Mandera is a town in North Eastern Province, Kenya. It is capital of the Mandera District. Mandera is located in the very north eastern part of Kenya, bordering Ethiopia and Somalia. The capital city of Somalia, Mogadishu is about 400 km away. It takes two days travel by road from Nairobi to Mandera (approx.1100 km).
It used to be one single district subdivided into the three constituencies of Mandera Central, Mandera East and Mandera west. However, in 2007, president Kibaki created two new districts called Mandera west and Mandera central in effect turning every constituency into a district.
It is located in an area prone to drought. As with the other areas of the North Eastern Province, Mandera is inhabited almost exclusively by ethnic Somalis. The majority of Somalis in Mandera are from the Degodia, Murule, and Garre clans, with a minority representing the Sheekhaal, Marehan, Sharmooge and Leysan clans.