 Kiepert prepared maps from data amassed by German explorers of Africa that included Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (1831–1896) and Heinrich Barth (1821–1865).Two important African geographic works of his were "Deutscher Kolonialatlas" and "Spezialkarte von Deutsch-Ostafrika".From 1874 until 1878 he worked on the compilation of Ferdinand von Richthofen's atlas of China, and from 1875 to 1887, he was editor of the geographical periodical "Globus".