Uganda Facts

by countryaah · Published June 3, 2019 · Updated April 25, 2020

Uganda, State of East Africa; 236,000 km², 42.7 million residents (2019).Uganda borders east to Kenya, south to Tanzania and Rwanda, west to Congo (Kinshasa) and north to South Sudan. The capital is Kampala (1.7 million residents, 2016).

Country facts

Republic of Uganda / Republic of Uganda
Country abbreviation: UG
Area: 236 000 km²
Population (2019): 42.7 million residents
Capital: Kampala
Main languages: English, Swahili
State: Republic
Head of State and Head of Government: Yoweri Museveni (President)
Per capita GDP (2018): US $ 643
GNI per capita (2018): US $ 620
Currency unit: 1 Ugandan shilling = 100 cents
Currency code: UGX
Country number (telephony): 256
Internet domain name: ug
Time difference compared to Sweden: 0
National Day: October 9 (Independence Day, 1962)

Nature

Land use: forest (32%), agricultural land (35%), other (33%)
Highest mountain: Margherita (5 119 m above sea level)
Largest lake: Lake Victoria (69 800 km² )

Population

Population density (2019): 181 residents per km²
Natural population growth (2019): 3.2%; birthrate 39 ‰, deathrate 7 ‰
Age structure (2019): 0-14 years (47%), 15-64 (51%), 65- (2%)
Average life expectancy (2019): men 60 years, women 65 years
Infant mortality (2019): 47 per 1,000 live births
Population forecast 2050: 89 million residents
HDI (2017): 0.516 (place 162 of 189)
Urbanization rate (2019): 24%
Most populous cities (2016): Kampala (1.7 million residents), Mbarara (202,800), Gulu (161,200)

Business

Industry’s contribution to GDP (2017): agriculture (28%), industry (21%), service (51%)
Exports (2017): US $ 3,339 million
Main export products: coffee, fish, tea
Main exporting countries: Kenya, Congo (Kinshasa), Rwanda
Imports (2017): US $ 5,036 million
Main import products: machinery, means of transport, oil
Main Importing Countries: China, Inden, United Arab Emirates
Railway network (2014): 1 200 km

Uganda is located on the East African plateau and mainly comprises a high plateau, which extends from the Victoria Lake basin northwards between the mountains that border the East African rift system’s tombs. The plateau, a river landscape formed by river erosion, lowers from 1,500 m south to 1,000 m north. The country has a long stretch of coast towards Lake Victoria in the southeast. Uganda is located at the equator and has tropical savannah climate.

The country’s constitution gives great power to the president, who is head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief. Every five years, general elections are held for the presidential post. The majority of Parliament’s members are elected in general elections for five years. Uganda became independent from the UK in 1962.

The country has good economic conditions, and over the past two decades the country has shown high growth. The engine of development has been the private sector, which has been stimulated by the liberalization of the state sector. Business is dominated by smallholder-based agriculture; the most important export is coffee. Fishing, which is important locally, has in recent years been hampered by the spread of water hyacinth. Investments are being made to develop tourism which almost ceased in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, the capital Kampala has developed into a regional center for the mobile phone industry.