| Official
name |
Republic of Uganda |
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| Location | Eastern Africa | ||||||
| Coordinates | 1o 00' N 32o
00' E Uganda sits just above the Equator. |
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| Date and Time | Date and Time in Kampala: | ||||||
| Total area | 236,040 sq km. (91,136 sq mi.) Uganda is slightly smaller than the State of Oregon, or England. 35% of the land area is arable and productive. |
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| Land | 199,710 sq km. (77,109 sq mi.) | ||||||
| Water bodies | 36,330 sq km. (14,027
sq mi.) Uganda has several fresh water lakes and rivers. Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh water lake, lies partly in Uganda. The source of the river Nile is also in Uganda. |
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| Coastline | None; Uganda is landlocked. | ||||||
| Climate | Tropical; no seasonal change, except for a rainy season and a dry season. | ||||||
| Temperature | Highs of around 29oC (85oF) with very little humidity; comfortable night temperatures, falling as low as the lower 10sC (50s F) in the higher elevations. | ||||||
| Terrain |
Plateau with mountains around the perimeter. The Rwenzori mountains, to the West, are home to Margherita Peak, 5,110 m (16,765 ft.); Africa's third highest point. The lowest point is Lake Albert, 621 m (2037 ft) above sea level. Most of Uganda is situated on a plateau, a large expanse that drops gently from about 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) in the south to approximately 3,000 feet (900 metres) in the north. The limits of Uganda's plateau region are marked by mountains and valleys. To the west a natural boundary is composed of the Virunga (Mufumbiro) Mountains, the Ruwenzori Range, and the Western Rift Valley. The volcanic Virunga Mountains rise to 13,540 feet (4,125 metres) at Mount Muhavura and include Mount Sabinio (11,960 feet [3,645 metres]), where the borders of Uganda, Congo (Kinshasa), and Rwanda meet. Farther north the Ruwenzori Range—popularly believed to be Ptolemy's Mountains of the Moon—rises to 16,795 feet (5,115 metres) at Margherita Peak, Uganda's highest point; its heights are often hidden by clouds, and its peaks are capped by snow and glaciers. Between the Virunga and Ruwenzori mountains lie Lakes Edward and George. The rest of the boundary is composed of the Western Rift Valley, which contains Lake Albert and the Albert Nile River. |
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| Vegetation | Mainly tropical grassland, punctuated by tropical rain forest in Central and Western areas. Except for the North Eastern tip of the country, Uganda is lush and green all year. Uganda has a wide variety of plant life, from mvuli trees and elephant grass of the plateau to dry thorn scrubs, acacia trees, and euphorbia shrubs of the northeast, as well as papyrus in swamps, which surround many of the country’s lakes. | ||||||
| Animal life | The country has spectacular wildlife, including elephants, lions, leopards, gorillas, chimpanzees, rhinoceroses, antelope, zebras, Rothschild’s giraffes, and crocodiles. | ||||||
| The people | Ugandans | ||||||
| Population | 23,317,560 (2000) | ||||||
| Languages |
Three major language families found in Uganda--Bantu, Central Sudanic, and Nilotic. Lake Kyoga rough boundary between Bantu-speakers in south and Nilotic- and Central Sudanic-speakers of north. The official language and medium of instruction is English. Other languages include Kiswahili, and native languages such as Luganda, Ateso, Luo, Runyankole/Rukiga, Runyoro/Rutooro, and many others. Arabic is spoken widely. About two-thirds speak Bantu languages and live in the south, including the largest and wealthiest ethnic group, the Ganda, constituting 18.0 percent of the population, and the Nyankole (9.9 percent), Kiga (8.3 percent), and Soga (8.2 percent). About one-sixth of Uganda’s people are Western Nilotic speakers living in the north, such as the Langi (5.9 percent) and Acholi (4.4 percent). Another one-sixth speak an Eastern Nilotic language and live in the northeast, including the Iteso (6.0 percent) and Karimojong (2.1 percent). Finally, in the extreme northwest are speakers of Sudanic languages, including the Lugbara (3.5 percent) and the Madi (1.1 percent). English is the official language of Uganda. |
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| Ethnic Groups |
