NAIROBI, the capital of Kenya Colony, British East Africa, 33o m. by railway from Mombasa. It is built on the Athi plains, at the foot of the Kikuyu hills and is 5,452 ft. above sea level.
It commands magnificent views of Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. Pop. (1935) estimated at 50,000, of whom about 5,500 were Euro peans. Nairobi is the seat of the Kenya Legislature and the headquarters of most of the European organizations in the colony. Nearly all the whites are British, and the town has most of the amenities of a European city. Both the standard and the cost of living are high. Laid out on a large scale, Nairobi has many fine private and public buildings, though still in a transitional stage (1929). The main thoroughfares are Government road, where numbers of shops and offices are owned by Indians, and Sixth avenue. The churches include an Anglican cathedral. In Sixth avenue are a cenotaph to the European soldiers who fell in the World War and opposite it a striking memorial, three figures on a single base, to the African troops and carriers who fell in the war. The African memorial was erected in 1928. Parklands is a residential suburb for Europeans. A natural history museum, in
Kirk road, was opened in 1922. The Indian bazaar covers nine acres. The natives occupy a separate location with some 20,000 inhabitants. A branch railway runs to the foot of Mt. Kenya, and from Nairobi there is a motor-road to the navigable Nile at Nimule or Rejaf. This is part of a motor road from Rhodesia to the Sudan (practicable in dry weather). Nairobi is governed by an elected municipality, with separate franchise rolls for Europeans and Indians.
The site of Nairobi was selected as the headquarters of the Uganda railway, and the first buildings were erected in 1899.
For some time nearly all its inhabitants were railway officials and Indian coolies engaged in the construction of the line. In 1902 the surrounding highlands were found to be suitable for European settlement and Nairobi speedily grew in importance; in 1907 the headquarters of the administration were transferred to it from Mombasa. Nairobi had then 35o white inhabitants; in 20 years their number increased ten-ford. An ambitious town planning scheme was adopted in 1927.