Witu, Kenya

Witu is a small market town in the Lamu County of Kenya, East Africa. Formerly it was the capital of Wituland.

Location
It is 5 km west of the Witu Forest. It is on the Garsen–Witu–Lamu Highway (C-112) between Mkunumbi, 33 km to the east, and Garsen, 44 km to the west. A secondary road leads 21 km south to Kipini on the coast. The coordinates of Witu, Kenya are: 2°23'20.0"S, 40°26'16.0"E (Latitude:-2.388897; Longitude:40.437769). The average elevation of the town is about 22 m.

Population
As of September 2013, the population of the town was estimated at 5,380.

Wituland
Witu was the centre of an inland empire of approximately 3000 km2. It was inhabited by slaves fleeing the Zanzibar slave trade, and was thus a target of attacks from the Sultanate of Zanzibar, circa 1850.