The 1991 Uganda census counted 16,671,705 people. By 2001 the population had grown to an estimated 24 million Ugandans, giving the country a population density of 100 per sq km (258 per sq mi). The estimated growth rate of the population in 2001 was 2.9 percent. The birth rate was 48 per 1,000 people and the death rate 18 per 1,000. Life expectancy at birth was 43.4 years. The fertility rate, the number of births per woman, was 6.9. Almost all Ugandans are black Africans. Although Uganda is inhabited by a large variety of ethnic groups, a division is usually made between the “Nilotic North” and the “Bantu South.” Bantu speakers are the largest portion of Uganda's population. Of these, the Ganda (BaGanda; the prefix Ba- is often affixed to indicate the people) remain the largest single ethnic group, constituting almost one-fifth of the total national population. Other Bantu speakers are the Soga, Gwere, Gisu, Nyole, Samia, Toro, Nyoro, Kiga, Rwanda (Banyarwanda), Nyankole, Amba, and Konjo. South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis), speaking mostly Gujarati and Hindi, came to Uganda largely in the 19th and 20th centuries and by 1969 numbered more than 50,000. Although Ugandan citizenship was made available to them when Uganda became independent, most Asians chose not to accept this offer. The population declined drastically when Idi Amin, head of government from 1971 to 1979, expelled all noncitizen Asians in 1972. |
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| Culture |
The Westernized elites are virtually the sole consumers and practitioners
of the fine arts. Nevertheless, there is a small but active group of local
artists—painters, sculptors, poets, and playwrights—who exhibit
their works in local galleries and theatres. There is a wide audience
for both Ugandan and foreign music. Uganda's well-known Afrigo Band, which
combines traditional and popular musical elements, regularly tours abroad
and has produced a number of recordings. Congolese music is extremely
popular and represents a return of musicians from that country, a cultural
exchange that previously had been active until the 1970s. There are many
discos, pubs, and bars in most towns and trading centres, where live music
is performed. The staple diet in most of the south is a kind of plantain called matoke.
Sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and cassava are consumed along with a
variety of vegetables. The central market in Kampala—Nakasero—offers
an extensive array of vegetables and fruits, some of which are imported
from neighbouring countries. Most northerners eat millet, sorghum, cornmeal,
and cassava together with local vegetables. The pastoralist communities
tend to consume animal-derived products, especially butter, meat, and
animal blood. Fish is eaten by a number of groups. Cultural diversity has produced a wide variety of lifestyles and interests among Ugandans. While literacy is slowly increasing, especially in the urban centres, where there are numerous newspapers, oral traditions remain a popular form of entertainment. Uganda possesses a rich tradition of theatre, ranging from the very active National Theatre in Kampala to hundreds of small, local theatrical groups. Theatre has played an important role in educating and informing the public on a range of issues from gender relations to sexually transmitted diseases. Another popular and widespread form of entertainment is the many hundreds of small video booths spread throughout the towns and small rural trading centres. A video booth, which can operate on a vehicle battery, provides an opportunity—mainly for young people—to see a variety of films; but, more important, the booths also show occasional short informative films supplied by governmental agencies. Television is widely available in urban centres and in some smaller rural centres, where it is not uncommon to see a large group of people clustered in front of one set. Support for the extended family is among the most important values held by Ugandans. Polygyny (the practice of having more than one wife) is accepted and very common. Women are traditionally considered inferior to men and their independent social initiatives tend to be discouraged. However, some members of the government and women’s rights activists have begun the task of removing legal discrimination against women. The constitution adopted in 1995 guarantees women equal opportunities in political, social, and economic areas. |
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| History | The earliest inhabitants of Uganda
were hunters and gatherers who lived more than 50,000 years ago and whose
