Uganda achieved
independence from the UK 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. During
the 1990s, the government promulgated non-party presidential and
legislative elections.
Geography
Location:
Eastern Africa,
west of Kenya
Geographic
coordinates:
1 00 N, 32 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total:
236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km
Area -
comparative:
slightly smaller
than Oregon
Land boundaries:
total: 2,698
km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 765
km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
tropical; generally
rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to
August); semiarid in northeast
Terrain:
mostly plateau with
rim of mountains
Elevation
extremes:
lowest point:
Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m
Natural
resources:
copper, cobalt,
hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land
draining of
wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil
erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching
is widespread
Environment -
international agreements:
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Geography -
note:
landlocked;
fertile, well-watered country with many lakes and rivers
People
Population:
27,269,482 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into
account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can
result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and
death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in
the distribution of population by age and sex than would
otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)
total: 14.97
years male: 14.87 years female: 15.08 years (2005 est.)
Population
growth rate:
3.31% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
47.39 births/1,000
population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
12.8 deaths/1,000
population (2005 est.)
Net migration
rate:
-1.49 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality
rate:
total: 67.83
deaths/1,000 live births male: 71.18 deaths/1,000 live births female: 64.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy
at birth:
total
population: 51.59 years male: 50.74 years female: 52.46 years (2005 est.)
Roman Catholic 33%,
Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18%
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, Arabic
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.9% male: 79.5% female: 60.4% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name:
conventional
long form: Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda
8 October 1995;
adopted by the interim, 284-member Constituent Assembly, charged
with debating the draft constitution that had been proposed in
May 1993; the Constituent Assembly was dissolved upon the
promulgation of the constitution in October 1995
Legal system:
in 1995, the
government restored the legal system to one based on English
common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age;
universal
Executive
branch:
chief of state:
President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power
26 January 1986); note - the president is both chief of state
and head of government head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta
MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime Minister
Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the president is
both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister
assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among
elected legislators elections: president reelected by popular vote for a
five-year term; election last held 12 March 2001 (next to be
held NA 2006); note - first popular election for president since
independence in 1962 was held in 1996; prime minister appointed
by the president election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected
president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI
69.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 27.8%
Legislative
branch:
unicameral National
Assembly (303 members - 214 directly elected by popular vote, 81
nominated by legally established special interest groups [women
56, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 5], 8 ex officio
members; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 26 June 2001 (next to be held by
June 2006); election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats
by party - NA; note - election campaigning by party was not
permitted
Judicial branch:
Court of Appeal
(judges are appointed by the president and approved by the
legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Political
parties and leaders:
only one political
organization, the Movement (formerly the NRM) [President
MUSEVENI, chairman] is allowed to operate unfettered; note - the
president maintains that the Movement is not a political party,
but a mass organization, which claims the loyalty of all
Ugandans note: the constitution requires the suspension of
political parties while the Movement organization is in
governance; 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 [Ken
LUKYAMUZI]; Justice Forum [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; and
National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA]
Political
pressure groups and leaders:
Popular Resistance
Against a Life President or PRALP
six equal
horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and
red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a
red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side
Economy
Economy -
overview:
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 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.
During 1990-2001, 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. 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 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.
Growth for 2001-02 was solid despite continued decline in the
price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. Solid growth in
2003-04 reflected an upturn in Uganda's export markets.
GDP:
purchasing power
parity - $39.39 billion (2004 est.)
coffee, fish and
fish products, tea; gold, cotton, flowers, horticultural
products
Exports -
partners:
Kenya 13.6%,
Switzerland 11.2%, Netherlands 9.8%, Belgium 8.6%, France 4.2%
(2004)
Imports:
$1.306 billion
f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports -
commodities:
capital equipment,
vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals
Imports -
partners:
Kenya 27.9%, India
8%, UAE 7.4%, South Africa 6.9%, UK 5.9%, China 5.6%, Japan
5.1%, US 4.6% (2004)
Reserves of
foreign exchange and gold:
$1.2 billion (2004
est.)
Debt - external:
$3.865 billion
(2004 est.)
Currency (code):
Ugandan shilling (UGX)
Currency code:
UGX
Exchange rates:
Ugandan shillings
per US dollar - 1,810.3 (2004), 1,963.7 (2003), 1,797.6 (2002),
1,755.7 (2001), 1,644.5 (2000)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June
Communications
Telephones -
main lines in use:
61,000 (2003)
Telephones -
mobile cellular:
776,200 (2003)
Telephone
system:
general
assessment: 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: country code - 256; satellite earth
stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog
links to Kenya and Tanzania
Radio broadcast
stations:
AM 7, FM 33,
shortwave 2 (2001)
Radios:
5 million (2001)
Television
broadcast stations:
8 (plus one
low-power repeater) (2001)
Televisions:
500,000 (2001)
Internet country
code:
.ug
Internet hosts:
2,692 (2004)
Internet Service
Providers (ISPs):
2 (2000)
Internet users:
125,000 (2003)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 1,241
km narrow gauge: 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Highways:
total:
27,000 km paved: 1,809 km unpaved: 25,191 km (1999 est.)
Waterways:
300 km (on Lake
Victoria, 200 km on Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and parts of Albert
Nile) (2004 est.)
Ports and
harbors:
Entebbe, Jinja,
Port Bell
Airports:
29 (2004 est.)
Airports - with
paved runways:
total: 4 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with
unpaved runways:
total: 25
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 7 (2004 est.)
Military
Military
branches:
Ugandan Peoples'
Defense Force (UPDF): Army, Marine Unit, Air Wing
Military
manpower - military age and obligation:
18 years of age for
compulsory and voluntary military duty; the government has
stated that recruitment below that age could occur with proper
consent and that "no person under the apparent age of 13 years
shall be enrolled in the armed forces"
Military
manpower - availability:
males age 18-49:
5,012,620 (2005 est.)
Military
manpower - fit for military service:
males age 18-49:
2,889,808 (2005 est.)
Military
expenditures - dollar figure:
$170.3 million
(2004)
Military
expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.2% (2004)
Transnational Issues
Disputes -
international:
Uganda is subject
to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed
gangs, militias, and various government forces; Ugandan refugees
have fled the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) into the southern
Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; LRA forces have
also attacked Kenyan villages across the border
Refugees and
internally displaced persons::
refugees
(country of origin): 184,731 (Sudan) 18,000 (Rwanda) IDPs: 1.4 million note - ongoing Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
rebellion, mainly in the north; LRA frequently attacks IDP camps
(2004)
100+ Important Documents in United States History
