Nairobi is county 047 of Kenya’s 47, and the only one that is a single city. The 2019 census counted 4,397,073 residents across 694.9 km², about 6,328 people per km², far the densest county in Kenya. The name comes from the Maasai Enkare Nyirobi, “place of cool waters”, after the river the city was built beside.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | City-county and national capital |
| County code | 047 |
| Population (2019 census) | 4,397,073 |
| Area | 694.9 km² |
| Former province | Nairobi |
| Constituencies | 17 |
| Wards | 85 |
| Main languages | Swahili, English, Kikuyu, Sheng |
Estates and Neighbourhoods in Nairobi County
Nairobi has no rural towns. It is divided into 17 constituencies, which double as its sub-counties, and 85 wards below them. Day to day, residents locate themselves by estate rather than by ward. The table gives the 17 constituencies with the areas each covers, and the list below it names 250 of the 269 mapped estates, neighbourhoods and settlements in the county.
| Constituency | Main areas |
|---|---|
| Westlands | Westlands, Parklands, Highridge, Kangemi, Mountain View |
| Dagoretti North | Kilimani, Kawangware, Gatina, Kileleshwa |
| Dagoretti South | Mutuini, Ngando, Riruta, Uthiru, Waithaka |
| Lang’ata | Karen, Nairobi West, South C, Nyayo Highrise |
| Kibra | Laini Saba, Makina, Woodley, Sarangombe, Lindi |
| Roysambu | Zimmerman, Githurai, Kahawa, Roysambu |
| Kasarani | Clay City, Mwiki, Kasarani, Njiru, Ruai |
| Ruaraka | Baba Dogo, Utalii, Mathare North, Korogocho, Lucky Summer |
| Embakasi South | Imara Daima, Kwa Njenga, Kware, Pipeline, Kwa Reuben |
| Embakasi North | Kariobangi North, Dandora |
| Embakasi Central | Kayole, Komarock, Matopeni |
| Embakasi East | Upper Savannah, Mihango, Embakasi, Utawala |
| Embakasi West | Umoja, Mowlem, Kariobangi South |
| Makadara | Maringo, Harambee, Viwandani, Makongeni |
| Kamukunji | Pumwani, Eastleigh, Airbase, California |
| Starehe | Nairobi Central, Ngara, Pangani, Ziwani, Landimawe |
| Mathare | Mabatini, Huruma, Ngei, Mlango Kubwa, Kiamaiko |
- Adams Arcade
- Air Base
- Airport North
- Airport View
- Akiba South ’C’
- Amboseli
- Area Four
- Area One
- Area Three
- Area Two
- Avenue Park
- Ayany
- Baba Dogo
- Bahati
- Banda
- Belle Vue estate
- Bernard
- Bernard Estate
- Bista
- Bomas of Kenya
- Buru Buru 1
- Buru Buru 2
- Buru Buru 3
- Buru Buru 4
- Buru Buru 5
- Carnivore
- Casanova
- Chiromo
- City Estate
- Civil Servants
- Closeburn
- Continental
- Cross Road
- Dagoretti Corner
- Dandora
- Dandora Phase 4
- Doonholm Estate
- Drive-in
- Eastlands
- Eastleigh
- Embakasi
- Embakasi Village
- Evergreen
- Faulkner’s Vlei
- Fedha
- Five Star
- Fort Jesus
- Four A
- Four B
- Friends Court
- Funguo
- Garden
- Gatharaini
- Gatwekera
- Getathuru
- Gigiri
- Gikomba
- Githurai
- Golden Gate
- Golf Course Estate
- Gorofani
- Greenfield
- Halai
- Harambee Estate
- Hardy
- Hazina
- High Ridge
- Highway
- Hill View
- Hurma
- Huruma B
- Huruma Flats
- Ideal Farm
- Imara Daima Estate
- Jacaranda
- Jambo
- Jamhuri
- Jamhuri Estate
- Jeevanjee
- Jericho
- K.P.A.
