Uganda

• tropical;
• generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August);
• semiarid in northeast

agricultural land:

71.2%;

• arable land 34.3%;
• permanent crops 11.3%;
• permanent pasture 25.6%

forest:

14.5%

other:

14.3% (2011 est.)

• population density is relatively high in comparison to other African nations;
• most of the population is concentrated in the central and southern parts of the country, particularly along the shores of Lake Victoria and Lake Albert;
• the northeast is least populated

• droughts;
• floods;
• earthquakes;
• landslides;
• hailstorms

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

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

noun:

Ugandan(s)

adjective:

Ugandan

• population density is relatively high in comparison to other African nations;
• most of the population is concentrated in the central and southern parts of the country, particularly along the shores of Lake Victoria and Lake Albert;
• the northeast is least populated

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.93 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.79 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria, dengue fever, and trypanosomiasis-Gambiense (African sleeping sickness)

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2016)

conventional long form:

Republic of Uganda

conventional short form:

Uganda

etymology:

• from the Swahili "Buganda," adopted by the British as the name for their East African colony in 1894;
• Buganda had been a powerful East African state during the 18th and 19th centuries

name:

Kampala

geographic coordinates:

0 19 N, 32 33 E

time difference:

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

history:

several previous; latest adopted 27 September 1995, promulgated 8 October 1995

amendments:

• proposed by the National Assembly;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly membership in the second and third readings;
• proposals affecting constitutional sections including the sovereignty of the people, supremacy of the constitution, human rights and freedoms, the democratic and multiparty form of government, presidential term of office, independence of the judiciary, and the institutions of traditional or cultural leaders also requires passage by referendum, ratification by at least two-thirds majority vote of district council members in at least two-thirds of Uganda's districts, and assent by the president of the republic;
• amended many times, last in 2015 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent or grandparent must be a native-born citizen of Uganda

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

an aggregate of 20 years and continuously for the last 2 years prior to applying for citizenship

chief of state:

• President Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power on 26 January 1986);
• Vice President Edward SSEKANDI (since 24 May 2011);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power on 26 January 1986);
• Vice President Edward SSEKANDI (since 24 May 2011);
• Prime Minister Ruhakana RUGUNDA (since 19 September 2014);
• First Deputy Prime Minister Moses ALI (since 6 June 2016);
• Second Deputy Prime Minister Kirunda KIVEJINJA (since 6 June 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected members of the National Assembly or persons who qualify to be elected as members of the National Assembly

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 18 February 2016 (next to be held in February 2021)

election results:

Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI reelected president; percent of vote - Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (NRM) 60.6%, Kizza BESIGYE (FDC) 35.6%, other 3.8%

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of Uganda (consists of the chief justice and at least 10 justices)

judge selection and term of office:

• justices appointed by the president of the republic in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission (a 9-member independent advisory body) and approved by the National Assembly;
• justices serve until mandatory retirement at age 70

subordinate courts:

• Court of Appeal (also sits as the Constitutional Court);
• High Court (includes 12 High Court Circuits and 8 High Court Divisions);
• Industrial Court;
• Chief Magistrate Grade One and Grade Two Courts throughout the country;
• qadhis courts;
• local council courts;
• family and children courts

• Conservative Party or CP [Ken LUKYAMUZI]
• Democratic Party or DP [Norbert MAO]
• Forum for Democratic Change or FDC [Mugisha MUNTU]
• Justice Forum or JEEMA [Asuman BASALIRWA]
• National Resistance Movement or NRM [Yoweri MUSEVENI]
• Uganda People's Congress or UPC [James AKENA]
• Uganda People's Defense Force or UPDF

• National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda or NAWOU [Monica EMIRU]
• Parliamentary Advocacy Forum or PAFO
• Ugandan Coalition for Political Accountability to Women or COPAW

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mull Sebujja KATENDE (since 8 September 2017)

chancery:

5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011

telephone:

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

FAX:

[1] (202) 726-1727

chief of mission:

Ambassador Deborah R. MALAC (since 27 February 2016)

embassy:

1577 Ggaba Road, Kampala

mailing address:

P.O. Box 7007, Kampala

telephone:

[256] (414) 259 791 through 93, 95

FAX:

[256] (414) 259794

• six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red;
• a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a grey crowned crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side;
• black symbolizes the African people, yellow sunshine and vitality, red African brotherhood;
• the crane was the military badge of Ugandan soldiers under the UK

name:

"Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty!"

lyrics/music:

George Wilberforce KAKOMOA

note: adopted 1962

agriculture:

71.9%

industry:

4.4%

services:

23.7% (2013 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.4%

highest 10%:

36.1% (2009 est.)

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 fiber-optic cables through Kenya and the Indian Ocean

domestic:

• intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed-line and mobile-cellular systems for short-range traffic;
• mobile-cellular teledensity about 60 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 256;
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat;
• analog and digital links to Kenya and Tanzania (2016)

• public broadcaster, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), operates radio and TV networks;
• Uganda first began licensing privately owned stations in the 1990s;
• by 2007, there were nearly 150 radio and 35 TV stations, mostly based in and around Kampala;
• transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available in Kampala (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

1; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

41,812

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

23,472 mt-km (2015)

total:

1,244 km

narrow gauge:

1,244 km 1.000-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 84

total:

20,000 km (excludes local roads)

paved:

3,264 km

unpaved:

16,736 km (2011)

country comparison to the world: 109

total:

1

by type:

bulk carrier 1 (2017)

country comparison to the world: 168

• 18-26 years of age for voluntary military duty;
• 18-30 years of age for professionals;
• no conscription;
• 9-year service obligation;
• the government has stated that while recruitment under 18 years of age could occur with proper consent, "no person under the apparent age of 18 years shall be enrolled in the armed forces";
• Ugandan citizenship and secondary education required (2012)

• Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces that extend across its borders;
• Ugandan refugees as well as members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) seek shelter in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Garamba National Park;
• LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages across the border

refugees (country of origin):

• 1,057,809 (South Sudan) (refugees and asylum seekers);
• 231,504 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (refugees and asylum seekers);
• 40,313 (Burundi) (refugee and asylum seekers);
• 36,909 (Somalia) (refugees and asylum seekers);
• 15,260 (Rwanda) (refugees and asylum seekers) (2017)

IDPs:

53,000 (displaced in northern Uganda because of fighting between government forces and the Lord's Resistance Army; as of 2011, most of the 1.8 million people displaced to IDP camps at the height of the conflict had returned home or resettled, but many had not found durable solutions; intercommunal violence and cattle raids) (2016)