1963 - Independence from Britain

1982 - National Assembly declares Kenya a one-party state

1991 - Ruling Kenyan African National Union (KANU) agrees return to multi-party politics

1992 - About 2,000 people killed in tribal conflict in western Kenya

"Kalenjin Warriors" burn houses and take land in Molo district after Kalenjin politicians point out that land belonging to the Kikuyu had once belonged to the Kalenjin. Tens of thousands of people are subsequently displaced and 3,000 killed

1997 - Election violence breaks out in Likoni. Luo, Kamba and Kikuyu ethnic groups chased away and more than 100 people killed

2002 - KANU's four-decade rule ends as opposition presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki wins election by landslide

2004 - Publication of the Ndung'u Report, produced by a government commission investigating illegal and improperly allocated public land, triggers evictions initiated by the government, exacerbating violence Kibaki declares a "national crisis" as crop failures and drought cause severe food shortages

2005 - More than 40 people die in clashes over land and water rights in January

2006 - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and an internal U.N. report put the number forced from their homes by conflict at more than 431,000

2007 - More than 150 people killed and around 66,000 uprooted between December 2006 and April 2007 as clashes erupt in a number of districts ahead of December 2007 elections

Jul - Rights groups say crime and violence at crisis levels in run-up to elections

Dec - Thousands in Molo area living in make-shift camps after fleeing pre-election violence in Kuresoi

Dec 27 - Election pits Kibaki and his Party of National Unity against Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement

Dec 30 onwards - Riots erupt after Kibaki wins by narrow margin. Hundreds killed and 250,000 displaced in ethnic violence

2008

Jan - A mob torches a church near Eldoret, killing about 30 villagers. U.N. estimates 500,000 people have been affected by violence and appeals for $42 million in humanitarian aid. Ex-U.N. chief Kofi Annan arrives in Kenya to mediate

Feb - Kibaki and Odinga sign power-sharing deal

Jun - Peaceful by-elections

Sep - An official inquiry says conduct of the polls was so defective is impossible to establish true or reliable results for 2007 elections

Oct - An inquiry into the violence calls for international tribunal to prosecute the ringleaders, but does not disclose names of top suspects

Judge Philip Waki, who headed the inquiry, disappoints by saying the commission's list of top suspects will be sealed and handed to Kofi Annan

2009

Feb - Parliament fails to agree on creation of special court in Kenya to try those involved in the violence

Mar - Activists Kamau Kingara and Paul Oulo killed in Nairobi. The government had previously accused them of being a front for a brutal crime gang. Demonstrations break out against illegal police killings

Thousands of students protest against alleged police killings, with the demonstration later sliding into violence in the latest sign of frustration with the government

Apr - Justice Minister Martha Karua resigns in disgust over stalled political reforms

Jun - Annan says the country's leaders have until August to set up a local court for perpetrators of violence - or face international action

Jul - Annan says he has handed a sealed envelope with the names of at least 10 alleged masterminds of the violence to the International Criminal Court's prosecutor