- Kagondo
- Kahawa
- Kaloleni
- Kambi Muru
- Kamukunji
- Kamulu
- Kangemi
- Kanyongo
- Karanja
- Karen
- Kariobangi
- Kariobangi North
- Kariobangi South
- Kariokor
- Karura
- Kasarani
- Kawangware
- Kayaba
- Kayole
- Kegwa
- Kegwa Ridge
- Kenya Pipe Line
- Kenya Re
- Kiamaiko
- Kianda
- Kibera Estate
- Kileleshwa
- Kilimani
- Kilimani Estate
- Kimathi Estate
- Kirigu
- Kisumu Ndogo
- Koma Rock 1
- Koma Rock 2
- Koma Rock 3
- Kongo soweto
- Korogocho
- Kosovo
- Kuwinda
- Kwangwari
- Kyuna Estate
- Laini Saba
- Lake View
- Lang'ata
- Lavington Estate
- Lenana
- Lindi
- Lone Tree
- Loresho
- Lucky Summer
- Lumumba Estate
- Mabatini
- Madaraka
- Madoya
- Maisha
- Makadara
- Makina
- Makongeni
- Maringo
- Marurui
- Masai
- Mashimoni
- Mathare North
- Mathare Valley
- Mbagathi
- Mbari Ya Njiru
- Mbotela
- Mbugani
- Memon
- Midland Court
- Mika
- Mimosa
- Mitini
- Mlango Kubwa
- Moi
- Moi International Sports Center
- Mombasa Road
- Mountain View
- Mugoya 1
- Mugoya 2
- Mugoya 3
- Mugoya 4
- Mukuru
- Mukuru kwa njenga
- Mutei
- Muthaiga
- Muthaiga North
- Muthurwa
- Mutuini
- Mwimuto
- Mwitu
- Nairobi
- Nairobi Dam
- Nairobi Hill
- Nairobi Industrial Area
- Nairobi South ’C’
- Nairobi West
- Ndumbuini
- New Loresho
- New Mathare
- New Muthaiga
- New Runda
- Ngando
- Ngara
- Ngei
- Ngei 2
- Ngei One
- Ngei Two B
- Ngummo
- Number Ten
- Nyari
- Nyayo Highrise
- Ofafa
- Olympic
- Onyonka
- Orchard
- Otiende estate
- Outer Ring Road estate
- Pangani
- Park Grange
- Park Place
- Park View
- Pioneer
- Plains View
- Pumwani
- Racecourse
- Raila
- Real
- Realty
- Rhino Park
- Ridgeways
- Ridgeways Springs
- Riruta
- Riruta Satellite
- Riverbank
- Riverside Park
- Rosslyn
- Rowallan Park
- Roysambu
- Ruai
- Ruaraka Estate
- Rubia
- Ruby
- Runda
- Ruthimitu
- Saifee Park
- Saint Francis
- Santack
- Sauti
- Savannah
- Shauri Moyo
- Silanga
- Siwaka
- South ’B’
- South ’C’
- Southend
- Southlands Park
- Soweto East
- Soweto West
- Spring Valley Estate
- St. Austin’s
- Starehe
- Sunrise
- Sunview
- Tena
- Thayu
- Thompson Estate
- Thomson
- Three A
Geography
Nairobi sits at about 1,795 m on the edge of the Athi plains, where the highlands drop away to the south-east. The land tilts from around 1,900 m in the wooded western suburbs to about 1,500 m in the eastern estates. That tilt sets the city’s pattern: cooler, wetter and greener in the west, hotter and drier in the east.
The Nairobi, Ngong, Mathare and Gitathuru rivers cross the county eastwards to the Athi. Nairobi National Park covers 117 km² on the southern boundary, unfenced on its southern side so that wildlife still moves between the park and the Athi–Kapiti plains. Karura and Ngong Road forests are the other large green blocks. Rainfall averages about 900 mm a year, in two seasons.