stone axes have been found near the villages of Mweya and Kagera in the
southwest and at Paraa in the northwest. Their descendants retreated to
the mountains between 2,500 and 3,000 years ago when Bantu-speaking farmers
moved into forested areas and cleared the land for crops. Iron smelting
by Bantu-speaking cultures has been dated from 2,500 years ago, and Bantu
pottery from 1,500 years ago. Bantu-speakers near the shores of Lake Victoria
developed the banana as a staple food about 1,000 years ago. Between 600
and 700 years ago the Chwezi, a Bantu subgroup, established settlements
at Bigo in western Uganda. The Chwezi were depicted in legends as supernatural,
but probably were the ancestors of the region’s present-day Hima and
Tutsi herders. The organization of the peoples who came to inhabit the area north of the Nile River was mainly based on their clan structures. In this respect the northerners differed markedly from the peoples to the southwest of the Nile. There, peoples were organized into states, or “kingdoms,” as they were labeled by the earliest European visitors. The dominant state was Bunyoro-Kitara, which originated at the end of the 15th century and, under able rulers, extended its influence eastward and southward over a considerable area. To the south there were a number of lesser states, each with a chief, who, like the ruler of Bunyoro-Kitara, combined priestly functions with those of a secular leader. To the southeast of Bunyoro-Kitara the smaller state of Buganda grew as an offshoot of its larger neighbour. By the end of the 18th century, however, the boundaries of Bunyoro-Kitara had been stretched so far that the authority of the ruler began to weaken, and a succession of pacific chiefs accelerated this decline. Simultaneously the smaller, more compact state of Buganda enjoyed a succession of able and aggressive kabakas (rulers), who began to expand at the expense of Bunyoro-Kitara. For Buganda’s protection, the kabaka’s government formed an ethnic party, Kabaka Yekka (KY), in 1961. It made an unexpected alliance with the UPC to win preindependence elections in early 1962. Uganda became independent in October 1962 with UPC leader Milton Obote as prime minister and several KY ministers in his cabinet. A year later Uganda became a republic with the kabaka as ceremonial president. But the UPC/KY coalition split over the UPC’s insistence on holding a referendum to decide whether to return the Lost Counties to Bunyoro. The UPC used its control over the state bureaucracy to bestow favors to its followers and to lure members of the DP to its side. However, it never consolidated its control over its own factions, and in 1966 UPC cabinet members from southern Uganda tried to force Obote out of office. |
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| Life Expectancy | Average 43 years, males 42.22, females 43.67. These numbers are low due to a high infant mortality rate, and death from HIV/AIDS related complications. | ||||||
| Fertility | 7 children per woman. | ||||||
| Infant Mortality | 93 of every 1000 live births (9.3%)— almost 1 in every 10 babies dies as an infant! | ||||||
| Average Age | Over 50% of all Ugandans are under 15 years of age. | ||||||
| Population growth rate | 2.93% | ||||||
| Birth rate | 47.52 births/1,000 population | ||||||
| Death rate | 17.97 deaths/1,000 population | ||||||
| People living with HIV/AIDS | 820,000 | ||||||
| Literacy | 62% of people age 15 and above. | ||||||
| Education | Uganda’s educational system, modeled on Britain’s, was originally developed by missionaries, but is now run by the state and, increasingly, by the private sector. Ten percent of primary students in 1997 attended private schools. All levels of education suffer from shortages of teachers and facilities. Education is not compulsory, and schools charge fees for enrollment. There is a sharp decline in enrollment at each higher level. | ||||||
| Religions | Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, Bahai and others 2%, Indigenous 16%. | ||||||
| Capital | Kampala | ||||||
| Districts | 45 districts: Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakasongola, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Soroti, Tororo | ||||||
| Independence | 9 October 1962 | ||||||
| National holiday | Independence Day, 9 October | ||||||
| Constitution | 8 October 1995 | ||||||
| Independence | October 9, 1962 (from Great Britain) | ||||||
| Government | Republic. (There are 5 kingdoms
whose kings are recognised as cultural leaders by the Ugandan Constitution).
