Kirinyaga County lies between 1158m and 5199m above sea level; its highest point is the summit of Mount Kenya.

[3] Kirinyaga County's governor is Anne Waiguru, who was elected for her first term in 2017, succeeding Joseph Ndathi.

When the German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf came across the mountain, his guide, Kamba trader Chief Kivoi, told Krapf that the mountain was called Kii Nyaa, the Kamba translation of the Kikuyu's Kiri Nyaga.

[2] Kirinyaga County's governor is Anne Waiguru, who was elected to her first term in 2017, succeeding Joseph Ndathi.

The county is best known for rice production from the Mwea Irrigation Scheme, which is watered by canal from the Thiba River.