Nairobi borders three counties: Kiambu County to the north and west, Machakos County to the east and Kajiado County to the south and south-west.
Demographics
The 2019 KNBS census recorded 4,397,073 residents, roughly one Kenyan in eleven, at about 6,328 people per km². Density is wildly uneven: Kibra, Mathare, Mukuru and the Eastlands estates hold tens of thousands of people per km², while Karen, Runda and Muthaiga are low-density suburbs on large plots.
Nairobi is Kenya’s most mixed county, with substantial communities from every part of the country and long-established Somali, South Asian and expatriate populations. Swahili and English are the working languages, and Sheng — the Swahili-English city vernacular that developed in the Eastlands estates — is spoken widely by younger residents. The county’s age profile is young, and net in-migration still drives most of its growth.
Economy and Local Life
Nairobi produces a large share of Kenya’s economic output and is the financial centre for the wider region. Banking, insurance, telecommunications, media, law and consultancy cluster in the central business district, Upper Hill and Westlands. The United Nations Office at Nairobi in Gigiri is one of only four UN headquarters worldwide and anchors a large diplomatic and NGO sector.
Manufacturing runs along the Industrial Area and Mombasa Road: food processing, packaging, pharmaceuticals, cement and assembly. Trade is concentrated in the markets — Gikomba for second-hand clothing, Wakulima and Marikiti for produce, Kariokor and Toi for crafts and clothes. Tourism runs on the national park, the Giraffe Centre, the Karen Blixen Museum and the National Museum, and on the city’s role as the gateway to Kenya’s safari circuits.
History
Nairobi began in 1899 as a supply depot and railhead camp on the Uganda Railway. The site was chosen as the last level, well-watered ground before the climb to the Rift escarpment. It replaced Mombasa as capital of the East Africa Protectorate in 1907, was granted city status in 1950, and became the capital of independent Kenya in 1963.
Its boundaries have been extended repeatedly, most substantially in 1963, and the 2010 constitution converted the old Nairobi Province into a county with the same limits. The colonial city was zoned by race, and that zoning still shapes it. The western suburbs are low-density, on large plots. The gridded Eastlands estates were laid out for African workers from the 1920s onward.
Getting There
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, on the south-eastern edge of the county, is East Africa’s busiest passenger airport. Wilson Airport, off Lang’ata Road, handles domestic and charter flights to the safari airstrips and to the coast.
The standard gauge railway runs from Nairobi Terminus at Syokimau to Mombasa and west to Suswa. Nairobi Central Station serves the older metre-gauge commuter lines to Ruiru, Thika, Embakasi, Kikuyu and Athi River. By road, the A8 runs west to Naivasha and Nakuru and east as Mombasa Road, and the A2 Thika Superhighway runs north. The Southern, Eastern and Northern bypasses carry through traffic around the city. The Nairobi Expressway, opened in 2022, runs 27 km above Mombasa Road and Waiyaki Way between the airport and Westlands.
FAQ
Is Nairobi a county?
Yes. Nairobi is county 047, a city-county with no rural districts. It is Kenya’s capital and its most populous county.
How many wards and constituencies does Nairobi have?
Nairobi has 17 constituencies, which also serve as its sub-counties, and 85 wards.
What is the population of Nairobi County?
The 2019 census counted 4,397,073 residents in 694.9 km², about 6,328 people per km².
What are the main estates in Nairobi?
This page lists 250 of the 269 mapped estates and neighbourhoods, from Buru Buru, Umoja and Kayole in the east to Karen, Runda and Lavington in the west.
Which counties border Nairobi?
Kiambu to the north and west, Machakos to the east, and Kajiado to the south and south-west.
What does the name Nairobi mean?
It comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, “place of cool waters”, the name for the river the railway camp was built beside in 1899.