๐ฐ๐ช Mombasa is a coastal city in south-east Kenya along the Indian Ocean. The city is known as the white and blue city in Kenya. It is the country's oldest and second-largest city. Its metropolitan region is the second-largest in the country.
Mombasa's location on the Indian Ocean made it a historical trading centre, and it has been controlled by many countries because of its strategic location. Kenyan school history books place the founding of Mombasa as 900 A.D. It must have been already a prosperous trading town in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer al-Idrisi mentions it in 1151. The oldest stone mosque in Mombasa, Mnara, was built c. 1300. The Mandhry Mosque, built in 1570, has a minaret that contains a regionally specific ogee arch.
In the late pre-colonial period, it was the metropolis of a plantation society, which became dependent on slave labour based around the ivory trade. Throughout the early modern period, Mombasa was a key node in the complex and far reaching Indian Ocean trading networks; its key exports then were ivory, millet, sesamum and coconuts.
Today, Mombasa is a tourism-based town, home to one of the state houses, with an extra-large port and an international airport.
1Economy Mombasa is an important economic centre in Kenya. In addition to the coffee trade, the food and chemical industries, there is a steel mill, an aluminum rolling mill, an oil refinery and a cement plant. The city is home to the most important seaport in East Africa, Kilindini Harbor, which is also used by the neighboring countries Tanzania and Uganda for their imports and exports.
Kilindini is an old Swahili term meaning "deep". The port is so-called because the channel is naturally very deep. Kilindini Harbour is an example of a natural geographic phenomenon called a ria, formed at the end of the last glacial period when the sea level rose and engulfed a river that was flowing from the mainland.
Mombasa is a centre of coastal tourism in Kenya. Mombasa Island itself is not a main attraction, although many people visit the Old Town and Fort Jesus. The Nyali, Bamburi, and Shanzu beaches are located north of the city. The Shelly, Tiwi, and Diani beaches are located south of Mombasa. Several luxury hotels exist on these beaches, while the less expensive hotels are located further away.
Mombasa's northern shoreline is renowned for its vibrant 24-hour entertainment offers, including both family entertainment (water parks, cinemas, bowling, etc.), sports (watersports, mountain biking and gokarting), culinary offers (restaurants offering a wide range of specialties from Kenya, China, Japan, India, Italy, Germany and other countries) and nightlife (bars, pubs, clubs, discothรจques, etc.).
Other local industries include an oil refinery with a capacity of 80,000 barrels (13ย ML) a day, and a cement factory capable of producing over 1.1ย million tons per year. The major intercontinental undersea telecom cables reach shore next to Mombasa, connecting the African Great Lakes to the rest of the world and supporting a fast-growing call centre business in the area. The estimated real GDP growth for Kenya in 2016 is 5.7-6.0%. This growth will be in response to the construction of a railway system from Nairobi to Mombasa which will aid in trade and transportation between Kenya's two major cities.
Mombasa will become a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in which certain industries such as tea, garments, and footwear will be exempt from certain taxes to promote domestic growth. This is in response to the deficiencies in Export Processing Zones (EPZ).
The Kenyan Dock Worker's Union is situated in Mombasa and has roughly 5,000 members.
President Kenyatta has made it a priority to deepen economic ties with Asia at the onset of his presidency. Japan has played a role in financially sponsoring the expansion of the Mombasa port in phase one and two of the expansion project.
At 44%, the rate of youth unemployment in Mombasa is more than double the national average of 21% (2016).
1Education The major university in the island is the Technical University of Mombasa. The city has a campus of Kenyatta University. Other major university campuses include University of Nairobi-Mombasa campus, Mount Kenya University-Mombasa campus, JKUAT-Mombasa, Shanzu Teachers Training College, Mombasa Technical College, Bandari college, Utalii college, and ICS college Mombasa.
1Mombasa is rated E+ by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) which evaluates and ranks world cities in the context of economic competitiveness. E+ cities are strong regional gateway cities. Mombasa was ranked #1075 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Mombasa has a population of over 1,208,333 people. Mombasa also forms the centre of the wider Mombasa metropolitan area which has a population of over 3,528,940 people. Mombasa is ranked #756 for startups with a score of 0.189.
To set up a UBI Lab for Mombasa see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Mombasa has links with:
๐ฟ๐ฆ Durban, South Africa ๐จ๐ณ Fuzhou, China ๐บ๐ธ Honolulu, USA ๐บ๐ธ Long Beach, USA ๐จ๐ณ Nansha District, China ๐บ๐ธ Seattle, USA๐ง๐ท Maranguape -3.883
๐ง๐ท Maracanaรบ -3.867
๐จ๐ฌ Brazzaville -4.259
๐ท๐บ Rostov on Don 39.7
๐ท๐บ Rostov-on-Don 39.72
๐บ๐ฆ Khmelnytskyi 39.733
๐ท๐บ Pavlovskaya 39.8
Locations Near: Mombasa 39.6627,-4.05738
๐ฐ๐ช Kwale 39.45,-4.167 d: 26.5
๐ฐ๐ช Ukunda 39.55,-4.283 d: 28.1
๐ฐ๐ช Diani 39.567,-4.317 d: 30.7
๐ฐ๐ช Diani Beach 39.567,-4.317 d: 30.7
๐ฐ๐ช Malindi 39.85,-3.633 d: 51.5
๐น๐ฟ Tanga 39.1,-5.067 d: 128.4
๐น๐ฟ Mkokotoni 39.267,-5.867 d: 205.9
๐น๐ฟ Same 37.783,-4.067 d: 208.5
๐น๐ฟ Zanzibar 39.199,-6.165 d: 239.9
๐น๐ฟ Zanzibar City 39.224,-6.177 d: 240.6
Antipodal to: Mombasa -140.337,4.057
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 17650.2
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 17471.9
๐บ๐ธ Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 17457
๐บ๐ธ Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 17453.9
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 17447.7
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 17409
๐บ๐ธ Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 17322
๐บ๐ธ Pearl City -157.969,21.394 d: 17305.9