Garissa

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

title: "Garissa" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["garissa", "populated-places-in-garissa-county", "county-capitals-in-kenya", "tana-river-(kenya)"] topic_path: "general/garissa" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garissa" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameGarissa
native_nameGaarrisa
settlement_typeTown
image_skylineAlmond_Resort,_Garissa.jpg
image_captionThe Almond Resort in Garissa.
pushpin_mapKenya#Horn of Africa#Africa
pushpin_map_captionLocation within Kenya##Location within the Horn of Africa##Location within Africa
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameKenya
subdivision_type1County
subdivision_name1Garissa County
unit_prefMetric
population_as_of2019
population_urban163,399
population_total450,399
timezoneEAT
utc_offset+3
coordinates
::

| official_name = Garissa | other_name = | native_name = Gaarrisa | nickname = | settlement_type = Town | motto = | image_skyline = Almond_Resort,_Garissa.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = The Almond Resort in Garissa. | image_flag = | flag_size = | image_seal = | seal_size = | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Kenya#Horn of Africa#Africa | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Kenya##Location within the Horn of Africa##Location within Africa | pushpin_relief = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Kenya | subdivision_type1 = County | subdivision_name1 = Garissa County | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | established_title = | established_date = | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | population_as_of = 2019 | population_urban = 163,399 | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 450,399 | timezone = EAT | utc_offset = +3 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code = | blank_name = | blank_info = | website = | name =

Garissa ( Arabic: قارسا) is the capital of Garissa County, Kenya. It is situated in the former North Eastern Province.

Geography

The Tana River, which rises in Mount Kenya east of Nyeri, flows through Garissa. The Bour-Algi Giraffe Sanctuary, situated 5 km south of Garissa, is home to endangered wildlife including the Rothschild giraffe, gerenuk and other herbivores including Kirk's dik-dik, lesser kudu, warthog and waterbuck.

Demographics

Most of Garissa's inhabitants are ethnic Somali from the Ogaden.

Economy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Garissa_downtown.jpg" caption="A [[BP]] petrol station in downtown Garissa."] ::

Garissa is a market centre and the commercial hub of the Garissa County. The town has a university, Garissa University College and a number of colleges including Medical College. In December 2019, the Garissa Solar Power Station was inaugurated, providing grid power to Garissa town.

Banks with a presence in Garissa include the Gulf African Bank situated in the Al-Wayf Quran House, the Postbank in the Garissa Shopping Centre, and the First Community Bank (FCB) in the Bajwed Building. Other banks with branches in the city include Absa Bank, Equity Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, National Bank of Kenya, Chase Bank and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.

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. In terms of livestock imports, most of Garissa's cattle comes from cross-border trade between Somali livestock merchants.

2015 terrorist attack

Main article: Garissa University College attack

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. 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.

The Garissa University attack was the second deadliest terrorist attack in Kenyan history since independence (after the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Nairobi, in which 213 people were killed).

Governance

As the capital of Garissa 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. The city is represented by Mohamed Dekow Barow, a Somali Member of Parliament for the Garissa Township Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya. He was elected to the position in the Kenya National Assembly through the UDA Party. During the colonial era, Garissa, as well as other parts of NFD, were collectively conferred to as the British East Africa province of Trans-juba, and would subsequently be referred to as Jubaland, which split into two in the mid 1920s.

Climate

Garissa has a hot arid climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), despite receiving around 375 mm 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 every day, but cools down every night.

