Taita-Taveta District (formerly Taita District) was a district of Kenya, located in the Coast Province of that country. It lies approximately 200 km northwest of Mombasa and 360 km southeast of Nairobi city.
The district was created by the colonial authorities in 1895 as Taita District, one of the original districts of Ukamba Province of the East Africa Protectorate. It included the Taveta sub-districts. In 1902, the district became part of Seyidiye Province headquartered at Mwatate, then Voi from 1911. In 1914, the Taveta sub-district was occupied by the Germans and was administered as part of the Moshi District of Tanganyika. After its reoccupation by the British in 1916, Taveta sub-district, was rejoined to Taita in 1921, with the entire district rejoining the Ukamba Province, till 1933 when it joined the Coast Province. [1] In 1963, it was one of the forty districts of Kenya.[2] It was later renamed to include 'Taveta'.
The population of the district in the 1980s was approximately 45,000 persons but this has shot up to well over 250,000 persons with population densities ranging from 3 persons per km2. to more than 800 persons per km2. This is due to the varied rainfall and terrain with the lower zones receiving an average of 440 mm of rain per annum and the highland areas receiving up to 1900 mm of rain. The range rises in altitude from 500 m above sea level to almost 2,300 a.s.a at vuria peak which is the highest.
In 2007, the Taita-Taveta District was split into two sub districts: the Taita sub District and the Taveta sub District[3]