Now online: Kenya Coast Portal

The Kenya Coast Portal is a service provided by the African Studies Centre Leiden for students, researchers, development workers, government officials and all others interested. The Kenya Coast is a region with distinct geographical, economic and social characteristics. It has a long history of intercontinental trade and cultural exchange with other communities along the East African coast as well as with the Middle East and South Asia. In particular the coastal strip with the seaports of Mombasa and Lamu very much belonged to the political and cultural world of the Indian Ocean, but at the time of Independence the region was incorporated into the Republic of Kenya. Due to its cultural diversity and varied history, the Coast has attracted the attention of many researchers over the years.

 

The Portal provides digital follow-up to the Kenya Coast Handbook (Hoorweg J., Foeken D. & Obudho R. eds., 2000) and incorporates the disciplines of anthropology, economics, education, geography, health, history, languages, law, political science, religion and sociology. It consists of four parts: a section with topical reviews by different authors; a bibliographical section with literature references; a section of tables and maps offering statistical information; and a section listing open-access publications.

 

The Portal is not designed to be a static body of knowledge but should be seen as work-in-progress. Readers are invited to provide further information in the form of literature references, statistical data and/or full-text publications. For suggestions or contributions, please contact the editor, Prof. Jan Hoorweg: kenya-coast@ascleiden.nl.