Coast Province

Province of Kenya

Province in Kenya

Coast Province Mkoa wa Pwani
Province

Location in Kenya. Location in Kenya.
Coordinates: 3°0′S 39°30′E / 3.000°S 39.500°E / -3.000; 39.500
Country	Kenya
No. of Counties:	6
Capital	Mombasa
Area
• Total	79,686.1 km² (30,767.0 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	3,325,307
• Density	42/km² (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (EAT)

A map of Kenya showing its provinces

The Coast Province (Swahili: Mkoa wa Pwani) was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It covered the entire country's coastline on the Indian Ocean. Its capital city was Mombasa. It was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili peoples, among others. The province covered an area of 79,686.1 km² .^[1]

Tourist attraction

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Some of the province's important towns included Kilifi, Malindi, Watamu and Lamu in the north, and Mwandimu and Magunda in the south. Some of the coastal population was located in resort and beach settlements such as Kiongwe and Kipini.

Diani Beach was one of the province's major tourist centres, with palm trees and white sandy beaches like Mombasa.

Malindi is where Vasco da Gama picked up his pilot to navigate with the monsoon winds to India; Mambrui appears to be the site where contact occurred with the Chinese during the era of the Yongle Emperor and the expeditions of Zheng He.^[2]

Watamu is a small fishing community and contains East Africa's first marine national park, the Watamu Marine National Park.

Population data

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The Coast Provinces had a population of 3,325,307 in 2009.^[1]

Climate

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The climate is designated as Aw in the Köppen climate classification system.^[3]

Economy

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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2023)

Mining

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Kwale mine

Separatism

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In 1999, the Mombasa Republican Council was formed, with the goal of engineering the Coast Province's secession from Kenya.^[4]^[5]

Dissolution

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In 2010, a new constitution came into effect which divided Kenya's 8 provinces into 47 counties. The Coast Province was divided into six: Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, and Taita–Taveta counties.