type: | Other towns |
| Parts Style: | para |
| P1: | Naivasha |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Susan Kihika |
| Area Total Km2: | 7,509.5 |
| Population Total: | 2,162,202[1] |
| Population As Of: | 2019 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | EAT |
| Utc Offset: | +3 |
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,[2] 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.
Religion in Nakuru County [3]
| Religion (2019 Census) | Number |
|---|---|
| Catholicism | 349,526 |
| 703,882 | |
| 647,780 | |
| 154,007 | |
| Orthodox | 12,182 |
| Other Christians | 140,000 |
| Islam | 25,479 |
| 1,660 | |
| Traditionists | 4,568 |
| Other | 30,379 |
| No Religion/Atheists | 67,640 |
| Don't Know | 4,937 |
| Not Stated | 267 |
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.[4]
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.[5] 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.
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.
| + Administrative divisions | ||||
| Division | Population* | Urban pop.* | Headquarters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahati | 143,714 | 6,018 | Dundori | |
| Elburgon | 65,314 | 23,881 | Elburgon | |
| Gilgil | 91,929 | 18,805 | Gilgil | |
| Kamara | 42,281 | 1,452 | Mau Summit | |
| Keringet | 59,863 | 953 | Keringet | |
| Kuresoi | 40,924 | 0 | ||
| Lare | 27,727 | 0 | ||
| Mauche | 15,391 | 0 | ||
| Mau Narok | 29,916 | 3,321 | Mau Narok | |
| Mbogoini | 59,510 | 228 | Subukia | |
| Molo | 31,935 | 17,188 | Molo | |
| Naivasha | 158,679 | 36,023 | Naivasha | |
| Nakuru Municipal | 231,262 | 212,162 | Nakuru | |
| Njoro | 79,123 | 15,635 | Njoro | |
| Olenguruone | 32,030 | 509 | Olenguruone | |
| Rongai | 77,441 | 2,163 | Rongai | |
| Total | 1,187,039 | 338,338 | - | |
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.[6] which was designed to address sources of ethnic conflict and a history of violence in the Rift Valley region of Kenya.[7] 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
The county has eleven constituencies which are represented in the Parliament of Kenya:
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.[8]