Kijabe is a town in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Etymology

The name Kijabe likely derives from the Maasai 'Donyo Kejabe' meaning 'Gold mountain'.

Description

It stands on the edge of the

Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley () is a series of contiguous geographic depressions, approximately 6,000 or in total length, the definition varying between sources, that runs from the southern Turkish Hatay Province in Asia, through the Red Sea, to Moz ...

at an altitude of 2200m, some 50 kilometres north-west of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. Kijabe is located in the sub-county of Lari,

Kiambu County Kiambu County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kiambu and its largest town is Thika town. Kiambu County is the second most populous county in Kenya after Nairobi County. Kiambu County borders Nairobi and Kaji ...

. Kijabe had a population of 2,026 people in 2019. Kijabe has a railway station along the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

. The town is located between

Limuru Limuru is a town in central Kenya. It serves as both a parliamentary constituency and an administrative division. As of 2004, the town's population was approximately 4,800, which significantly increased to 159,314 by the 2019 census. Location Li ...

and

Naivasha Naivasha is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya, north west of Nairobi. From 1969, the population expanded by a factor of 17 times to over 355,383 at the 2019 census. It is situated on the shores of Lake Naivasha, from which it takes its name. The ...

. There are actually two places called Kijabe. Kijabe Town is located approximately 2 km north-west of Kijabe Mission Station. Kijabe Town is the closest settlement to the Railway Station of the same name and is a community of small land holders. Kijabe

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

is the home of Kijabe Hospital, AIC-CURE International Children's Hospital of Kenya, Moffatt Bible College, Kijabe Youth Charity initiative, a group that helps the less privileged in the society, and Rift Valley Academy, a school for children of missionaries, expats, and Kenyan Nationals established in 1906 and Kijabe Guesthouse.

History

Kijabe is a town in the lands of the

Maasai people The Maasai (;) are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region.

. During British colonial times, it served a

. However in recent times, it has been turned into a medical community.

References

External links

*http://www.kijabe.org *https://web.archive.org/web/20110725095331/http://www.kijabeguesthouse.org/ Kiambu County Populated places in Central Province (Kenya) {{CentralKE-geo-stub