Laikipia District is one of the seventy-one districts of Kenya, located on the Equator in the Rift Valley Province of the country. The district has two major urban centres: Nanyuki to the southeast, and Nyahururu to the southwest. Its capital is Nanyuki.
The Kikuyu form about 60% of the population, with the balance composed of several other ethnic communities, including Laikipia Maasai, Samburu, Meru, Borana, Kalenjin, Somali, European, Asian, and Turkana, giving the district a diverse population. Most of the land is owned by a small population of old Kenyan settler families, and increasingly non-Kenyan wealthy landowners and international organizations..
Economic activity in the district consists mainly of tourism and agriculture, chiefly grain crops, ranching and greenhouse horticulture.
The district has a cool, temperate climate with both rainy and dry seasons.
| Local authorities (councils) | |||
| Authority | Type | Population* | Urban pop.* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nanyuki | Municipality | 39,838 | 31,577 |
| Nyahururu | Municipality | 32,120 | 24,751 |
| Rumuruti | Town | 31,649 | 4,249 |
| Laikipia | County | 218,580 | 3,610 |
| Total | - | 322,187 | 64,187 |
| * 1999 census. Source: [1] | |||
| Administrative divisions | |||
| Division | Population* | Urban pop.* | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central | 77,478 | 28,489 | Nanyuki |
| Lamuria | 38,517 | 0 | Lamuria |
| Mukogondo | 13,176 | 624 | Dol Dol |
| Ngarua | 65,545 | 2,813 | Kinamba |
| Nyahururu | 37,412 | 22,459 | Nyahururu |
| Olmoran | 11,069 | 0 | |
| Rumuruti | 78,894 | 4,061 | Rumuruti |
| Total | 322,187 | 58,466 | - |
| * 1999 census. Sources: [2], [3], | |||
The district has two constituencies: