City Africa
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya. It has tall buildings, and right next to the city is a park where lions, giraffes and zebras roam.
Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, sits high in the highlands of East Africa. It began in the late 1890s as a railway camp beside a Maasai water hole called Enkare Nairobi, "Cold Water." Today it is one of the biggest cities in tropical Africa, with Nairobi National Park, full of wild animals, at its edge.
Nairobi, capital of Kenya, lies in the south-central highlands about 1,680 m above sea level and 480 km northwest of Mombasa. Founded as a colonial railway settlement when the railhead arrived in 1899, it became capital of the British East Africa Protectorate in 1905 and of independent Kenya in 1963. Kenya's 2019 census counted 4,397,073 people in Nairobi.
Photo: Daryona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya, in Africa.
It is high up on hilly land. Days are warm and nights are cool. Tall buildings rise in the middle of the city. Wild animals live in a park right next to it.
Nairobi is the capital and biggest city of Kenya, in East Africa. It sits in the highlands of the south-central part of the country, about 1,680 meters above sea level, and about 480 kilometers northwest of Mombasa, Kenya's big port on the Indian Ocean.
Its name comes from a water hole that the Maasai people called Enkare Nairobi, which means "Cold Water." Kenya's 2019 census counted about 4.4 million people in Nairobi. From the top of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, you can see the city's towers stretching toward green land in the distance.
Nairobi lies in Kenya's south-central highlands at about 1,680 m, some 480 km northwest of the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa and just south of the equator. As a center of government it drew a steady stream of migrants from rural Kenya, making it one of the largest cities in tropical Africa; the 2019 census counted 4,397,073 people (Britannica's 2009 figure was 3,133,518).
Nairobi is Kenya's principal industrial center and plays an important role among the states of eastern Africa, hosting the headquarters of regional railway, harbor and airway corporations. Primary products from eastern Africa's agricultural heartland pass through it on their way to export via Mombasa. Its enlarged municipality, expanded under the independence constitution, is run by the Nairobi City Council.
- Country
- Kenya (capital)
- People (2019 census)
- 4,397,073
- Height above sea level
- about 1,680 m
- Name means
- Cold Water (Maasai: Enkare Nairobi)
Famous places
Just outside the city is Nairobi National Park.
Lions, giraffes, zebras and rhinos live there. Inside the park, there is a home for orphaned animals.
Nairobi National Park, just south of the city, was Kenya's first national park, opened in 1946. It covers 117 square kilometers of woods, rolling plains and river valleys, home to lions, gazelles, black rhinoceroses, giraffes, zebras, many kinds of antelope and hundreds of kinds of birds. The Nairobi Animal Orphanage, founded in 1963, is inside the park.
In the city, landmarks include the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, the Parliament Building, City Hall, the law courts, a Roman Catholic cathedral and the Jamia Mosque.
Britannica lists among Nairobi's architectural landmarks the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, the Parliament Building and city hall, the law courts, the Roman Catholic cathedral and the Jamia Mosque, set within a well-planned commercial center.
Nairobi National Park, about 8 km south of the city center, was Kenya's first national park (1946). Its 117 km² lie at 1,500–1,800 m, with thick woods near the city, rolling plains and valleys, and a wooded meeting of several rivers, covered in dry transitional savanna of acacias, muhuhu, Cape chestnut and Kenya olive. Lions, gazelles, black rhinoceroses, giraffes, antelopes and zebras live there with numerous reptiles and hundreds of bird species; only migration routes into the nearby Ngong Reserve keep wildlife at its present levels. The Nairobi Animal Orphanage (1963) lies within the park.
- Nairobi National Park
- Kenya's first national park, 1946
- Park area
- 117 km²
- Nairobi Animal Orphanage
- founded 1963, inside the park
From railway camp to capital
Long ago, Nairobi was a place with a cool water hole.
Then people built a railway, and a camp grew beside it. Shops and offices came. The camp became a town, then a big city, then the capital of Kenya.
Nairobi is a young city. It began in the late 1890s as a railway settlement next to a Maasai water hole called Enkare Nairobi. When the railway reached the spot in 1899, the British colonial government moved a regional capital there, and in 1905 Nairobi became the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate.
From about 1900, a small Indian bazaar made Nairobi a trading center. It became a town in 1919 and a city in 1954. When Kenya became independent in 1963, Nairobi stayed the capital.
Nairobi originated in the late 1890s as a colonial railway settlement named after the Maasai water hole Enkare Nairobi. When the railhead arrived in 1899, the British capital of Ukamba province was moved here from Machakos (now Masaku), and in 1905 Nairobi became capital of the British East Africa Protectorate. A small Indian bazaar, established about 1900, made it a trading center as well.
As a governmental center it drew migrants from rural Kenya. It was declared a municipality in 1919 and granted city status in 1954. At independence in 1963 it remained the capital, and the new constitution expanded its municipal area into an independent unit governed by the Nairobi City Council. The 2019 census population, 4,397,073, was more than double the 2,143,254 of 1999.
Getting around Nairobi
Nairobi began with a railway, and trains still matter here.
Big roads lead to the sea and to other countries. Airplanes fly from a large airport near the city.
Nairobi grew up around the railway, and the railways are still the city's largest single industrial employer. Roads and railways run southeast to the port of Mombasa and south to Tanzania, and northwest through the highlands to Lake Victoria and Uganda.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, about 15 kilometers from the city, is one of the main international airports in Africa.
Nairobi is well served by roads and railways: the main routes run southeast and south to Mombasa and Tanzania and northwest via the highlands to Lake Victoria and Uganda. The railways are the largest single industrial employer, a legacy of the city's origin as a railhead, and Nairobi is the headquarters of regional railway, harbor and airway corporations.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, about 15 km from the city, is one of Africa's chief international airports. Goods from the surrounding agricultural heartland are routed through the city before export through Mombasa, 480 km away on the coast.
- Airport
- Jomo Kenyatta International, about 15 km from the city
- Main routes
- to Mombasa and Tanzania, and to Lake Victoria and Uganda
- Largest single industrial employer
- the railways
Weather and seasons
Nairobi is warm in the day and cool at night, all year.
It has two rainy times. The big rains come in April and May. Shorter rains come in November.
Nairobi is close to the equator, but its days are warm rather than very hot all year, from about 21 °C in July to about 26 °C in February and March, and nights are cool, about 10 to 14 °C.
Nairobi has two rainy seasons. The "long rains" peak in April and May, when more than 170 millimeters can fall in a month, and the "short rains" come in November and December. July and August are the driest and coolest months.
World Meteorological Organization normals for Nairobi (the averaging period is not stated) give mean daily maxima and minima of 24.5 °C and 11.5 °C in January and 20.6 °C and 10.1 °C in July, the coolest month; the warmest days, about 25.6 °C, come in February and March.
Monthly totals add up to about 1,024 mm in two seasons: the long rains peaking in April (219 mm over 16 rain days) and May (177 mm), and the short rains in November (154 mm) and December (101 mm). July is the driest month, at about 18 mm.
- January, average daily high and low
- about 25 °C and 12 °C
- July, average daily high and low
- about 21 °C and 10 °C
- Rain in a year
- about 1,024 mm
Living in Nairobi
Nairobi has a big university, a library and a national theater.
Families visit a museum about nature. They watch plays at the national theater. They visit the park to see wild animals.
Nairobi is a city of learning. The University of Nairobi began in 1956 as the Royal Technical College of East Africa, and the city also has the Kenya National Archives, the McMillan Memorial Library and the Kenya National Theatre. The National Museum of Kenya shows natural history.
Many people work in government, on the railways, in factories that make drinks and processed foods, and in tourism; Nairobi National Park is a popular attraction. To learn how children in Nairobi spend their school days, explore A school day in Nairobi.
Nairobi's higher education includes the University of Nairobi (founded in 1956 as the Royal Technical College of East Africa), Kenyatta University College (1972, originally part of the University of Nairobi), Kenya Polytechnic University College (1961) and the Kenya Institute of Administration (1961). Cultural institutions include the Kenya National Archives, the National Museum of Kenya (natural history), the McMillan Memorial Library and the Kenya National Theatre.
As Kenya's principal industrial center, the city's light-manufacturing industries produce beverages, cigarettes and processed food; tourism, drawn in part by Nairobi National Park, is also important, and the railways remain the largest single industrial employer. Migration from across Kenya has made it one of the largest cities in tropical Africa.
- University of Nairobi
- founded 1956 as the Royal Technical College of East Africa
- National Museum of Kenya
- natural history
- Light industries
- drinks and processed foods, among others
Nairobi on the map
Find Nairobi on the globe.
Look for Kenya, on the east side of Africa. Nairobi is in the south of Kenya, very close to the equator, the line around the middle of the Earth.
Nairobi is in south-central Kenya, in East Africa, at about 1.3° south of the equator. Mombasa and the Indian Ocean are about 480 kilometers to the southeast.
