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.