More facts about Uganda - Updated

Introduction

Background

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.

Geography

Location:

Eastern Africa, west of Kenya

Geographic coordinates:

1 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 241,038 sq km

land: 197,100 sq km

water: 43,938 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, gold, oil (newly found)[MM]

Land use:

arable land: 21.57%

permanent crops: 8.92%

other: 69.51% (2005)

Irrigated land:

90 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

66 cu km (1970)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.3 cu km/yr (43%/17%/40%)

per capita: 10 cu m/yr (2002)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; widespread poaching

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:

33,398,682

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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2010 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 50% (male 8,407,732/female 8,285,495)

15-64 years: 47.9% (male 8,058,434/female 7,943,766)

65 years and over: 2.1% (male 289,121/female 414,134) (2010 est.)

Median age:

total: 15 years

male: 14.9 years

female: 15.1 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate:

3.563% (2010 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2 (!)

Birth rate:

47.55 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

country comparison to the world: 2

Death rate:

11.9 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

country comparison to the world: 34

Net migration rate:

-0.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

Urbanization

: urban population: 13% of total population (2008)

rate of urbanization: 4.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female

total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 63.7 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 67.31 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 59.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 52.98 years

male: 51.92 years

female: 54.07 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate:

6.73 children born/woman (2010 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

5.4% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

940,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

77,000 (2007 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria, plague, and African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)

water contact disease: schistosomiasis

animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality:

noun: Ugandan(s)

adjective: Ugandan

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) Religions:

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)

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: 66.8%

male: 76.8%

female: 57.7% (2002 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 10 years

male: 11 years

female: 10 years (2004)

Education expenditures:

5.2% of GDP (2004)

Government

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Uganda

conventional short form: Uganda

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Kampala

geographic coordinates: 0 19 N, 32 25 E

time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

80 districts; Abim, Adjumani, Amolatar, Amuria, Amuru, Apac, Arua, Budaka, Bududa, Bugiri, Bukedea, Bukwa, Bulisa, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Butaleja, Dokolo, Gulu, Hoima, Ibanda, Iganga, Isingiro, Jinja, Kaabong, Kabale, Kabarole, Kaberamaido, Kalangala, Kaliro, Kampala, Kamuli, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kayunga, Kibale, Kiboga, Kiruhara, Kisoro, Kitgum, Koboko, Kotido, Kumi, Kyenjojo, Lira, Luwero, Lyantonde, Manafwa, Maracha, Masaka, Masindi, Mayuge, Mbale, Mbarara, Mityana, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakapiripirit, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Namutumba, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Oyam, Pader, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Sironko, Soroti, Tororo, Wakiso, Yumbe

Independence:

9 October 1962 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 9 October (1962)

Constitution:

8 October 1995; amended in 2005

note: the amendments in 2005 removed presidential term limits and legalized a multiparty political system

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:

President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power on 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 on 26 January 1986); Prime Minister Apolo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - 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 on 23 February 2006 (next to be held in February 2011) election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 59.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 37.4%, other 3.3% Legislative branch:

unicameral National Assembly (332 seats; 215 members elected by popular vote, 104 nominated by legally established special interest groups [women 79, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 5], 13 ex officio members; to serve five-year terms)

elections: last held 23 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NRM 205, FDC 37, UPC 9, DP 8, CP 1, JEEMA 1, independents 37, other 34 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:

Conservative Party or CP [Ken LUKYAMUZI]; Democratic Party or DP [Kizito SSEBAANA]; Forum for Democratic Change or FDC [Kizza BESIGYE]; Justice Forum or JEEMA [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; National Resistance Movement or NRM [Yoweri MUSEVENI]; Peoples Progressive Party or PPP [Bidandi SSALI]; Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Miria OBOTE] note: a national referendum in July 2005 opened the way for Uganda's transition to a multi-party political system Political pressure groups and leaders:

Lord's Resistance Army or LRA [Joseph KONY]; Young Parliamentary Association [Henry BANYENZAKI]; Parliamentary Advocacy Forum or PAFO; National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda or NAWOU [Florence NEKYON]; The Ugandan Coalition for Political Accountability to Women or COPAW International organization participation:

AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Perezi Karukubiro KAMUNANWIRE

chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011

telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416

FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Steven BROWNING

embassy: 1577 Ggaba Road, Kampala

mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala

telephone: [256] (414) 259, 306-001

FAX: [256] (414) 258-451

Flag description:

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, 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. GDP (purchasing power parity):

$43.22 billion (2009 est.)

