Data at glance of Uganda - average on period

History

An ancient crossroads for various migrations, Uganda has as many as 65 ethnic groups that speak languages from three of Africa’s four major linguistic families. As early as 1200, fertile soils and regular rainfall in the south fostered the formation of several large, centralized kingdoms, including Buganda, from which the country derives its name. Muslim traders from Egypt reached northern Uganda in the 1820s, and Swahili merchants from the Indian Ocean coast arrived in the south by the 1840s. The area attracted the attention of British explorers seeking the source of the Nile River in the 1860s, and this influence expanded in subsequent decades with the arrival of Christian missionaries and trade agreements; Uganda was declared a British protectorate in 1894. Buganda and other southern kingdoms negotiated agreements with Britain to secure privileges and a level of autonomy that were rare during the colonial period in Africa. Uganda's colonial boundaries grouped together a wide range of ethnic groups with different political systems and cultures, and the disparities between how Britain governed southern and northern areas compounded these differences, complicating efforts to establish a cohesive independent country. Uganda gained independence in 1962 with one of the more developed economies and one of the strongest education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, but it descended within a few years into political turmoil and internal conflict that lasted more than two decades. In 1966, Prime Minister Milton OBOTE suspended the constitution and violently deposed President Edward MUTESA, who was also the king of Buganda. Idi AMIN seized power in 1971 through a military coup and led the country into economic ruin and rampant mass atrocities that killed as many as 500,000 civilians. AMIN’s annexation of Tanzanian territory in 1979 provoked Tanzania to invade Uganda, depose AMIN, and install a coalition government. In the aftermath, Uganda continued to experience atrocities, looting, and political instability and had four different heads of state between 1979 and 1980. OBOTE regained the presidency in 1980 through a controversial election that sparked renewed guerrilla warfare, killing as an estimated 300,000 civilians. Gen. Tito OKELLO seized power in a coup in 1985, but his rule was short-lived, with Yoweri MUSEVENI becoming president in 1986 after his insurgency captured the capital. MUSEVENI is widely credited with restoring relative stability and economic growth to Uganda but has resisted calls to leave office. In 2017, parliament removed presidential age limits, making it possible for MUSEVENI to remain in office for life.

Environment

Area: 241,038 sq km km2

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

Natural resources: copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land, gold

Ethnic characteristics

Groups: Baganda 16.5%, Banyankole 9.6%, Basoga 8.8%, Bakiga 7.1%, Iteso 7%, Langi 6.3%, Bagisu 4.9%, Acholi 4.4%, Lugbara 3.3%, other 32.1% (2014 est.)

Languages:

Religions: Protestant 45.1% (Anglican 32.0%, Pentecostal/Born Again/Evangelical 11.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.7%, Baptist .3%), Roman Catholic 39.3%, Muslim 13.7%, other 1.6%, none 0.2% (2014 est.)

Government

Capital: Kampala

Government type: presidential republic

Executive branch

Chief of state: President Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since 26 January 1986)

Head of government: Prime Minister Robinah NABBANJA (since 14 June 2021)

Legislative branch

Description: Parliament - unicameral

Industries

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

GDP by sector: Agriculture: 24.7% (2024 est.), Industry: 24.9% (2024 est.), Services: 43.1% (2024 est.)

Trade

Export partners: India 21%, UAE 16%, Hong Kong 10%, South Sudan 8%, Kenya 6% (2023)

Export commodities: gold, coffee, fish, refined petroleum, tobacco (2023)

Import partners: China 19%, UAE 12%, Tanzania 11%, India 10%, Kenya 7% (2023)

Import commodities: refined petroleum, gold, plastics, packaged medicine, palm oil (2023)

Geography

East-Central Africa, west of Kenya, east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Defence

Military expenditure: 2023: 2% of GDP (2023 est.)