{{Short description|Town in Kenya}} {{For|the spider genus|Kijabe (spider)}} {{Use British English|date=January 2023}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2021}} '''Kijabe''' is a town in Kenya.
==Etymology== The name Kijabe likely derives from the Maasai 'Donyo Kejabe' meaning 'place of the wind'.
==Description== thumb|upright|Young people playing soccer. It stands on the edge of the Great Rift Valley at an altitude of 2200m, some 50 kilometres north-west of Nairobi. Kijabe is located in the sub-county of Lari, Kiambu County. Kijabe had a population of 2,026 people in 2019.<ref name =Census2019>{{cite web|url=https://www.knbs.or.ke/?wpdmpro=2019-kenya-population-and-housing-census-volume-ii-distribution-of-population-by-administrative-units&wpdmdl=5728&ind=MT12f0IDWVM-a0J2dc3Xi42qelbruMwR0a7XIWb0iAwnedEVNBjd_1FEwMun_eI5 |title=2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume II: Distribution of Population by Administrative Units |accessdate=28 March 2020 |website=Kenya National Bureau of Statistics| df=dmy }}</ref> Kijabe has a railway station along the Uganda Railway. The town is located between Limuru and Naivasha.
There are actually two places called Kijabe. Kijabe Town is located approximately 2 km north-west of Kijabe Mission Station. Kijabe Town is the closest settlement to the Railway Station of the same name and is a community of small land holders. Kijabe mission station is the home of Kijabe Hospital, AIC-CURE International Children's Hospital of Kenya, Moffatt Bible College, Kijabe Youth Charity initiative, a group that helps the less privileged in the society, and Rift Valley Academy, a school for children of missionaries, expats, and Kenyan Nationals established in 1906 and Kijabe Guesthouse.
==History== Kijabe is a town in the lands of the Maasai people. During British colonial times, it served a mission station. However in recent times, it has been turned into a medical community.
On April 29, 2024, at least 50, possibly up to 315 people died in the village of Kamuchiri of Mai Mahiu town in a flood caused by the collapse of the old Kijabe Dam, an old railway dam of the Uganda Railway. It was initially reported that the flood was caused by a dam break. The flood was triggered by a blockage in a culvert under the embankment, which led to a catastrophic dam failure and flooding. <ref>[https://newsroom.amref.org/blog/2024/06/mai-mahiu-tragedy-stories-of-loss-and-resilience/ Mai Mahiu Tragedy: Stories of Loss and Resilience]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *http://www.kijabe.org {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013104531/http://www.kijabe.org/ |date=2006-10-13 }} *https://web.archive.org/web/20110725095331/http://www.kijabeguesthouse.org/
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{{Coord|0|56.7|S|36|35.7|E|region:KE_type:city|display=title}}
Category:Kiambu County Category:Populated places in Central Province (Kenya)
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