7 ATLASES
History of Kenya in maps
Kenya as it appears in 7 interactive history atlases, from 1890 to 2015: Kenya. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
WW2 is free in full, and chapter 1 of every atlas is free. A free account opens 3 more chapters a day. Starter, at $9 a month, opens all 21 with no daily limit — see the plans.
Free printable Haiti and Kenya independence study guide, sent by email ↓
What was Kenya before it was Kenya? The sections below follow this land through every era covered by the Maps of History atlases: who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed. Each line links to the dated map. Modern borders serve as an approximation, as each atlas says on the map itself.
Kenya · Industrial Revolution
| Colony or dependency — the opening position | |
| Colony or dependency |
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Kenya (East Africa Protectorate; Kenya Colony) · Haiti and Kenya independence
The East Africa Protectorate began in 1895 and became Kenya Colony in 1920. Its highlands along the Uganda Railway were reserved for European settlers. Grievances over land and labor, from the kipande to the eviction of squatters, exploded in the Emergency of 1952–60. Independence came through negotiation on 12 December 1963 under Jomo Kenyatta. The colonial state and its borders passed on intact, as did a market in land.
| Other states and societies — the opening position | |
| Under colonial rule | |
| Self-rule in all but name | |
| Independence won |
HAITI AND KENYA INDEPENDENCE: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Kenya · WWI
| Entente-aligned & imperial territories — the opening position |
Kenya · Road to WW2
| Colonial empires & possessions — the opening position |
ROAD TO WW2: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Kenya · Cold War
| NATO & core Western allies — the opening position | |
| Non-aligned & neutral |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Kenya · Decolonization of Africa
Kenya’s path from settler colony to independence passed through war. The Mau Mau uprising of the 1950s met brutal suppression, including detention camps and tens of thousands of deaths, before independence was negotiated in December 1963. Jomo Kenyatta, jailed by the British as a Mau Mau leader, took power preaching Harambee and reconciliation with the settlers who remained. The insurgency helped bring freedom, though Britain fought it savagely and long tried to forget it.
| British-ruled — the opening position | |
| Independent Africa |
DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Kenya · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
Kenya acceded to CEDAW in 1984 and hosted the Nairobi conference in July 1985, closing the UN Decade for Women. Most of the NGO Forum’s 12,000 to 15,000 participants came from the Global South. The Kenyan biologist Wangari Maathai, who founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, showed how rural women could organize around land, trees and water.
| Authoritarian, one-party or colonial rule — the opening position | |
| No reform yet / outside this story | |
| Right won in law |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Related
THE FREE PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Get a printable atlas study guide of your choice free. I’ll send you a few short letters, then one when a new atlas opens. That’s all. — Paul
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME