Uganda Fact Sheet
Continued

Judicial branch:   
Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and
approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by
the president)  
Political parties and leaders:   
only one political organization, the Movement (formerly the NRM)
[President MUSEVENI, chairman] is allowed to operate unfettered;
note - the president maintains that the Movement is not a political
party, but a mass organization, which claims the loyalty of all
Ugandans
note: the constitution requires the suspension of political parties
while the Movement organization is in governance; of the political
parties that exist but are prohibited from sponsoring candidates,
the most important are the Ugandan People's Congress or UPC
[Milton OBOTE]; Democratic Party or DP [Paul SSEMOGERERE];
Conservative Party or CP [Ken LUKYAMUZI]; Justice Forum
[Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; and National Democrats Forum
[Chapaa KARUHANGA]  

Political pressure groups and leaders:   
Popular Resistance Against a Life President or PRALP  
International organization participation:   
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, EADB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO  
Diplomatic representation in the US:   
chief of mission: Ambassador Edith Grace SSEMPALA
chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011
telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416
FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727  
Diplomatic representation from the US:   
chief of mission: Ambassador Jimmy KOLKER
embassy: 1577 Ggaba Rd., Kampala
mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala
telephone: [256] (41) 234-142
FAX: [256] (41) 258-451  

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

Social Outreach:  
http://www.ugandaforhim.com
Youth Encouragement Service-Uganda
http://www.caroladamsministry.com
Economy - overview:   
Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils,
regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt.
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. Corruption within the government and slippage in
the government's determination to press reforms raise doubts
about the continuation of strong growth. 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. Growth for 2001-02 was solid despite
continued decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export.
Solid growth in 2003-04 reflected an upturn in Uganda's export
markets.  
GDP (purchasing power parity):    
$39.39 billion (2004 est.)  
GDP - real growth rate:    
5% (2004 est.)  
GDP - per capita:    
purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2004 est.)  
GDP - composition by sector:   
agriculture: 35.8%
industry: 20.8%
services: 43.6% (2004 est.)  
Labor force:    
12.41 million (2004 est.)  
Labor force - by occupation:   
agriculture 82%, industry 5%, services 13% (1999 est.)  
Unemployment rate:    
NA (2002 est.)  
Population below poverty line:   
35% (2001 est.)  
Household income or consumption by percentage share:   
lowest 10%: 4%
highest 10%: 21% (2000)  
Distribution of family income - Gini index:   
37.4 (1996)  
Inflation rate (consumer prices):    
3.5% (2004 est.)  
Investment (gross fixed):    
22.4% of GDP (2004 est.)  
Budget:   
revenues: $1.491 billion
expenditures: $1.727 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2004 est.)  
Public debt:    
73.9% of GDP (2004 est.)  
Agriculture - products:   
coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn,
millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry, cut flowers  
Industries:   
sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement, steel production  
Industrial production growth rate:    
5.6% (2004 est.)  
Electricity - production:    
1.775 billion kWh (2002)  
Electricity - consumption:    
1.401 billion kWh (2002)  
Electricity - exports:   
250 million kWh (2002)  
Electricity - imports:   
0 kWh (2002)  
Oil - production:    
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)  
Oil - consumption:    
8,750 bbl/day (2001 est.)  
Oil - exports:    
NA  
Oil - imports:    
NA  
Current account balance:    
$-590.8 million (2004 est.)  
Exports:    
$621.7 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)  
Exports - commodities:   
coffee, fish and fish products, tea; gold, cotton, flowers, horticultural
products  
Exports - partners:   
Kenya 15%, Netherlands 10.7%, Belgium 9%, France 4.4%,
Germany 4.4% (2004)  
Imports:    
$1.306 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)  
Imports - commodities:   
capital equipment, vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals  
Imports - partners:   
Kenya 32.3%, UAE 7.3%, South Africa 6.5%, India 5.8%, China
5.6%, UK 5.1%, US 4.8%, Japan 4.8% (2004)  
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:    
$1.2 billion (2004 est.)  
Debt - external:    
$3.865 billion (2004 est.)  
Economic aid - recipient:   
$1.4 billion (2000)  
Currency (code):   
Ugandan shilling (UGX)  
Exchange rates:   
Ugandan shillings per US dollar - 1,810.3 (2004), 1,963.7 (2003),
1,797.6 (2002), 1,755.7 (2001), 1,644.5 (2000)  
Fiscal year:   
1 July - 30 June  
Communications    Uganda Top of Page  
Telephones - main lines in use:    
61,000 (2003)  
Telephones - mobile cellular:    
776,200 (2003)  
Telephone system:   
general assessment: seriously inadequate; two cellular systems
have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main
lines is essential; 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  
Radio broadcast stations:   
AM 7, FM 33, shortwave 2 (2001)  
Television broadcast stations:   
8 (plus one low-power repeater) (2001)  
Internet country code:   
.ug  
Internet hosts:    
2,692 (2004)  
Internet users:    
125,000 (2003)  

Railways:    
total: 1,241 km
narrow gauge: 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)  
Highways:    
total: 27,000 km
paved: 1,809 km
unpaved: 25,191 km (1999 est.)  
Waterways:    
300 km (on Lake Victoria, 200 km on Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and
parts of Albert Nile) (2004 est.)  
Ports and harbors:   
Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell  
Airports:    
29 (2004 est.)  
Airports - with paved runways:   
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)  
Airports - with unpaved runways:   
total: 25
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 7 (2004 est.)  

