Mombasa << mom BAH suh >> (pop. 1,208,333), is the second largest city of Kenya, after Nairobi. Mombasa is a busy seaport on the east coast of Africa. It handles most of the international shipping of Kenya; and of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which lie inland. The city has an oil refinery, an international airport, and a modern section with government buildings and many resort hotels.
Persian and Arab traders settled at what is now Mombasa as early as the 700’s. The city became an important port in the 1200’s, when ivory, gold, timber, and slaves were shipped from Africa to other lands. Mombasa was controlled by Portugal for most of the period from 1528 until 1698, and by Oman from 1698 until 1887. Britain controlled the city from 1887 until 1963, when Kenya became an independent nation.
