47 counties
Every one with a landscape to explore, a story to hear and a song to dance to.
KaribuNairobiMost international visitors land here before going on safari. Nairobi hosts the global headquarters of UN Environment and UN-Habitat and leads East Africa in business, diplomacy and creative work.Where every road starts. 11 places to see.Pwani
The Coast, 6 counties
MilimaTaita-TavetaThe county safeguards much of the Tsavo ecosystem, Kenya's largest protected area. The Taita Hills belong to the Eastern Arc range, with species found nowhere else.
MchangaKwaleKwale protects sacred Mijikenda kaya forests, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. It also guards rich coral reefs on Kenya's southern border.
PwaniMombasaThe Port of Mombasa is East Africa's largest seaport and the gateway for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and eastern DRC. Fort Jesus, begun by the Portuguese in 1593, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
KasaKilifiVasco da Gama landed at Malindi in 1498, and his pillar still stands. Kilifi also holds most of UNESCO's sacred Mijikenda kaya forests.
MtoTana RiverHola was the site of the 1959 Hola Massacre of 11 Mau Mau detainees, a landmark in the independence struggle. The Tana Delta is a Ramsar wetland of international importance.
JahaziLamuLamu Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and East Africa's oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement, lived in for over 700 years.
Milima
Central Kenya, 5 counties
ShambaKiambuFounding President Jomo Kenyatta's ancestral home is at Ichaweri. The 1953 Lari massacre was one of the darkest episodes of the Mau Mau war.
NyumbaniMurang'aKikuyu tradition holds that the community began at Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga. Wangu wa Makeri, the only female Kikuyu headman of colonial times, served here.
McheleKirinyagaThe county grows much of Kenya's rice and guards the southern forests of Mount Kenya, a mountain sacred to the Kikuyu.
KahawaNyeriMau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi was born here. Nyeri is also home to former President Mwai Kibaki and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, and Scouting founder Lord Baden-Powell is buried here.
BaridiNyandaruaAberdare forest caves sheltered Mau Mau fighters, and Sasumua Dam supplies about 12% of Nairobi's water. The county has produced champion runners including John Ngugi, Catherine Ndereba and Samuel Wanjiru.
Nyika
The South Rift, 6 counties
TemboKajiadoAmboseli is one of the world's best places to see free-roaming elephants. Its ecosystem has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1991.
NyikaNarokThe Maasai Mara is Kenya's most famous safari destination and the stage for the Great Migration.
ChanzoBometBomet holds the headwaters of the Mara River, which keeps the Maasai Mara alive. It also launched Kenya's tea tourism experience.
ChaiKerichoKericho is Kenya's best-known tea region, and tea is one of the country's top exports. The town also has Africa's largest Sikh Gurdwara.
BondeNakuruOlkaria opened in 1981 as Africa's first geothermal station. Lakes Nakuru and Elmenteita belong to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
IkwetaLaikipiaPrivate ranches and community conservancies cover more than half the county and support Big Five wildlife outside national parks. Laikipia is a model for conservation on private and community land.
Mabingwa
The North Rift, 8 counties
ShangaSamburuSamburu protects northern Kenya's "Special Five" and runs Africa's first community-owned elephant sanctuary. Its strong Maa culture makes it a cultural-tourism leader.
ChemchemiBaringoLake Bogoria is part of the UNESCO-listed Kenya Lake System and hosts vast flamingo flocks. The Tugen Hills hold important fossil sites.
KimbiaElgeyo-MarakwetIten holds a World Athletics Heritage Plaque as a global training base. Its ancient Marakwet irrigation furrows are on UNESCO's Tentative List.
MabingwaUasin GishuEldoret is famed worldwide as the "Home of Champions" for distance running.
MashujaaNandiNandi has produced legends such as Kipchoge Keino, Eliud Kipchoge, Henry Rono and Bernard Lagat. It is also the land of Koitalel arap Samoei, who led a decade-long resistance to colonial rule.
MahindiTrans-NzoiaIts huge maize harvests make it "Kenya's breadbasket". It also protects rare wetland and montane ecosystems.
UhuruWest PokotKapenguria is where Jomo Kenyatta and fellow nationalists were tried and held. Mount Mtelo is sacred to the Pokot as the cradle of their community.
ZiwaTurkanaThe Lake Turkana basin is the cradle of humankind. It yielded the 1.6-million-year-old Turkana Boy, and stone tools at Lomekwi date back about 3.3 million years.
Mizizi
Eastern Kenya, 8 counties
SanaaMachakosMachakos is one of Kenya's largest county economies and host of Konza, Kenya's planned smart city.
PoriMakueniThe Chyulu Hills are a critical water catchment for Mzima Springs and the coast's water supply.
NgomaKituiAbout 46% of Tsavo East National Park lies in Kitui, and its minerals make it a possible future energy hub.
MvuaEmbuEmbu is Kenya's hydropower giant, home to the Seven Forks dams on the Tana.- MiziziTharaka-NithiIts Mount Kenya forest feeds the Tana River, Kenya's main hydropower source. It also offers the Chogoria route, often called the most beautiful way up Mount Kenya.
MlimaMeruMeru is one of Kenya's largest county economies. Its Njuri Ncheke council of elders is one of the country's best-known traditional institutions.
NjiaIsioloIsiolo is the northern gateway for Kenya's Vision 2030 plans and protects rare species such as Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe.
JangwaMarsabitIts Lake Turkana fossil beds are among the world's most important evidence of human origins. Mount Marsabit's forest is a vital water source in an arid land.
Ngoma
Western Kenya, 4 counties
MaweVihigaVihiga is one of Kenya's most densely populated counties. Quaker missionaries at Kaimosi founded schools that shaped education across Western Kenya.
MsituKakamegaKakamega Forest is the last piece of Kenya's Guineo-Congolian rainforest. The county's Isukuti dance is on UNESCO's list of heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.
NgomeBungomaBungoma is a food and sugar basket for Kenya. Chetambe Fort marks one of the region's defining stands against British colonial forces.
LangoBusiaBusia and Malaba are among Kenya's busiest gateways to Uganda and the Great Lakes region. Kakapel holds some of Kenya's oldest rock art.
Ziwa
Nyanza and the Lake, 6 counties
JiweKisiiKisii soapstone is one of Kenya's best-known craft exports, and the fertile highlands feed the Lake Region.
NdiziNyamiraNyamira is a productive tea highland and holds sites central to Abagusii origins and resistance to colonial rule.
UkutaMigoriMigori holds Thimlich Ohinga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is Kenya's main southern gateway to Tanzania.
KisiwaHoma BayHoma Bay protects Kenya's last roan antelope in Ruma National Park and holds world-class fossil and rock-art sites on its islands.
SamakiKisumuAs the former Port Florence at the end of the Uganda Railway, Kisumu is Kenya's gateway to Lake Victoria and the anchor of Lake Region trade.
AsiliSiayaSiaya is the ancestral home of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Raila Odinga and Barack Obama Sr, drawing visitors interested in Kenyan and world political history.
Ngamia
North Eastern Kenya, 3 counties
NgamiaGarissaGarissa is the gateway and market town of the north-east. It is the last stronghold of the critically endangered hirola antelope.
KisimaWajirWajir holds much of the north's herds and heritage. Its museum keeps the history of northern Kenya's communities.
MpakaManderaMandera links Kenya to its Ethiopian and Somali borderlands. Malka Mari National Park protects desert species found almost nowhere else in Kenya.
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