UGANDA: KEY FACTS

History

Uganda’s pr-colonial history is generally the least contentious.  The territory that forms today’s Uganda was, until the colonial intervention, consisting of many autonomous societies at varying levels of social organization.  Several territorial modifications and years under colonialism later, the country became independence in 1962.

Politics

Uganda is a republic, with an executive president as Head of State, elected by universal adult suffrage in a multiparty system, which was re-adopted in 2005 and used in the 2006 general elections. The country’s national legislature is comprised of 332 members.

Geography

Uganda’s surface area is 236,060 square kilometers and the country is entirely landlocked.  Bordered by Kenya to the East, Tanzania to the South, Rwanda to the South West, DR Congo to the West and Sudan to the North, most of the land in Uganda is between 900 and 1500 metres high.  There is no scarcity of fresh water bodies in Uganda, and the most prominent of these include the River Nile and Lake Victoria.

Climate

Uganda lies along the equator, and her climate is therefore equatorial, moderated by altitude.  Rainfall is highest near Lake Victoria and the rains usually come between March and May and September and November.  There are two dry seasons; December-February and June-August.  Temperature variations are minimal, with a maximum of 30%C and minimum of 21%C.

Economy

Uganda’s economy is predominantly agricultural, with over 80% of the population employed in the agriculture sector, but this agricultural activity is mostly subsistence in nature.  Manufacturing and the service industry are the next biggest employers, but with the recent discovery of oil, the balance could be tipped in favour of mining GNI per capita currently stands at $330.

Health

Uganda’s most outstanding achievement in the health sector is without a doubt in the fight against HIV/AIDS, of which the country has set a standard in as far as reducing prevalence levels is concerned.  A factory to manufacture ARVs was also opened  in October 2007, making Uganda the first African country to achieve that particular milestone.

Major towns
Kampala, Entebbe, Jinja, Mbarara, Mbale, Masaka and Gulu.

People

There are up to 5 linguistic groupings in Uganda, but the three major ones are the Bantu, living in the south and western part of the country.  The Nilotic speakers, mostly bases in the north while the para-Nilotic/Sudanic speakers are to be found in the north west.  The Baganda, one of numerous Bantu tribes, is the largest, making up atleast a fifth of the country’s population.

Languages

English is the official language of Uganda, and is spoken by a considerable number of people, especially in the country’s major towns.  Luganda is the most widely spoken indigenous language.  Swahili is the other language spoken across the country’s different geographical regions, but not as widely as Luganda.

Legal

Based on England’s common law and customary and on a constitution enacted in October 1995.

Currency: Uganda Shilling (UGX or UShs).

Internet Top Level Domain: .ug

Time:  GMT+3 hours

Calling Code: +256