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About Uganda
Location
Eastern Africa, west of Kenya.
Land Boundaries
Democratic Republic of the Congo 765 km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda
169 km, Sudan 435 km and Tanzania 396 km.
Geography
Size 236,040 sq km, slightly smaller than Oregon, US. Uganda
is a landlocked country. The terrain is mostly plateau with
a rim of mountains. Its highest point is Margherita Peak on
Mount Stanley which stands at 5,110 m. Uganda's lowest point
is Lake Albert at 621 m. The climate is tropical; generally
rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to
August). The northeast of Uganda is semi-arid and therefore
drier. The country is generally very fertile with many lakes
and rivers.
 Population
Over 33 million people live in Uganda. Life expectancy is
around 53 years. Birth rate is on average 6.7 per woman. 4.1%
of the population is believed to have HIV/AIDS. Literacy rate
is just under 70%.
Languages
English (official national language, taught in grade schools,
used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio
broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo
languages, preferred for native language publications in the
capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages,
Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, and Arabic.
Ethnic Groups
Baganda 16.9%, Banyakole 9.5%, Basoga 8.4%, Bakiga 6.9%, Iteso
6.4%, Langi 6.1%, Acholi 4.7%, Bagisu 4.6%, Lugbara 4.2%,
Bunyoro 2.7%, other 29.6% (2002 census).
Religion
Roman Catholic 41.9%, Protestant 42% (Anglican 35.9%, Pentecostal
4.6%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.5%), Muslim 12.1%, other 3.1%,
none 0.9% (2002 census).
Brief Political History
The colonial boundaries created by Britain to delimit Uganda
grouped together a wide range of ethnic groups with different
political systems and cultures. These differences prevented
the establishment of a working political community after independence
was achieved in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79)
was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents;
guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85)
claimed at least another 100,000 lives.
The rule of Yoweri MUSEVENI since 1986 has brought
relative stability and economic growth to Uganda. During the
1990s, the government promulgated non-party presidential and
legislative elections. In January 2009, Uganda assumed a nonpermanent
seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term.
Economic Overview
Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile
soils, regular rainfall, small deposits of copper, gold, and
other minerals, and recently discovered oil. Uganda has never
conducted a national minerals survey. Agriculture is the most
important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the
work force. Coffee 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.
Since 1990 economic reforms ushered in an era
of solid economic growth based on continued investment in
infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports,
lower inflation, better domestic security, and the return
of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. Growth continues to
be solid, despite variability in the price of coffee, Uganda's
principal export. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced Highly
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief worth $1.3 billion
and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts
combined with the original HIPC debt relief added up to about
$2 billion. The global economic downturn has hurt Uganda's
exports; however, Uganda's GDP growth is still relatively
strong due to past reforms and sound management of the downturn.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html
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