Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region, it lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied equatorial climate. As of 2024[update], it has a population of over 49 million, of which 8.5 million live in the capital and largest city, Kampala.
Uganda is named after the Buganda kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south, including Kampala, and whose language Luganda is widely spoken; the official language is English. The region was populated by various ethnic groups, before Bantu and Nilotic groups arrived around 3,000 years ago. These groups established influential kingdoms such as the Empire of Kitara. The arrival of Arab traders in the 1830s and British explorers in the late 19th century, marked the beginning of foreign influence. The British established the Protectorate of Uganda in 1894, incorporating various kingdoms and setting the stage for future political dynamics. Uganda gained independence in 1962, with Milton Obote as the first prime minister. The 1966 Mengo Crisis marked a significant conflict with the Buganda kingdom. Idi Amin's military coup in 1971 led to a brutal regime characterized by mass killings and economic decline, until his overthrow in 1979.
Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) took power in 1986 after a six-year guerrilla war. This brought stability and growth, but authoritarian practices and human rights abuses. The abolition of presidential term limits, allegations of electoral fraud and repression, have raised concerns about Uganda's democratic future. Museveni was elected president in the 2011, 2016, and 2021 general elections. Human rights issues, corruption, and regional conflicts, such as involvement in the Congo Wars and the struggle against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), continue to challenge Uganda. Despite this, it has made progress in education and health, improving literacy and reducing HIV infection, though challenges in maternal health and gender inequality persist. The country's future depends on addressing governance and human rights, while leveraging its natural and human resources for sustainable development.
Geographically, Uganda is diverse, with volcanic hills, mountains, and lakes, including Lake Victoria, the world's second-largest freshwater lake. The country has significant natural resources, including fertile agricultural land and untapped oil reserves, contributing to its economic development. The service sector dominates the economy, surpassing agriculture. Uganda's rich biodiversity, with national parks and wildlife reserves, attracts tourism, a vital sector for the economy. Uganda is a member of the United Nations, the African Union, G77, the East African Community, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. (Full article...)
Geographic-administrative extent of Swahili. Dark: native range (the Swahili coast). Medium green: Spoken by a majority alongside indigenous languages. Light green: Spoken by a minority.
Swahili, also known by its local nameKiswahili, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, vary widely. They generally range from 60 million to 150 million; with most of its native speakers residing in Tanzania.
Swahili has a significant number of loanwords from other languages, mainly Arabic, as well as from Portuguese, English and German. Around 40% of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language (سَوَاحِليsawāḥilī, a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coasts'). The loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab traders and the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a lingua franca in the region. (Full article...)
... that Katharine Timpson Cook established training programmes for midwives in Namirembe, Uganda, but distrusted her students and censored their mail?
Image 31Forest Landscape Integrity Index 2019 map of Uganda. Forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. 0 = Most modification; 10= Least. Created in Google Earth Engine. National boundaries = LSIB 2017: Large Scale International Boundary Polygons, Detailed, US Officer of the Geographer (from Uganda)
Image 32Yoweri Museveni, president of the republic of Uganda since 1986 (from Uganda)
Image 33Change in per capita GDP of Uganda, 1950–2018. Figures are inflation-adjusted to 2011 International dollars. (from Uganda)
Image 34The Uganda printers building on Kampala Road, Kampala, Uganda (from Uganda)
Image 35Coffee fields in southwestern Uganda (from Uganda)
Image 36Population density of Uganda districts (from Uganda)
Articles here focus upon aspects of the Uganda–Tanzania War. These are all Good articles that meet a core set of high editorial standards.
During the Uganda–Tanzania War, the Battle of Bondo was fought on 27 May 1979 near the town of Bondo, Uganda, between Tanzanian forces and Ugandan troops loyal to Idi Amin. A band of Uganda Army soldiers opened fire on the Tanzanian Minziro Brigade as it advanced towards Arua, before fleeing in the face of a Tanzanian charge. Several Tanzanians were killed and wounded by their own artillery. It was the last battle of the war. Arua fell without resistance shortly thereafter. (Full article...)
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