Kitengela
Kitengela | |
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Other Centre | |
Kitengela | |
Nickname(s): Kite | |
![]() ![]() Kitengela Location in Kenya | |
Coordinates: 1°31′S 36°51′E / 1.517°S 36.850°E | |
Country |
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County | Kajiado County |
Population (2009) | |
• Total | 58,167 [1] |
Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Kitengela is a plain in Kenya, located south of capital Nairobi. Kitengela begun as The Kitengela group ranch, made up of 18,292 ha and 214 registered members which was subdivided in 1988 in efforts by the Government to encourage private land ownership in pastoral systems, with the aim of intensifying and commercializing livestock production. After subdivision of the group ranch, land fragmentation and sales have continued at a steady and escalating pace. The human population within the Kitengela area has more than doubled in the last 10 years, from 6548 in 1989 to 17,347 in 1999 to 58,167 in 2009. There is also a town named Kitengela in the area.
Close to Nairobi National Park is also the Kitengela Game Conservation Area populated with buffalo, masai giraffe, black rhino, eland, impala, Grant's and Thomson's gazelle, common and Defassa waterbuck, hippopotamus, common warthog, olive baboon, monkeys and the attendant carnivores - lion, spotted hyena, cheetah, jackals, bat-eared fox and smaller carnivores.
The diversity of species is decreasing in the Kitengela area adjacent to the Nairobi National Park, where land-uses not compatible with wildlife are increasing.
Kitengela town
![](../I/m/Kajiado_County_in_Nairobi_Metro.png)
Kitengela town is located in Kajiado County just 30 kilometers south of Nairobi. The town is part of the Nairobi Metropolitan Area. Kitengela has an urban population of 8378 [2]
Near Kitengela town is the Maasai Ostrich Park, a fairly popular tourist destination 7 km off the Nairobi - Arusha road (A104 road). It is also a place where Jockeys train for Ostrich racing. Ostrich races are held at the farm on Sundays and occasionally at the Ngong Racecourse in Nairobi.
Kitengela is close to Athi River town in Machakos County in the former Eastern Province, while Kitengela belongs to Kajiado County in the former Rift Valley Province. Kitengela is growing quickly and is expanding with residential houses.
See also
- Isinya, a town located south of Kitengela