Routes run from Nairobi south to Tanzania and northwest across the highlands to Lake Victoria and Uganda. Nairobi National Park lies just south of the city center.
Nairobi lies at about 1.3° S and 36.8° E in Kenya's south-central highlands, about 480 km northwest of Mombasa. The city sits near eastern Africa's agricultural heartland, which made it a collecting point for exports bound for the coast.
Nairobi National Park, about 8 km south of the center, keeps its wildlife through migration routes to the Ngong Reserve; the international airport lies about 15 km from the center, to the southeast. The main transport corridors follow the old railway: southeast to Mombasa and northwest through the highlands toward Lake Victoria and Uganda.
- Latitude
- about 1.3° south
- Longitude
- about 36.8° east
- Distance to Mombasa
- about 480 km
Amazing facts
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Nairobi's name means cold water.
Nairobi is named after a water hole that the Maasai people called Enkare Nairobi, "Cold Water."
The city takes its name from Enkare Nairobi ('Cold Water'), a water hole known to the Maasai, where a railway settlement grew in the late 1890s.
-
Lions live in a park right next to Nairobi.
Nairobi National Park, Kenya's first national park, is home to lions, giraffes, zebras and black rhinoceroses, just south of the city.
Kenya's first national park (1946) lies only about 8 km from central Nairobi and shelters lions, gazelles, black rhinoceroses, giraffes, antelopes and zebras.
-
Nairobi has a home for orphan animals.
The Nairobi Animal Orphanage, founded in 1963, is inside Nairobi National Park.
The Nairobi Animal Orphanage was founded in 1963 within the national park, whose headquarters are in the city.
-
Nairobi started as a railway camp.
Nairobi began as a railway settlement. The railways are still the city's largest single industrial employer.
Founded as a colonial railway settlement when the railhead arrived in 1899, Nairobi still counts the railways as its largest single industrial employer.
Words to know
- capital
- the city where a country's government meets
- highlands
- high, hilly land
- railhead
- the farthest point a railway has reached while it is being built
- national park
- an area protected by a country's government for nature and wildlife
- savanna
- a warm grassland with scattered trees
- equator
- an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
- orphanage
- a home that cares for young ones who have lost their parents
Discovery challenge
-
Which country is Nairobi the capital of?
Nairobi is the capital of which country?
Since independence in 1963, Nairobi has been the capital of which country?
- Kenya
- Egypt
- Brazil
Show the answer
Kenya
Kenya, in East Africa!
Kenya. Nairobi is its biggest city.
Kenya; Nairobi had been the protectorate capital since 1905.
-
What does the name Nairobi mean?
Nairobi is named after a Maasai water hole. What does Enkare Nairobi mean?
What does Enkare Nairobi, the Maasai name of the water hole that gave the city its name, mean?
- Cold Water
- Red Mountain
- Big River
Show the answer
Cold Water
Cold Water!
Cold Water.
'Cold Water.'
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How did Nairobi begin?
Nairobi began in the late 1890s as a settlement built around what?
What arrived at Nairobi in 1899, leading the colonial government to move a provincial capital there?
- A railway
- A canal
- A castle
Show the answer
A railway
A railway! A camp grew beside it.
A railway. The railways are still a big employer.
The railhead; Ukamba's capital moved from Machakos.
-
Which animals live in the park next to Nairobi?
Which of these animals lives in Nairobi National Park?
Which large mammal, listed by Britannica among the park's residents, lives in Nairobi National Park?
- Black rhinoceros
- Polar bear
- Kangaroo
Show the answer
Black rhinoceros
Rhinos! And lions, giraffes and zebras too.
The black rhinoceros, along with lions, giraffes and zebras.
The black rhinoceros, with lions, gazelles, giraffes, antelopes and zebras.
-
When are the biggest rains in Nairobi?
When do Nairobi's 'long rains' usually peak?
In which months do WMO normals show Nairobi's wettest season?
- April and May
- July and August
- January and February
Show the answer
April and May
April and May!
April and May. The short rains come in November and December.
April (219 mm) and May (177 mm).
