About Uganda


GENERAL INFORMATION
Official Language: English; Hours ahead of GMT: 3; Monetary Unit: Uganda Shilling ( approximately 1,800 Shillings = One US Dollar); Banking Hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm (some banks also open on Saturday mornings). Credit Cards: only accepted at a few establishments, expect to use cash in most places. The cash point machines at Standard Chartered Bank and Barlcays Bank in Kampala accept Visa and Visa Electron Cards. International Dialing Code: +256; National Holidays: 1st January, 26th January, 8th March, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1st May, 3rd June, 9th June, 9th October, 25th & 26th December.

 

ECONOMY
Uganda is largely a free market economy and in recent years has maintained a growth rate of about 5% per annum. Agriculture provides about 60% of GDP and over 80% of the adult population are either subsistence farmers or work in agriculture related fields. Major export crops include coffee, tea and tobacco.

Industry is diverse and centred around Kampala. It is mainly small scale and aimed at supplying the domestic market with basic products. The majority of manufactured goods are imported.

 

GEOGRAPHY
Uganda lies between the two arms of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. It is crossed by the equator. It is roughly the same size as Great Britain having an area of 241,139 sq. km. Of this 17% sq km is made up of swamps and open fresh water bodies, 12% forest reserves and game parks. It is bordered by Kenya to the East, Sudan to the North, DRC to the West and Tanzania and Rwanda to the south.

The country has an average elevation of 1200m above sea level. Mountain areas are the Rwenzori mountains (5000m) with permanent snow cover and Mount Elgon (4300m).

Uganda's climate is equatorial but this is tempered by its elevated altitude and average daytime temperatures range between 20C and 27C. Average annual rainfall is in the region of 1000mm. There are two rainy seasons - March to early May and September to December.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and second largest in the world. It is also the source of the River Nile. Lakes Edward and Albert lie to the west of the country.

The landscape and vegetation have exceptional diversity. Uganda lies at the overlap between tropical East African savannah and the West African rainforest zones. The south of the country is mostly covered by forest and sub-tropical cultivation (plantains, coffee and tea). There are woodland and open savannah grassland areas. The north is drier than the rest of the country. It is covered in semi-desert and dry acacia woodland, which lacks the heavy intertwining canopy found in tropical forests.

The population of Uganda is about 23,000,000 according to year 2000 estimates. Kampala city, the capital has a population of around 2,000,000. Approximately 51% are female The percentage of urban and rural population is 14% and 86% respectively. Annual population growth rate (natural increase) is 2.7% and the annual death rate is 21 per 1000 people.
SAFARIS
Gorilla Tour
Uganda Safari

 

NATIONAL PARKS
National Parks refer to relatively large areas containing representative examples of major natural regions, features, or scenery of national or international significance. Uganda is well endowed with a number of National Parks and/or Wild Life reserves that attract large numbers of people both locally and internationally. Some of the major National parks in Uganda include:

* Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
* Rwenzori Mountains National Park.
* Queen Elizabeth National Park.
* Mountain Elgon National Park.
* Lake Mburo National Park.
* Kibale Forest National Park.
* Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
* Kidepo Valley National Park.
* Murchison Falls National Park.
* Semuliki National Park.
* Semliki Wildlife Reserve.

 

HISTORY
Uganda was under British rule between 1900 and 1962. Prior to that it had for many centuries been made up of a number of separate kingdoms divided mainly along tribal lines.

Post independent Uganda had a turbulent history under a number of presidents until President Yoweri Museveni gained control in 1986 and managed to bring a war torn and divided country together. Since that time the country has been largely trouble free with the exception of occasional local disturbances and, as a result, has enjoyed rapid economic growth.

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION
The main airport is at Entebbe which is about a forty minute drive from the capital city Kampala. British Airways operates several direct weekly flights from and to London and several other major international airlines also serve Entebbe.

There is no shortage of hotels of all qualities in Kampala and many other towns can offer tourist standard hotel accommodation.

Travel within Uganda is relatively straight forward, most roads being in reasonable condition.

SAFARIS
Gorilla Tour