Garissa (Somali: Gaarrisa Arabic: قارسا) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province.
Garissa
Gaarrisa | |
|---|---|
 The Almond Resort in Garissa. | |
  Garissa Location within Kenya .svg) Garissa Location within the Horn of Africa  Garissa Location within Africa | |
| Coordinates: 0°27′25″S 39°39′30″E / 0.45694°S 39.65833°E | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| County | Garissa County |
| Population (2019) | |
• Town | 450,399[1] |
| • Urban | 163,399 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Geography
editThe Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe Sanctuary, situated 5 km south of Garissa, is home to endangered wildlife including the Rothschild giraffe, gerenuk and other herbivores including Kirk's dik-dik, lesser kudu, warthog and waterbuck.
Demographics
editThe town recorded a population of 319,696 in the 2009 census, which rose to 663,399 in 2019.[1] Most of Garissa's inhabitants are ethnic Somali from the Ogaden and Marehan clans.[2]
Economy
edit
Garissa is a market centre and the commercial hub of the Garissa County.[3] The town has a university, Garissa University College and a number of colleges including Medical College. In December 2019, the Garissa Solar Power Station was inaugurated, providing grid power to Garissa town.[4]
Banks with a presence in Garissa include the Gulf African Bank situated in the Al-Wayf Quran House, the Postbank in the Garissa Shopping Centre, and the First Community Bank (FCB) in the Bajwed Building.[5] Other banks with branches in the city include Absa Bank, Equity Bank,[6] Kenya Commercial Bank,[7] National Bank of Kenya,[8] Chase Bank and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.[9]
Livestock rearing is a significant part of the town's economy. Between 2005 and 2007, Garissa cattle farmers earned over KES1.8 billion in sales in domestic and overseas markets. Construction of a new abattoir also began in October 2007.[10] In terms of livestock imports, most of Garissa's cattle comes from cross-border trade between Somali livestock merchants.[11]
2015 terrorist attack
editOn 2 April 2015, gunmen stormed the Garissa University College, killing 147 people and injuring at least 79. The militant group and Al-Qaeda offshoot, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. The gunmen took over 700 students hostage, freeing Muslims and killing those who identified as Christians. The siege ended the same day when all four of the attackers were killed. Five men were later arrested in connection with the attack, and a bounty was placed for the arrest of a suspected organizer, Mohamed Mahmoud, also known as Dulyadeyn.[citation needed] Dulyadeyn was later killed by U.S.-trained Somali commandos from the Somali National Army on the night of May 31, 2016, in Bulo Gadud, a town loyal to Al-Shabaab, about 30 kilometers north of the port of Kismayo in Somalia.[citation needed]
The Garissa University attack was the second deadliest terrorist attack in Kenyan history since independence (after the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi, in which 213 people were killed).
Governance
editAs the capital of Garissa County, Garissa is the seat of the County Government of Garissa as well as the County Assembly. The Governor of the county is Nathif Jama.[12] The city is represented by Aden Bare Duale, a Somali Member of Parliament for the Garissa Township Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya. He was elected to the position in the Kenya National Assembly through the United Republican Party, an affiliate party of the Jubilee Alliance. He currently serves as the Majority Leader in the Parliament. During the colonial era, Garissa, as well as other parts of NFD, were collectively conferred to as the British East Africa province of Trans-juba, and would subsequently be referred to as Jubaland, which split into two in the mid 1920s.[13]
Climate
editGarissa has a hot arid climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), despite receiving around 375 millimetres or 15 inches of rainfall per year, due to the extremely high potential evapotranspiration. Garissa's landscape is mostly arid, desert terrain. The city lies along the Tana River, and has a hot climate due to the low elevation and distance from cooler coastal areas. The daytime temperature typically rises above 33 °C or 91.4 °F every day, but cools down every night.
| Climate data for Garissa (1961-1990, extremes 1931–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 43.2 (109.8) |
41.0 (105.8) |
40.0 (104.0) |
40.0 (104.0) |
38.2 (100.8) |
36.5 (97.7) |
37.5 (99.5) |
37.7 (99.9) |
39.0 (102.2) |
39.0 (102.2) |
38.4 (101.1) |
38.0 (100.4) |
43.2 (109.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 36.7 (98.1) |
37.8 (100.0) |
38.3 (100.9) |
37.0 (98.6) |
35.8 (96.4) |
34.1 (93.4) |
33.6 (92.5) |
33.8 (92.8) |
35.1 (95.2) |
36.3 (97.3) |
36.2 (97.2) |
35.4 (95.7) |
35.8 (96.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 29.7 (85.5) |
30.6 (87.1) |
31.4 (88.5) |
30.7 (87.3) |
29.6 (85.3) |
27.9 (82.2) |
27.4 (81.3) |
27.6 (81.7) |
28.4 (83.1) |
29.7 (85.5) |
29.9 (85.8) |
29.2 (84.6) |
29.3 (84.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.6 (72.7) |
23.3 (73.9) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.5 (76.1) |
23.3 (73.9) |
21.8 (71.2) |
21.2 (70.2) |
21.3 (70.3) |
21.7 (71.1) |
23.1 (73.6) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.0 (73.4) |
22.8 (73.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.6 (65.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
17.5 (63.5) |
18.7 (65.7) |
16.6 (61.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
15.0 (59.0) |
15.0 (59.0) |
16.4 (61.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
18.6 (65.5) |
17.5 (63.5) |
15.0 (59.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 11.9 (0.47) |
5.5 (0.22) |
48.6 (1.91) |
89.7 (3.53) |
15.5 (0.61) |
5.2 (0.20) |
3.4 (0.13) |
6.6 (0.26) |
8.4 (0.33) |
30.0 (1.18) |
96.9 (3.81) |
51.9 (2.04) |
373.6 (14.71) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 29 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 56 | 54 | 56 | 59 | 56 | 54 | 55 | 55 | 53 | 54 | 59 | 62 | 56 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 251.1 | 235.2 | 263.5 | 273.0 | 282.1 | 255.0 | 254.2 | 257.3 | 270.0 | 279.0 | 252.0 | 241.8 | 3,114.2 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 8.5 |
| Source 1: NOAA[14][15] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity, 1961-1990),[16] Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[17] | |||||||||||||
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume II: Distribution of Population by Administrative Units; retrieved 25 February 2020.
- ^ "Kenya Police Service". www.kenyapolice.go.ke. Archived from the original on 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
- ^ "Garissa". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "President Uhuru launches Sh13b solar power plant". Standard Media. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "garissacity.com". garissacity.com.
- ^ "Equity Bank Kenya • GARISSA - Branches". equitybank.co.ke. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22.
- ^ "Personal". www.kcbbankgroup.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
- ^ "National Bank of Kenya". nationalbank.co.ke.
- ^ Cooperative Bank of Kenya Archived 2013-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Government targets Kshs 12 b for development in N. Eastern Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Livestock Farming in Kenya". Farming in Kenya. Archived from the original on 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
- ^ "The Governor – Garissa County Government". Retrieved 2020-05-24.
- ^ Mwangi, Oscar Gakuo. "Jubaland: Somalia’s new security dilemma and state-building efforts." Africa Review 8.2 (2016): 120-132.
- ^ "Garissa Climate Normals 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
- ^ "Garissa (precipitation data) Climate Normals 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
- ^ "Klimatafel von Garissa / Kenia" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
- ^ "Station Garissa" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
External links
edit- Drone footage of Garissa Central Business District.