A republic in eastern Africa, south of ETHIOPIA and east of SOMALIA. Its capital is Nairobi. The region was organized as the British East Africa Protectorate in 1895, became a British colony in 1920, became independent in 1963, and became a republic in 1964. It took its name from Mount Kenya which probably meant simply mountain. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p601 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p282).