Eastern Province (Kenya)
The Eastern Province of Kenya was one of 8 Provinces of Kenya. Its northern boundary ran along with that of Ethiopia; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lay to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province, ran along its western border. The provincial capital was Embu.
Overview
On 16 July 2009, the province was sub-divided into three: Lower Eastern with Machakos as headquarters, Central Eastern with Embu as headquarters, and Upper Eastern with Marsabit as headquarters; however, those changes never took effect due to the political wrangles in the Kenyan coalition government at the time. The sub-division of provinces was carried out in seven provinces of Kenya, excluding Nairobi. As of March 2013 after the Kenyan general election, 2013, the Eastern Province was subdivided into eight counties, namely:| Code | County | Area | Population census 2009 | Capital |
| 10 | Marsabit | 66,923.1 | 291,166 | Marsabit |
| 11 | Isiolo | 25,336.1 | 143,294 | Isiolo |
| 12 | Meru | 7,003 | 1,356,301 | Meru |
| 13 | Tharaka-Nithi | 2,609.5 | 365,330 | Chuka |
| 14 | Embu | 2,555.9 | 516,212 | Embu |
| 15 | Kitui | 24,385.1 | 1,012,709 | Kitui |
| 16 | Machakos | 5,952.9 | 1,098,584 | Machakos |
| 17 | Makueni | 8,008.9 | 884,527 | Wote |
| Totals | 140,698.6 | 5,668,123 | - |
The province was principally inhabited by the Meru, Kamba, Embu, and several pastoralist communities. In 1979, its population was 2.7 million; in 1999, 4,631,779 and in 2009 the province would have had a population of 5,668,123. In terms of area, it was the second largest province at in Kenya.