Anthem: God Save the King (1920–1952) God Save the Queen (1952–1963)
Map of British East Africa in 1909
Status
British colony
Capital
Nairobi
Common languages
English (official) Swahili, Kikuyu, Kamba, Luhya, Luo, Gusii, Meru, Nandi–Markweta also spoken
Government
Colonial administration
Monarch
• 1920–1936
George V
• 1936
Edward VIII
• 1936–1952
George VI
• 1952–1963
Elizabeth II
Commissioner or Governor
• 1920–1922 (first)
Edward Northey
• 1963 (last)
Malcolm MacDonald
Legislature
Legislative council
History
• Colony established
23 July 1920
• Protectorate established[1]
29 November 1920
• Self-rule
1 June 1963
• Independent as Kenya
12 December 1963
Area
1924[2]
639,200 km2 (246,800 sq mi)
Population
• 1924[2]
2,807,000
• 1931[3]
3,040,940
• 1955[4]
6,979,931
• 1960[4]
8,105,440
Currency
East African florin (1920–21) East African shilling (1921–60)
ISO 3166 code
KE
Preceded by
Succeeded by
East Africa Protectorate
1924: Italian Trans-Juba
1963: Dominion of Kenya
Today part of
Kenya Somalia
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History of Kenya
Overview
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Pleistocene
Koobi Fora Hominins
Olorgesailie Aechulean hand axe culture
Kariandusi prehistoric site
Enkapune Ya Muto
Nataruk
Neolithic
Lothagam North Monumental Cemetery
Kalokol Pillar Site
Elmenteitan Culture
Cushitic expansion
Eburran industry
Hyrax Hill
African Iron Age
Sirikwa culture
Bantu expansion
Nilotic expansion
Urewe culture
Thimlich Ohinga stone-built ruins
Shungwaya
Mijikenda Kayas (Fortified settlements)
Indian Ocean trade route
Swahili city-states
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
Swahili people
Swahili culture
Kilwa Sultanate
History of Mombasa
History of Malindi
History of Lamu
Ruins of Gedi
Jumba la Mtwana
Portuguese and Omani period
Vasco da Gama
Portuguese Empire
Fort Jesus
East African slave trade
Omani Empire
Said bin Sultan
British colonial period
Johann Ludwig Krapf
Imperial British East Africa Company
Wanga Kingdom
Nabongo Mumia
Kenya-Uganda Railway
Nandi Resistance
German East Africa
British East Africa
Kenya-Uganda Railway
Mekatilili Wa Menza
East African campaign (World War I)
Kenya Colony
Mumboism
Luo Union (Welfare Organisation)
Harry Thuku
Kenya in World War II
Kenya African Union
Jomo Kenyatta
Mau Mau Rebellion
Dedan Kimathi
Tom Mboya
Oginga Odinga
Nairobi People's Convention Party
The Kennedy Airlift
Kenya African National Union
Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya)
Early post-independence
Shifta War
Pio Gama Pinto
Bildad Kaggia
Kenya People's Union
'Little general election'
Kisumu Massacre
Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru Association
Josiah Mwangi Kariuki
Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta
Moi era
Daniel Arap Moi
1982 coup d'état attempt
Wagalla massacre
1992 Kenyan general election
HIV/AIDS in Kenya
1997 Kenyan general election
1998 United States embassy bombings
Terrorism in Kenya
Presidency of Daniel Moi
Recent history
2002 Kenyan general election
Mwai Kibaki
2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum
2007-2008 Kenyan crisis
Raila Odinga
2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum
Operation Linda Nchi
Westgate shopping mall attack
2014 Mpeketoni attacks
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Uhuru Kenyatta
William Ruto
Garissa University College attack
October 2017 Kenyan presidential election
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The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa from 1920 until 1963. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1920. Technically, the "Colony of Kenya" referred to the interior lands, while a 16 km (10 mi) coastal strip, nominally on lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar, was the "Protectorate of Kenya", but the two were controlled as a single administrative unit. The colony came to an end in 1963 when an ethnic Kenyan majority government was elected for the first time and eventually declared independence.
^Kenya Protectorate Order in Council 1920 (SR&O 1920/2343), dated 13 August 1920, S.R.O. & S.I. Rev. VIII, 258, State Pp., Vol. 87, p. 968
^ ab"The British Empire in 1924". The British Empire. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
^"Annual Report of the Colonies, Kenya, 1931" (PDF). University of Illinois. 1931. p. 13. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
^ ab"Kenya Population". Worldometers. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
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