Coast Province Mkoa wa Pwani | |
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![]() Location in Kenya. | |
Coordinates:3°0′S39°30′E / 3.000°S 39.500°E /-3.000; 39.500 | |
Country | Kenya |
No. of Counties: | 6 |
Capital | Mombasa |
Area | |
• Total | 79,686.1 km2 (30,767.0 sq mi) |
Population (2009) | |
• Total | 3,325,307 |
• Density | 42/km2 (110/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
TheCoast Province (Swahili:Mkoa wa Pwani) was one ofKenya's eightprovinces. It covered the entire country's coastline on theIndian Ocean. Its capital city wasMombasa. It was inhabited by theMijikenda andSwahili peoples, among others. The province covered an area of 79,686.1 km2.[1]
Some of the province's important towns includedKilifi,Malindi,Watamu andLamu in the north, andMwandimu andMagunda in the south. Some of the coastal population was located in resort and beach settlements such asKiongwe andKipini.
Diani Beach was one of the province's major tourist centres, with palm trees and white sandy beaches like Mombasa.
Malindi is whereVasco da Gama picked up his pilot to navigate with the monsoon winds to India;Mambrui appears to be the site where contact occurred with the Chinese during the era of theYongle Emperor and the expeditions ofZheng He.[2]
Watamu is a small fishing community and contains East Africa's first marine national park, theWatamu Marine National Park.
The Coast Provinces had a population of 3,325,307 in 2009.[1]
The climate is designated asAw in theKöppen climate classification system.[3]
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In 1999, theMombasa Republican Council was formed, with the goal of engineering the Coast Province's secession from Kenya.[4][5]
In 2010, anew constitution came into effect which divided Kenya's 8 provinces into47 counties. The Coast Province was divided into six:Mombasa,Kwale,Kilifi,Tana River,Lamu, andTaita–Taveta counties.