Meru Central District
| Meru County | |||
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| County | |||
Lake Michaelson is in the background
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 Location of Meru County in Kenya |
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| Coordinates: 0°3′N 37°38′E / 0.050°N 37.633°ECoordinates: 0°3′N 37°38′E / 0.050°N 37.633°E | |||
| Country |
 Kenya
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| Formed | March 4, 2013 | ||
| Capital and largest town | Meru | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Peter Munya | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 6,936 km2 (2,678 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| • Total | 1,356,301 | ||
| • Density | 200/km2 (510/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) | ||
| Website | meru |
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Meru County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, located in the former Eastern Province. It has a population of 1.4 million people.
Meru County is the home of the Ngaa People (Meru), who are related to other ethnicities living around the Mount Kenya region: the Kikuyu, Embu people and to some extent the Kamba people, who all share a common origin from Israel. Also, peoples from the east coast of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, like the Bajuni, Swahili, Mijikenda, and further inland, the Taita, Taveta and westwards to the Lake Victoria coast, the Kisii and Maragoli as well as other Luhya people, are all related to the Meru.
The Meru have long been considered by Western 'experts' to be Bantu, although there is much to show that this is an exceedingly simplistic view which bears little resemblance to reality. The predominant oral tradition concerning the Meru's early history is a fantastic fable that seems to combine elements of both truth and fiction. In brief, it recounts that the Meru were once enslaved by the "Red People." They eventually escaped, and in their exodus, came across a large body of water called Mbwaa or Mbwa, which they crossed by magical means. The details of the tradition are replete with parallels to the Old Testament, for example, the story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Ancient Egypt, and also contain references to events described in the New Testament. This has led many to speculate that the Meru are perhaps the descendants of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, meaning that they were at some point Hebrews, or had been in profound cultural contact with a people that certainly were (such as the Falashim of Ethiopia).
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Wikipedia