The Executive Branch is headed by the President, elected by popular vote for a term of five years. The President is the Head of State. The Vice President and Prime Minister are appointed by the President and endorsed by Parliament. Members of the cabinet are appointed by the President and endorsed by Parliament. The Legislative Branch is made up of a unicameral parliament of 276 members; 214 of whom are elected by popular vote and 62 nominated by legally recognised special interest groups; (women 39, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 3) and approved by the President. Parliamentarians serve a period of 5 years. The Judicial Branch is headed by the Chief Justice, who heads the Uganda High Court of Appeal. The High Court Judges are appointed by the President and endorsed by Parliament. Ugandan Law is fashioned after English Common Law, while incorporating certain aspects of Customary Law. Since independence in 1962 the form of Uganda’s government has changed frequently in response to struggles for power. It was initially a parliamentary democracy with the queen of England and, later, the king of Buganda as ceremonial head of state, until a 1966 constitution created a highly centralized presidential system under Milton Obote. Idi Amin overthrew the government in 1971 and ruled as a military dictator until he was ousted in 1979. Obote regained control of the country in 1981 and ruled autocratically until he was overthrown in 1985. Yoweri Museveni eventually came to power in 1986 and established a mixed presidential and parliamentary system. Museveni appointed an executive cabinet and transformed the military council, which helped him come to power, into a legislative body that was greatly expanded by elections in 1989. Museveni’s government held national elections again in 1996 but prohibited political party activity, and all candidates competed on a nonparty basis. In a national referendum in 2000, Ugandan voters overwhelmingly chose to retain the country’s nonparty system of government rather than switch to a multiparty system. Only one political organization, the National Resistance Movement or NRM [President MUSEVENI, chairman] is allowed to operate unfettered; note - the president maintains that the NRM is not a political party, but a movement which claims the loyalty of all Ugandans note: the new constitution requires the suspension of political parties while the Movement system is in governanace; of the political parties that exist but are prohibited from sponsoring candidates, the most important are the Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Milton OBOTE]; Democratic Party or DP [Paul SSEMOGERERE]; Conservative Party or CP [Joshua S. MAYANJA-NKANGI]; Justice Forum [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; and National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA] |
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| Suffrage | Universal suffrage at age 18 | ||||||
| Military Involvement | The Ugandan military is deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of rebel forces in that country's civil war; a resurvey of the latitudinal boundary with Tanzania in 2000 revealed a 300-meter discrepancy that both sides are currently adjudicating | ||||||
| Currency |
UGX per US$— 2002— 1,738.7 |
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| GDP | purchasing power parity - $26.2 billion | ||||||
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 | ||||||
| Electricity - consumption | 1.06 billion kWh | ||||||
| Exports | $500.1 million coffee, fish and fish products, tea; electrical products, iron and steel | ||||||
| Imports | $1.1 billion vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals | ||||||
| Economy | Uganda is endowed with substantial
natural resources, although many of them are not yet fully exploited. There
is abundant rainfall, fertile soils, and documented deposits of copper.
Some oil deposits have been discovered in a few areas of the country.
Agriculture is the main industrial activity. Coffee is the main export crop. Uganda is the world's second producer of coffee. Uganda has posted a GDP growth rate above 5% ten years in a row! The GDP was estimated at $24.2 billion in 1999. The 1999 estimated GDP per capita was $1 060. The Ugandan economy has been based on small, African-owned farms since precolonial days. Uganda’s economy collapsed during the Idi Amin regime in the 1970s. In 1972 Amin expelled the country’s Asian population, which controlled most of the commerce, and distributed their businesses and property to corrupt and incompetent managers. From 1972 to 1988 the economy declined about 33 percent. The economy rebounded under President Yoweri Museveni, growing an average of 7 percent annually between 1990 and 1998. But it took until the late 1990s for the country to recover the production levels achieved before Amin seized power. In 1987 Museveni adopted reforms designed to reduce the size of the state and privatize many economic activities. In effect, this means he's selling the country to (foreign) corporations, rather than giving it back to the people, who remain impoverished. As has been the case with most African countries, economic development and modernization have been enormous tasks that have been impeded by the country's political instability. In order to repair the damage done to the economy by the governments of Idi Amin and Milton Obote, foreign investment in agriculture and core industries, mainly from Western countries and former Asian residents, was encouraged. The 1991 Investment Code offered tax and other incentives to local and foreign investors and created the Uganda Investment Authority, which made it easier for potential investors to procure licenses and investment approval. Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government— with the support of foreign countries and international agencies— has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation and boosting production and export earnings. In 1990-2000, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. Ongoing Ugandan involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption within the government, and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced HIPC debt relief worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original Highly Indebted Poor Countries HIPC debt relief add up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001 should be somewhat lower than in 2000, because of a decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. In spite of the modest improvement in the terms of trade (in response to the rise in coffee prices towards the end of year 2002), the continued increase in imports of goods and services and the decline in current transfers due to lower official grants•drove the current account balance into a deeper deficit of US $ 163.49 million, down from US $ 135.97 million of the corresponding period of 2001/02. In 2002, per the Bank of Uganda: Exports of Goods were valued at US $ 249.90 million, compared to US $ 223.43 million of the corresponding period of 2001/02. The increase in coffee export value to US $ 53.90 million, from US $ 42.53 million in the corresponding period of 2001/02, was on account of both volume and value, partly on account of the rise in average unit price from US $ 0.45 per Kg to US $ 0.51 per Kg. Non-coffee exports rose by 6.0 percent to US $ 189.58 million, with fish and products, now ranked the biggest exp ort earner fetching US $ 60.14 million, compared to the level of US $ 54.37 million over the same period last year. By the same comparison, exports of tobacco, gold, electricity and flowers recorded major increases over the period, while major declines were witnessed in hides and skins, maize, oil re-exports and cobalt. Imports of Goods increased by 7.4 percent to US $ 528.40 million over level in the corresponding period of 2001/02, largely on account private sector imports, now estimated at US $ 505.43 million. Services and Income Account: Services of exports increased by 7.0 percent to US $123.85 million, while imports rose by 4.0 percent to US $ 288.29 million, leading to a deficit of US $164.45 million. The income account deteriorated due to reduced investment income in the midst of increasing income payments. Current Transfers: The declines in both official and private transfers led to a deterioration of the current transfers account to US $ 407.92 million. The Capital Account: Net foreign direct investment rose by 5.7 percent to US $ 72.85 million, but slower disbursements of medium and long-term borrowings resulted into lower net inflows of US $ 63.06 million. External Debt: Total debt maturities for medium and long-term public and publicly guaranteed external debt amounted to US $ 84.55 million over the six months to December 2002. Cash debt service was US $ 27.59 million, while cancellation through the HIPC Initiative debt relief amounted to US $ 41.45 million. |
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| Communications |
Uganda's communication systems are seriously inadequate. Two cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short range traffic international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania. Telephones: 61,600 (1990 est.) / pop. 23 million Cellular systems have been introduced as a stopgap but the communications problems will not be solved without substantial investment in the conventional telephone infrastructure; e-mail and Internet services are available. Domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communications stations, cellular system for short range traffic International: satellite earth station—1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 0, shortwave 0 Radios: 2.13 million (1993 est.) Television broadcast stations: 8 (in addition, there is one low-power repeater) (1997) Televisions: 220,000 (1993 est.) |
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| Telephones | 80,868 | ||||||
| Mobile cellular | 9,000 | ||||||
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 19, FM 4, shortwave 5 | ||||||
| Radios | 2.6 million | ||||||
| Television broadcast stations | 8 | ||||||
| Televisions | 315,000 | ||||||
| Internet country code | .ug | ||||||
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 | ||||||
| Internet users | 25,000 | ||||||
| Transportation |
Railways: Highways: Waterways: Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile Ports and harbors: Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell Merchant marine: Airports: 27 (1998 est.) Airports—with paved runways: Airports—with unpaved runways: |
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| Railways | 1,241 km | ||||||
| Highways | 27,000 km | ||||||
| Waterways | N/A | ||||||
| Pipelines | N/A | ||||||
| Ports and harbors | Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell | ||||||
| Merchant marine | 3 ships | ||||||
| Airports | 28 | ||||||
| Heliports | 1 | ||||||
| Military branches | Army, Air Wing, Marine Unit | ||||||
| Military expenditures | $95 million |