Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the southwest by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. Uganda is the world’s second most populous landlocked country after Ethiopia. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania, situating the country in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate.
Uganda is a republic that is politically subdivided into 77 districts, spread across four geographical regions. The country was on 9 October 1962 independence from the United Kingdom and takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, that part of the south of the country covers including the capital Kampala. Besides Buganda, there are four other kingdoms in Uganda: Ankole, Bunyoro-Kitara, Busoga and Toro. The current head of state is President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Geography
In the southeast of Uganda is the largest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria. This lake is one for almost half of the territory of Uganda, the rest of the neighboring countries of Tanzania (the bulk) and Kenya.
Largest cities
Kampala is the capital city, industrial and administrative center of the country. The city is spread over seven hills and the name means “Hill of antelopes”.
Entebbe is a suburb about 40 kilometers from Kampala, located on Lake Victoria. The international airport is located here. Previously, the Government of Uganda was in Entebbe today in Kampala.
Other cities include Lira, Mbale and Soroti.
Tourism
Tourist attractions in Uganda include national game parks, game reserves, traditional sites, natural tropical forests. Traditional occasions like Mbalu in eastern Uganda, boat riding, waterfalls etc.
Mountain gorillas are Uganda’s prime tourist attraction. The vast majority of these are in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, with a few others in Mgahinga National Park, both in southwestern Uganda. In Bwindi, visitors have been allowed to view the mountain gorillas since April 1993. The development of gorilla tourism and the habituation of gorillas to humans is proceeding very carefully because of the dangers to gorillas, such as contracting human diseases.
Wildlife Parks
Murchison Falls National Park covers an area of 3860 km² park is also known as National Park Kabalega Falls. It is about 6 hours drive from Kampala. In this park are the Murchison Falls. The White Nile flows from east to west through the park and wild waterfalls and rapids. In the park there are Rothschild giraffes, hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, lions, several species of antelope (including the ‘Ugandan Kob’), and various species of birds. The 766 km² National Park Kibale Forest is situated 35 kilometers south of Fort Portal. It consists of a savanna landscape with wetlands, crater lakes and tropical forests. In the game park is home of chimpanzees, elephants, buffalos, warthogs and antelopes.
The snowy peaks of the Rwenzori Mountains (“Mountains of the Moon”) in the west of the country provide 3% of the population of water with their meltwater. The national park covers an area of approximately 1000 square kilometers. Here is also Mount Stanley, which is the highest mountain in the country with its 5109 meters. The Queen Elizabeth National Park is the most wildlife rich Uganda, there are herds of elephants, buffalo, hippos, baboons and antelopes. The park is almost 2,000 square kilometers and has a savannah landscape with alternating swamps, rivers, lakes and tropical rainforest.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in southwestern Uganda on the border of the Virunga National Park in Congo. The park still about 340 mountain gorillas which four families can be visited by tourists.
Population and Religion
According to the 2002 census 84% of Uganda’s population is composed of Christians. [5] The Catholic Church has the largest number of adherents (41.9%), followed by the Anglican Church of Uganda (35.9%). A minority of the population is Muslim (mostly Sunni, according to the census 12% of the population). As for the remaining percentage of Christians are evangelical and Pentecostal churches very active. According to the census follows only 1% of the population of Uganda traditional religions and 0.7% are listed as ‘other non-Christians,’ including adherents of sects. Judaism is practiced by a small number of native Ugandans, known as the Abayudaya. One of the world’s seven Baha’i houses of worship located in the outskirts of Kampala.
Traditional local beliefs exist in some rural areas and are sometimes blended with or practiced alongside Christianity or Islam (syncretism). Indians are the most important immigrant group. Members of this community are mainly Isma’ili (Shiite followers of Aga Khan) or Hindu. The northern and West Nile regions are predominantly Catholic, while Iganga District in eastern Uganda has the highest percentage of Muslims. The rest of the country has a collection of religious groups.
Languages
Swahili, a widely used language throughout the African Great Lakes region, was approved as the country’s second official national language in 2005, though this is somewhat politically sensitive. English was the only official language until the constitution was amended in 2005. Though Swahili has not been favoured by the Bantu-speaking populations of the south and southwest of the country, it is an important lingua franca in the northern regions. It is also widely used in the police and military forces, which may be a historical result of the disproportionate recruitment of northerners into the security forces during the colonial period. The status of Swahili has thus alternated with the political group in power. For example, Amin, who came from the northwest, declared Swahili to be the national language.
Poverty
According to the Development Program of the United Nations lives in Uganda, 37.7% of the population below the poverty line.
Source: wikipedia
