Mtwapa is a town located 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. ...

Kilifi County Kilifi County is a County Located in the Kenyan coast. It was formed in 2010 as a result of a merger of Kilifi District and Malindi District, Kenya. Its capital is Kilifi and its largest town is Malindi . The county had a population of 1,45 ...

. It is situated north of

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

on the Mombasa-Malindi road. It is close to the Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve and

Jumba la Mtwana Jumba la Mtwana is the site of historical structures and archaeological relics on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, lying close to the Mtwapa Creek, in Kilifi county, north of Mombasa. It dates back to the fourteenth century. Its features incl ...

. Two informal settlements in Mtwapa, Majengo and Mzambarauni, are participating in the

UN-HABITAT The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settleme ...

Participatory Slum Upgrading Program. It is run by resident committees and aims to provide every household with drinking water and a toilet. Mtwapa is also a destination for

sex tourism Sex tourism is the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships, in exchange providing money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...

, including

child sex tourism Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of ''child'' in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "eve ...

. Mtwapa is a cosmopolitan town having a sizeable population of foreign residents and non residents mostly of Caucasian origin. The town is known for a vibrant nightlife. It also hosts a large number of hospitality joints, priced fairly, ranging from lodges, hotels Air BnBs and leased apartments.

Archaeology of Mtwapa

Mtwapa is an important archaeological site along the Swahili coast. First discovered by Emery in the late 19th century, Mtwapa has since been excavated to reveal 64 houses, five mosques, and other unidentified structures. Artifacts found at the site include pottery, iron, beads, and glass from local and long-distance trade. Ancient DNA analysis has been completed for human remains of 39 ancient Mtwapa individuals in order to determine the proportions of "African-like, Persian-like, and Indian-like" DNA sequences. Dating from 1500 to 1700 AD, analysis was completed of the individual's mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal DNA, Y chromosome DNA, and X chromosome DNA. Analysis of mtDNA in the individual, demonstrating maternal ancestry patterns, showed a L* haplotype. The L* haplotype is predominantly found in present-day Sub-Saharan African populations. Y chromosome analysis, demonstrating paternal ancestry patterns, showed that the individual was carrying the J2 haplotype, found more frequently in Southwest Asian or Persian individuals compared to Sub-Saharan African individuals. However, the gene M30d1 was found in some individuals, which is associated with South Asian populations, and the R0+16189 haplotype, which is associated with Saudi Arabian populations. However, this evidence still points to "overwhelmingly from female sources" regarding maternal ancestry. X chromosomes, containing larger maternal influence, were compared with the 22 autosomal chromosomes, which contain equal maternal and paternal influence. X chromosomes contained more indicators of African ancestry compared to autosomal DNA, further adding to evidence of African ancestry on the maternal side and Persian or Southeast Asian ancestry on the paternal side. Introduction of foreign DNA was estimated to have occurred between 708 and 1219 AD. However, the authors indicate that this likely occurred over "multiple generations" and that mixture of Eurasian and African populations has continually occurred since

The population of Mtwapa

The population growth is shown in the following table.

Climate

Mtwapa has a

tropical wet and dry climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''As''). The rainiest months are April, May, June and October–November. Mtwapa climate

Jumba la Mtwana

is the site of archaeological relics, lying close to the Mtwapa Creek. It dates back to the fourteenth century.

In popular culture

Part of the events in the story of 2017 ''"Consummation in Mombasa"'' (by

Andrei Gusev Andrei Evgenievich Gusev (, born 27 October 1952) is a Russian writer and journalist. He is the author of 10 inventions, 23 published scientific works. One of his co-authors is a winner of the Nobel Prize, a legend of the Soviet physics, the acad ...

) takes place in Mtwapa. The plot describes the Catholic wedding in Mombasa of the main characters (Russian writer Andy and the girl Jennifer, who was born in Kenya) and then their life in Mtwapa. ''«Консуммация в Момбасе»''
by

, 2017 .

References