Garissa Gaarrisa | |
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 The Almond Resort in Garissa. | |
  Garissa Location within Kenya Show map of Kenya.svg) Garissa Location within the Horn of Africa Show map of Horn of Africa Garissa Location within Africa Show map of Africa | |
| Coordinates:0°27′25″S39°39′30″E / 0.45694°S 39.65833°E /-0.45694; 39.65833 | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| County | Garissa County |
| Population (2019) | |
• Town | 450,399[1] |
| • Urban | 163,399 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Garissa (Somali:GaarrisaArabic: قارسا) is the capital ofGarissa County,Kenya. It is situated in the formerNorth Eastern Province.
TheTana River, which rises inMount Kenya east ofNyeri, flows through Garissa. TheBour-Algi Giraffe Sanctuary, situated 5 km south of Garissa, is home to endangered wildlife including theRothschild giraffe,gerenuk and other herbivores includingKirk's dik-dik,lesser kudu,warthog andwaterbuck.
The town recorded a population of 319,696 in the 2009 census, which rose to 663,399 in 2019.[1] Most of Garissa's inhabitants areethnic Somali from the [[Ogaden (clan).[2]
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, theGarissa Solar Power Station was inaugurated, providing grid power to Garissa town.[4]
Banks with a presence in Garissa include theGulf African Bank situated in the Al-Wayf Quran House, thePostbank in the Garissa Shopping Centre, and theFirst Community Bank (FCB) in the Bajwed Building.[5] Other banks with branches in the city includeAbsa Bank,Equity Bank,[6]Kenya Commercial Bank,[7]National Bank of Kenya,[8]Chase Bank andCooperative 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]
On 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 the1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi, in which 213 people were killed).
As the capital ofGarissa 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 byAden Bare Duale, a SomaliMember of Parliament for theGarissa Township Constituency in theNational Assembly of Kenya. He was elected to the position in the Kenya National Assembly through theUnited Republican Party, an affiliate party of theJubilee 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 ofTrans-juba, and would subsequently be referred to asJubaland, which split into two in the mid 1920s.[13]
Garissa has ahot arid climate (Köppen climate classificationBWh), 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 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 56 | 54 | 56 | 59 | 56 | 54 | 55 | 55 | 53 | 54 | 59 | 62 | 56 |
| Mean monthlysunshine 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 dailysunshine 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] | |||||||||||||
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