Nearby places
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa, 5,199 meters tall, standing just south of the Equator in central Kenya. It is an old volcano that stopped erupting millions of years ago and has been carved by glaciers into sharp rocky peaks. Its slopes climb through farms, forests, bamboo and strange giant plants up to small, shrinking glaciers.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a huge valley that runs through East Africa, where the continent is slowly being stretched and pulled apart. Long, steep cliffs line its sides, its floor holds lakes full of flamingos, and giant volcanoes such as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya rose beside it. Scientists think a new ocean may one day open here.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro, in northeastern Tanzania, is what UNESCO calls the highest mountain in Africa: its top is 5,895 meters high. It is a huge volcanic mountain standing alone above the plains, and as you climb it you pass through farms, forest, moorland and high alpine desert to its icy top.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania holds the Ngorongoro Crater, a giant bowl about 16 to 20 kilometers across, left when an ancient volcano collapsed about 2.5 million years ago. Around 25,000 large animals live in and around the crater. The area also protects Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli, where scientists have found important evidence of how humans evolved.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania protects 14,763 square kilometers of grassy plains and woodlands. Each year more than a million wildebeest, with zebras and gazelles, travel a great loop across the Serengeti and into Kenya in search of grass and water, followed by lions and other predators.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, and Britannica says only Lake Superior, in North America, is a bigger freshwater lake. It is shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The lake is wide but shallow, its only outlet is the Nile, and it is home to hundreds of kinds of colorful fish called cichlids.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Virunga National Park
Virunga National Park, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was founded in 1925; the park describes itself as Africa's first national park. It stretches from active volcanoes in the south to the snowy Rwenzori Mountains in the north. About one third of the world's mountain gorillas live in its forests, along with elephants, hippos, chimpanzees and hundreds of kinds of birds.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo is a steep volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the border with Rwanda and just north of Lake Kivu. It is 3,470 meters high, and its deep summit crater often holds a lake of bubbling lava. Its lava is very runny, and eruptions in 1977, 2002 and 2021 sent lava flowing down its sides toward the city of Goma.
Explore next
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Watch
Country
Kenya
Kenya is a country in East Africa, crossed by the equator. It has the snow-capped Mount Kenya, the deep Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria and a long Indian Ocean coast, and about 54 million people live there, many of them speaking Swahili.
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Watch
Life around the world
A school day in Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. Children start school with two years of pre-primary, learn English and Kiswahili, study subjects such as mathematics and science, and in many public primary schools eat a lunch cooked fresh in the county's central kitchens.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa, 5,199 meters tall, standing just south of the Equator in central Kenya. It is an old volcano that stopped erupting millions of years ago and has been carved by glaciers into sharp rocky peaks. Its slopes climb through farms, forests, bamboo and strange giant plants up to small, shrinking glaciers.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a huge valley that runs through East Africa, where the continent is slowly being stretched and pulled apart. Long, steep cliffs line its sides, its floor holds lakes full of flamingos, and giant volcanoes such as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya rose beside it. Scientists think a new ocean may one day open here.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa, and Britannica says only Lake Superior, in North America, is a bigger freshwater lake. It is shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The lake is wide but shallow, its only outlet is the Nile, and it is home to hundreds of kinds of colorful fish called cichlids.
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Watch
3D
Animal
Lion
The lion is the only big cat that lives in a family group, called a pride. Lionesses hunt together, males guard the pride's land, and their roar can be heard about 8 kilometers away. Wild lions live in Africa, plus one small group in western India.
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Watch
Animal
Black rhinoceros
The black rhinoceros is the smaller of Africa's two rhinos. It has two horns and a pointed, hooked upper lip that it uses to pick leaves and twigs from bushes. It is Critically Endangered, but thanks to rangers and conservationists its numbers have been climbing again.
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Watch
City
Cairo
Cairo, the capital of Egypt, has stood on the banks of the Nile for more than 1,000 years, where the river spreads out into its delta. Founded in 969, it has a medieval old city full of historic mosques and markets, the Egyptian Museum and, at its edge, the Pyramids of Giza. It is one of the largest cities in Africa.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Nairobi in the highlands of Kenya, just south of the equator.
- Explain how a railway helped a small camp grow into a capital city.
- Describe a climate with two rainy seasons.
- Discuss how a city and a national park can sit side by side.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Nairobi is close to the equator but not very hot. Why might height above the sea make a place cooler?
- Wild animals live right next to a city of millions. What would be good or hard about that?
- Nairobi grew because of a railway. What made your town grow?
Try at home or in class
- Draw a map of a pretend city with a railway line, then add the shops, homes and offices that might grow along it.
- Make a rainfall bar chart for Nairobi's two rainy seasons using strips of blue paper.
Key vocabulary: capital, highlands, railhead, national park, savanna, equator, orphanage
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Nairobi , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Nairobi National Park , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Kenya's population census results at a glance , Nation (Nairobi), reporting the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
- Nairobi: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.