Military branches:   
Ugandan Peoples' Defense Force (UPDF): Army, Marine Unit, Air
Wing  
Military manpower - military age and obligation:   
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military duty; the
government has stated that recruitment below that age could occur
with proper consent and that "no person under the apparent age of
13 years shall be enrolled in the armed forces"  
Military manpower - availability:   
males age 18-49: 5,012,620 (2005 est.)  
Military manpower - fit for military service:   
males age 18-49: 2,889,808 (2005 est.)  
Military expenditures - dollar figure:    
$170.3 million (2004)  
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:    
2.2% (2004)  


Disputes - international:   
Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups,
rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces;
Ugandan refugees have fled the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) into
the southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages across the border  
Refugees and internally displaced persons:   
refugees (country of origin): 184,731 (Sudan) 18,000 (Rwanda)
IDPs: 1.4 million note - ongoing Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
rebellion, mainly in the north; LRA frequently attacks IDP camps
(2004)  




Uganda achieved independence from the UK in 1962. The
dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the
deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human
rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed at least
another 100,000 lives. During the 1990s, the government
promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections.  

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)  
Maritime claims:   
none (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: 25.88%
permanent crops: 10.65%
other: 63.47% (2001)  
Irrigated land:   
90 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:   
NA  
Environment - current issues:   
draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation;
overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake
Victoria; poaching is widespread  
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  

Population:    
27,269,482
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 and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
(July 2005 est.)  
Age structure:   
0-14 years: 50.1% (male 6,875,663/female 6,784,378)
15-64 years: 47.7% (male 6,511,867/female 6,494,859)
65 years and over: 2.2% (male 263,790/female 338,925) (2005
est.)  
Median age:   
total: 14.97 years
male: 14.87 years
female: 15.08 years (2005 est.)  
Population growth rate:   
3.31% (2005 est.)  
Birth rate:    
47.39 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)  
Death rate:    
12.8 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)  
Net migration rate:   
-1.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)  
Sex ratio:   
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)  
Infant mortality rate:    
total: 67.83 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 71.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 64.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)  
Life expectancy at birth:    
total population: 51.59 years
male: 50.74 years
female: 52.46 years (2005 est.)  
Total fertility rate:    
6.74 children born/woman (2005 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: malaria and African
trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) are high risks in some
locations
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2004)

Nationality:   
noun: Ugandan(s)
adjective: Ugandan  
Ethnic groups:   
Baganda 17%, Ankole 8%, Basoga 8%, Iteso 8%, Bakiga 7%,
Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%,
Batoro 3%, Bunyoro 3%, Alur 2%, Bagwere 2%, Bakonjo 2%,
Jopodhola 2%, Karamojong 2%, Rundi 2%, non-African
(European, Asian, Arab) 1%, other 8%

Religions:   
Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous
beliefs 18%  
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

Religious Social Outreach:
Youth Encouragement Services-Uganda

Literacy:   
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 69.9%
male: 79.5%
female: 60.4% (2003 est.)  

Country name:   
conventional long form: Republic of Uganda
conventional short form: Uganda  
Government type:   
republic  
Capital:   
Kampala  

Administrative divisions:   
56 districts; Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi,
Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole,
Kaberamaido, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kamwenge,
Kanungu, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kayunga, Kibale,
Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Kyenjojo, Lira, Luwero,
Masaka, Masindi, Mayuge, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi,
Mubende, Mukono, Nakapiripirit, Nakasongola, Nebbi,
Ntungamo, Pader, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule,
Sironko, Soroti, Tororo, Wakiso, Yumbe

Independence:   
9 October 1962 (from UK)  
National holiday:   
Independence Day, 9 October (1962)  
Constitution:   
8 October 1995; adopted by the interim, 284-member Constituent
Assembly, charged with debating the draft constitution that had
been proposed in May 1993; the Constituent Assembly was
dissolved upon the promulgation of the constitution in October
1995  
Legal system:   
in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based
on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations  
Suffrage:   
18 years of age; universal  
Executive branch:   
chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since
seizing power 26 January 1986); note - the president is both chief
of state and head of government
head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta
MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime
Minister Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the
president is both chief of state and head of government; the
prime minister assists the president in the supervision of the
cabinet
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected
legislators
elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election last held 12 March 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); note -
first popular election for president since independence in 1962
was held in 1996; prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected
president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI
69.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 27.8%  

Legislative branch:   
unicameral National Assembly (303 members - 214 directly
elected by popular vote, 81 nominated by legally established
special interest groups [women 56, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5,
labor 5], 8 ex officio members; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 26 June 2001 (next to be held by June 2006);
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
NA; note - election campaigning by party was not permitted
About  Uganda