$40.55 billion (2008 est.)

$37.44 billion (2007 est.)

note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):

$15.84 billion (2009 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

6.6% (2009 est.)

8.3% (2008 est.)

8.2% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$1,300 (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 204

$1,300 (2008 est.)

$1,200 (2007 est.)

note: data are in 2009 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 22.5%

industry: 25.1%

services: 52.4% (2009 est.)

Labor force:

15.01 million (2009 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 82%

industry: 5%

services: 13% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.6%

highest 10%: 34.1% (2005)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

45.7 (2002)

Investment (gross fixed):

19.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $2.22 billion

expenditures: $2.765 billion (2009 est.)

Public debt:

19.7% of GDP (2009 est.)

18.7% of GDP (2008 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices):

13.1% (2009 est.)

country comparison to the world: 209

12.1% (2008 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

19.42% (31 December 2008)

14.68% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

20.45% (31 December 2008)

19.11% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$1.485 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.347 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$1.485 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.258 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$1.464 billion (31 December 2008)

$640.3 million (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA (31 December 2009)

$NA (31 December 2007)

$116.3 million (31 December 2006)

Agriculture - products:

Field info displayed for all countries in alpha order. coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses, cut flowers; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry

Industries:

sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles; cement, steel production

Industrial production growth rate:

5.3% (2009 est.)

Electricity - production:

2.256 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

2.068 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports:

30 million kWh (2007)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2008 est.)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

13,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - imports:

13,090 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:

2.4billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.) * [Heritage in a report to its partners talked of Ugandan reserves of 2.4 billion barrels (380,000,000 m3) worth $7 billion as the "most exciting new play in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade."[7] However, development will require a 750 miles (1,210 km) pipeline to the coast, which will need $80 oil to justify. [
Wikipedia.org: Energy in Uganda]

Natural gas - production:

0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2008 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

-$10 million (2009 est.)

-$845.5 million (2008 est.)

Exports:

$3.733 billion (2009 est.)

$2.704 billion (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:

coffee, fish and fish products, tea, cotton, flowers, horticultural products; gold

Exports - partners:

Sudan 13.47%, Kenya 8.98%, UAE 7.52%, Rwanda 7.5%, Switzerland 7.42%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 6.85%, Netherlands 5.67%, Belgium 5.66%, Germany 5.18%, Italy 4.33% (2009)

Imports:

$4.193 billion (2009 est.)

$3.982 billion (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities:

capital equipment, vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals

Imports - partners:

Kenya 13.9%, India 12.79%, UAE 11.16%, China 8.91%, South Africa 5.08%, France 4.6%, Japan 4.37%, US 4.07% (2009)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$3.037 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$2.301 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Debt - external:

$2.05 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$1.835 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$NA

Exchange rates:

Ugandan shillings (UGX) per US dollar - 2,073.3 (2009), 1,658.1 (2008), 1,685.8 (2007), 1,834.9 (2006), 1,780.7 (2005)

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:168,500 (2008)

Telephones - mobile cellular:8.555 million (2008)

Telephone system:

general assessment: mobile cellular service is increasing rapidly, but the number of main lines is still deficient; work underway on a national backbone information and communications technology infrastructure; international phone networks and Internet connectivity provided through satellite and VSAT applications

domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile-cellular systems for short-range traffic; mobile-cellular teledensity exceeded 25 per 100 persons in 2008

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 205** (Jan. 2009), shortwave 2 (2001)

Television broadcast stations: 25** [
Updated from the
New Vision**]