|location = Garissa (1991–2020, extremes 1931–present) |single line = yes |metric first = yes |Jan record high C = 43.2 |Feb record high C = 41.0 |Mar record high C = 40.0 |Apr record high C = 40.0 |May record high C = 38.2 |Jun record high C = 36.5 |Jul record high C = 37.5 |Aug record high C = 37.7 |Sep record high C = 39.0 |Oct record high C = 39.0 |Nov record high C = 38.4 |Dec record high C = 38.1 |year record high C = |Jan high C = 35.5 |Feb high C = 36.7 |Mar high C = 37.0 |Apr high C = 35.9 |May high C = 34.5 |Jun high C = 33.1 |Jul high C = 32.3 |Aug high C = 32.6 |Sep high C = 33.8 |Oct high C = 35.0 |Nov high C = 34.3 |Dec high C = 34.3 |year high C = |Jan mean C = 29.5 |Feb mean C = 30.3 |Mar mean C = 30.9 |Apr mean C = 30.4 |May mean C = 29.2 |Jun mean C = 28.0 |Jul mean C = 27.0 |Aug mean C = 27.2 |Sep mean C = 28.0 |Oct mean C = 29.2 |Nov mean C = 29.1 |Dec mean C = 29.0 |year mean C = |Jan low C = 23.3 |Feb low C = 23.9 |Mar low C = 24.9 |Apr low C = 24.9 |May low C = 23.8 |Jun low C = 22.5 |Jul low C = 21.6 |Aug low C = 21.7 |Sep low C = 22.2 |Oct low C = 23.4 |Nov low C = 23.9 |Dec low C = 23.6 |year low C = |Jan record low C = 18.6 |Feb record low C = 17.2 |Mar record low C = 17.5 |Apr record low C = 18.7 |May record low C = 16.6 |Jun record low C = 17.5 |Jul record low C = 15.0 |Aug record low C = 15.0 |Sep record low C = 16.4 |Oct record low C = 17.2 |Nov record low C = 18.6 |Dec record low C = 17.5 |year record low C = |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 11.9 |Feb precipitation mm = 5.5 |Mar precipitation mm = 48.6 |Apr precipitation mm = 89.7 |May precipitation mm = 15.5 |Jun precipitation mm = 5.2 |Jul precipitation mm = 3.4 |Aug precipitation mm = 6.6 |Sep precipitation mm = 8.4 |Oct precipitation mm = 30.0 |Nov precipitation mm = 96.9 |Dec precipitation mm = 51.9 |year precipitation mm = 373.6 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm |Jan precipitation days = 2 |Feb precipitation days = 3 |Mar precipitation days = 4 |Apr precipitation days = 5 |May precipitation days = 2 |Jun precipitation days = 0 |Jul precipitation days = 0 |Aug precipitation days = 2 |Sep precipitation days = 2 |Oct precipitation days = 3 |Nov precipitation days = 4 |Dec precipitation days = 2 |year precipitation days = 29 |Jan humidity = 56 |Feb humidity = 54 |Mar humidity = 56 |Apr humidity = 59 |May humidity = 56 |Jun humidity = 54 |Jul humidity = 55 |Aug humidity = 55 |Sep humidity = 53 |Oct humidity = 54 |Nov humidity = 59 |Dec humidity = 62 |year humidity = 56 |Jan sun = 251.1 |Feb sun = 235.2 |Mar sun = 263.5 |Apr sun = 273.0 |May sun = 282.1 |Jun sun = 255.0 |Jul sun = 254.2 |Aug sun = 257.3 |Sep sun = 270.0 |Oct sun = 279.0 |Nov sun = 252.0 |Dec sun = 241.8 |year sun = 3114.2 |Jand sun = 8.1 |Febd sun = 8.4 |Mard sun = 8.5 |Aprd sun = 9.1 |Mayd sun = 9.1 |Jund sun = 8.5 |Juld sun = 8.2 |Augd sun = 8.3 |Sepd sun = 9.0 |Octd sun = 9.0 |Novd sun = 8.4 |Decd sun = 7.8 |yeard sun = |source 1 = NOAA (precipitation and sun 1961–1990){{Cite FTP | url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG__I/KN/63723.TXT | server = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | title = Garissa Climate Normals 1961-1990 | access-date = July 6, 2015}}{{cite web | url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG__I/KN/63671.TXT | title = Garissa (precipitation data) Climate Normals 1961-1990 | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201101002437/ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG__I/KN/63671.TXT | archive-date = 2020-11-01 | url-status = dead | access-date = July 6, 2015}} |source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity, 1961–1990), | url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_637230_kt.pdf | title = Klimatafel von Garissa / Kenia | work = Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world | publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst | language = de | access-date = August 31, 2016}} Meteo Climat (record highs and lows) | url = http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/index.php?page=stati&id=1762 | title = Station Garissa | publisher = Meteo Climat |language = fr | access-date = August 31, 2016}} |date=July 2015

Notes

References

  1. [https://www.knbs.or.ke/?page_id=3142# ''2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume II: Distribution of Population by Administrative Units'']; retrieved 25 February 2020.
  2. "Kenya Police Service".
  3. "Garissa". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  4. "President Uhuru launches Sh13b solar power plant".
  5. "garissacity.com". garissacity.com.
  6. "Equity Bank Kenya • GARISSA - Branches". equitybank.co.ke.
  7. "Personal".
  8. "National Bank of Kenya". nationalbank.co.ke.
  9. [http://www.co-opbank.co.ke/index.php/branches-a-atms/2012-04-30-07-55-32/upcountry-branches Cooperative Bank of Kenya] {{webarchive. link. (2013-05-09)
  10. [http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/news/sept07/2007060902.htm Government targets Kshs 12 b for development in N. Eastern] {{webarchive. link. (2013-09-28)
  11. "Livestock Farming in Kenya". Farming in Kenya.
  12. "The Governor – Garissa County Government".
  13. Mwangi, Oscar Gakuo. "Jubaland: Somalia’s new security dilemma and state-building efforts." Africa Review 8.2 (2016): 120-132.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

garissapopulated-places-in-garissa-countycounty-capitals-in-kenyatana-river-(kenya)