Uganda travel destination in Africa, Uganda is a landlocked country and known as Pearl of Africa bordered by South Sudan to North, DRC Congo to West, Rwanda, and Tanzania to the South, and Kenya to the East, lying astride the Equator.
Topographically much of Uganda can be classified as a plateau with numerous Hills, Valleys, and extensive Savanna plain. The entire country lies on 900 meters above sea level generally sloping from South to North. The country lies in a cradle of mountains on East border with Kenya we have Mt Moroto and Elgon which cover an area of 4321 meter above sea level, and Southwestern the range raising altitude over 2000M. Uganda is a well-watered country with close to 17 % or 51000 sq km of its area dedicated to swamp or open water
Uganda Local Currency
The Uganda Shilling is the local currency and is issued in denomination of 50. , 100, 200, 500, 1000, as a coins 1000, 2000,5000,10.000,20,000, 50,000 notes with it fully liberalized foreign exchange regime, there is free movement of capital into and out of the country. Visitors can convert their foreign currency at central Bank, commercial Bank, licensed Hotels, Tours operators and forex Bureau. However van rate from place to place.
Uganda economics
Uganda travel destination, Uganda has performed well economically over last decade; it has also reduced poverty and waging an effective campaign against HIV/AIDS. However it remains one of the world poorest countries .and yet agriculture is the backbone of the Uganda economy. The government estimated the population to the total 25 million people in 2005. The Nyankole 9.9% the Bakiga 8.3% the Basoga 8.2% the western Nilotic speakers living in the North such as Langi 5.9% and Acholi 4.4% another one that speaks an eastern Nilotic language and live in the North east, include the Iteso 6.0 %and Karamojong 2.1% finally in the extreme North west are speakers of Sudanic language including Lubgara 3.5% and the Madi 1.1%
English is the official language of Uganda though Swahili is more widely spoken and used as a Lingua franca (a language used in common by different peoples to facilitate commerce and trade) Luganda is the language of Ganda ,is the most frequently used indigenous tongue .there are some tension among the Ethnic groups particularly between the Ganda and others.
Accommodation facility are ranging from 5 star Hotels to private operated Lodges and campsite spread out all over the country
What are the major Religion of Uganda?
The European missionary activity in the 19 century led to widespread conversion to a Christianity. Protestant, most belonging to the church of Uganda (Anglican) have had a greater political influence from the arrival of British Authority until the present. But have fewer adherents (25.9%) than the number accepting the Roman Catholic faith (30.3%) Muslim (16.6%) have the less social status or political influence in Uganda than either protestant or catholic 18% adheres to traditional tribal belief systems.
The major city of Uganda
Kampala city, southern Uganda, built on 7 Hills, capital of the country, near the Lake Victoria. Live stock, Hides, Coffee, Cotton, and sugarcane are trade in the city industries includes flour and sugar milling, cotton ginning, coffee processing and the manufacturing of textiles, cigarette and cements. Port Bell, a lake port about 10 Km to the southeast, is connected with Kampala by road and railway. Kampala is a site of the government building of the national theatre and of the Uganda museum. On old Kampala Hill a tablet marks the site of a fort established by the British in 1890, and the Kasubi Hill are the Tombs on the kabaka (king) of Buganda. Also in the city are Makerere University (1922) Uganda technical college (1954) and Rubaga cathedral mengo to the southwest was the traditional capital of the kingdom of Buganda, formally dissolved in 1976, Kampala succeeded nearby Entebbe as capital when the country became independent in 1962 with the population of 1.2 million.
Uganda travel destination
Entebbe city in Southern Uganda on the Northwest shore of lake Victoria it’s connected by road to the nearby capital of Kampala, located 34 km away, the city has noted botanical garden and an airport, one of the largest in Eastern Africa from 1893 Entebbe was the British colonial administrative centre of Uganda.
Mbale town, Eastern Uganda in the Eastern Region at the foot of Mount Elgon, It’s one of the nation largest urban areas and the commercial centre for coffee producing.
Jinja town, in Southern Uganda in the Eastern Region at the Northern end of Napoleon gulf of lake Victoria, a Dam and the large hydroelectric plant are located at Owen fall 2.4km north of the town. The Nile is the greatest watercourse of the world. As the longest River in the world, the Nile crosses ten countries and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. With it source in jinja District in Uganda, this great endowment cuts through countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda DRC, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania
Pressed with the growing needs due to the growing population ,Uganda just like any other country traversed by the Nile depend on the River to meet most of these needs. It borders Iganga and Kamuli in the North, Mukono in the Southwest, Kayunga in the west, Mayuge in the East and Lake Victoria in the South.
The Nile supports commercial activities like farming, fishing, generation of hydroelectric power and acting as a tourism spot to the communities that surround it. Tourism being one of the major commercial activities, the River Nile is gifted with attraction like the Owen Falls Dam, called Nalubale which supplies Electricity to Uganda and most of Kenya.