KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1962
Population: 36,346,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 3.3% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 161
Official languages: English, Kiswahili
Time: GMT plus 3hr
Currency: Uganda shilling (USh)
Geography
Area: 236,000 sq km
Coastline: none
Capital: Kampala
Uganda is a landlocked East African country lying astride the equator. It is bordered (clockwise from north) by Sudan, Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Main towns:
Kampala (capital, pop. 1.51m in 2010), Gulu (216,200), Lira (182,800), Jinja (97,300), Kasese (93,300), Mbarara (91,900), Kitgum (87,100), Mbale (80,700), Njeru (73,500), Arua (70,900), Entebbe (67,300), Masaka (66,900), Kabale (56,500), Iganga (55,500), Koboko (55,300), Tororo (53,800), Mukono (53,600), Hoima (53,300) and Mityana (49,500).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 154
Life expectancy: 59 years
Net primary enrolment: 91% (2011)
Population:
36,346,000 (2012); 16 per cent of people live in urban areas and five per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 3.3 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 44 per 1,000 people (49 in 1970); life expectancy 59 years (50 in 1970 and 48 in 1990). The rural population predominates, with most settlement concentrated around Lake Victoria. The majority of the population consists of Bantu peoples (Baganda 17 per cent, Banyankore ten per cent, Basoga eight per cent, Bakiga seven per cent, Bagisu five per cent, Bunyoro three per cent) in the west, south and east; and most of the rest of Nilotic peoples (Iteso seven per cent, Langi six per cent, Acholi five per cent, Lugbara four per cent, Alur, Karimojong and Kakwa) in the north and parts of the east; with minorities of Asians and refugees from neighbouring countries (2002 census).
Language:
The official languages are English and Kiswahili; Kiswahili and Luganda are widely spoken and there are several other African languages.
Education:
Public spending on education was three per cent of GDP in 2012. There are seven years of primary education starting at the age of six, followed by six years of secondary, with cycles of four and two years. The government phased in free primary schooling from 1997 and free secondary from 2007. Some 25 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2010). The school year starts in February. Makerere University (1922) and Mbarara University of Science and Technology (1989) are the longest- established public universities. Kyambogo University (2003), Gulu University (2004) and Busitema University (2007) were founded in the 2000s. The principal private universities include Busoga University (1999), Islamic University in Uganda (1988), Kampala International University (2001), Uganda Christian University (1997) and Uganda Martyrs University (1993). The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 0.30:1 (2011). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 87 per cent (2010).
