Uganda: Some Facts and Figures

Area: 91,041 square miles. Similar in size to Britain.

Location: Uganda straddles the Equator. It’s bordered by Kenya to the east; the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west; Rwanda and Tanzania to the south and South Sudan to the north.


Population:	30 million
Capital:	Kampala – population 1.7m
Other major towns:	Jinja¹; Mbale, Entebbe and Gulu.
Time zone:	GMT +3
Altitude:	85% of the country is between 900m and 1,500m above sea level.
Highest Point:	Mount Stanley in the Rwenzori Mountains (5,110m)
Language:	33 indigenous languages² are spoken. Lugandan is the most common but English is the official language.
Currency:	Uganda shilling
Life expectancy:	54 years (Unicef 2010)
Population orphaned by AIDS:	1.5m
Adult literacy:	65%
Land use³:	43% arable/pasture/agriculture; 28% forest; 4% marsh; 7% other.
Main Exports:	coffee; fish; tea; tobacco.
Climate:	Daily maximum for most of country 20 – 27 degrees; Daily minimum 12 – 18 degrees.
Rainfall:	varies but wet seasons are mid-September to November and March to May
Sport:	Football is the most popular sport⁴.

^{1: Jinja is close to the official source of the River Nile at the Owen Falls Dam}
^{2: The language of Karimojong, spoken in the north-east, has a vocabulary of just 180 words!}
^{3: 18% is covered by water – much of that is Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and the second biggest fresh water lake in the world}
_{4: The national team are known as the Cranes – a reference to Uganda’s national bird}