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Uganda | | Geography | Uganda | Location: | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya | Geographic coordinates: | 1 00 N, 32 00 E | Map references: | Africa | Area: | total: 236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 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) | 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 | Land use: | arable land: 21.57% permanent crops: 8.92% other: 69.51% (2005) | 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 | Uganda | Population: | 31,367,972 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 2008 est.) | Age structure: | 0-14 years: 50% (male 7,903,935/female 7,789,792) 15-64 years: 47.8% (male 7,528,073/female 7,469,938) 65 years and over: 2.2% (male 284,122/female 392,112) (2008 est.) | Population growth rate: | 3.603% (2008 est.) | HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 4.1% (2003 est.) | HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 530,000 (2001 est.) | HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 78,000 (2003 est.) | Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: chikungunya, malaria, plague, and African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008) | 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 | Government | Uganda | 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) | Independence: | 9 October 1962 (from UK) | National holiday: | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) | Constitution: | 8 October 1995; in 2005 the constitution was amended removing presidential term limits and legalizing a multiparty political system | 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 | Uganda | Economy - overview: | Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper, cobalt, gold, and other minerals. 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. During 1990-2001, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved 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, and a consistent upturn in Uganda's export markets. 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. | Agriculture - products: | 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 | Communications | Uganda | Telephones - main lines in use: | 108,100 (2006) | Telephones - mobile cellular: | 4.195 million (2007) | Telephone system: | general assessment: seriously inadequate; mobile cellular service is increasing rapidly, but the number of main lines is still deficient; e-mail and Internet services are available domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile-cellular systems for short-range traffic international: country code - 256; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania |
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