Athi River (town)

"Athi River" redirects here. For the river, see Athi-Galana-Sabaki River.

Athi River Mavoko
Municipality
Photo of Athi River
Athi River Location in Kenya
Coordinates:
Country	Kenya
County	Machakos County
Area
• Total	693 km2 (268 sq mi)
Population (2009)
• Total	139,380
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)
Website	mavokomunicipal.or.ke

Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. It is also known as Mavoko. The town hosts Mavoko Municipal Council and headquarters of Mavoko division which is part of Machakos County. It has a total population of 137,211 (2009 census), and is relatively industrialised,with six cement factories located within its vicinity. These include Bamburi Cement, Mombasa Cement, East Africa Portland Cement Company, Savannah Cement, National Cement and Athi River Mining. The town is also a growing residential area due to its proximity to the capital.

Towns in Machakos County

Town	Population (2009)	Rank in Kenya (Population Size)
Kangundo-Tala	218,557	9
Machakos	150,041	13
Athi River	139,380	15
Kathiani	3,365	195
Masii	2,501	211

* 2009 census. Source:

Transport

Athi River has a railway station built in 1920 along the Mombasa - Nairobi line. The Daystar University has a campus in the town. The town is named after Athi, the first part of the Athi-Galana river system.

Athi River town is adjacent to and three kilometers from Kitengela town, but is part of the Machakos County in the former Eastern Province, while Kitengela belongs to Kajiado County in the former Rift Valley Province.

Mavoko was carved off the Nairobi County Council in 1963, when the latter was disbanded. Mavoko municipality has six wards (Athi River West, Katani, Kinanie/Mathani, Makadara, Muthwani and Sophia). All these wards belong to Kathiani constituency, which has a total of ten wards. The remaining four wards are within Masaku County Council.

See also

• Railway stations in Kenya

References

• Daily Nation, 21 August 2000: Town touched by tragedy

External links

• Mavoko Municipal Council