Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579 (2019 census).Kakamega is 52 km north of Kisumu, the tenth largest city in Kenya and considered the heart of Luhya land. The average elevation of Kakamega is 1,535 metres.
The county has 12 constituencies in total, namely Butere, Mumias East,Mumias West, Matungu, Khwisero, Shinyalu, Lurambi, ikolomani, Lugari, Malava, Navakholo and Likuyani.
Kakamega was so named because the word "kakamega" translates roughly to "pinch" in Luhya, which was used to describe how European colonists would eat the staple food, ugali.