History of Nairobi History of Nairobi The earliest account of Nairobi's history dates back to 1899 when a railway depot was built in a brackish African swamp occupied only by a pastoralist people, the Maasai, as well as the agriculturalist Kikuyu people who were both displaced. The railway complex and the building around it rapidly expanded and urbanized until it became the largest city of Kenya and the country's capital. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase "Enkare Nyorobi", which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, Nairobi is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun." The former swamp
History of Nairobi reserve bordering on a capital city in the world. After independence, Nairobi grew rapidly and this growth put pressure on the city's infrastructure. Power cuts and water shortages were a common occurrence, though in the past few years better city planning has helped to put some of these problems in check. In 1975 Nairobi was the host city of the 5th Assembly of the World Council of Churches. The U.S. embassy in the heart of Nairobi was bombed on August 7, 1998 by Al-Qaida, as one of a series of U.S. embassy bombings. Over two hundred civilians were killed in