The World Factbook (1990)/Uganda

​Uganda

 See regional map VII

Geography

Total area: 236,040 km²; land area: 199,710 km²

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries: 2,698 km total; Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km, Zaire 765 km

Coastline: none—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

Natural resources: copper, cobalt, limestone, salt

Land use: 23% arable land; 9% permanent crops; 25% meadows and pastures; 30% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: straddles Equator; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion

Note: landlocked

People

Population: 17,960,262 (July 1990), growth rate 3.5% (1990)

Birth rate: 52 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 17 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 107 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 50 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 7.4 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Ugandan(s); adjective—Ugandan

Ethnic divisions: 99% African, 1% European, Asian, Arab

Religion: 33% Roman Catholic, 33% Protestant, 16% Muslim, rest indigenous beliefs

Language: English (official); Luganda and Swahili widely used; other Bantu and Nilotic languages

Literacy: 57.3%

Labor force: 4,500,000 (est.); 94% subsistence activities, 6% wage earners (est.); 50% of population of working age (1983)

Organized labor: 125,000 union members

Government

Long-form name: Republic of Uganda

Type: republic

Capital: Kampala

Administrative divisions: 10 provinces; Busoga, Central, Eastern, Karamoja, Nile, North Buganda, Northern, South Buganda, Southern, Western

Independence: 9 October 1962 (from UK)

Constitution: 8 September 1967, suspended following coup of 27 July 1985; in process of constitutional revision

Legal system: government plans to restore system based on English common law and customary law and reinstitute a normal judicial system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Independence Day, 9 October (1962)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral National Resistance Council

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, High Court

Leaders: Chief of State—President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since 29 January 1986);

Head of Government—Prime Minister Samson Babi Mululu KISEKKA (since 30 January 1986); First Deputy Prime Minister Eriya KATEGAYA (since NA)

Political parties and leaders: only party—National Resistance Movement (NRM); note—the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), Ugandan People's Congress (UPC), Democratic Party (DP), and Conservative Party (CP) are all proscribed from conducting public political activities

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: National Resistance Council—last held 11-28 February 1989 (next to be held after January 1995); results—NRM is the only party; seats—(278 total, 210 indirectly elected) NRM 210

Other political parties or pressure groups: Uganda People's Democratic Movement (UPDM), Uganda People's Front (UPF), Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM), Holy Spirit Movement (HSM)

Communists: possibly a few sympathizers

Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Stephen Kapimpina KATENTA-APULI; 5909 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20011; telephone (202) 726-7100 through 7102; US—Ambassador John A. BURROUGHS, Jr.; Embassy at British High Commission Building, Obote Avenue, Kampala (mailing address is P. O. Box 7007, Kampala); telephone [256](41) 259791

Flag: six equal horizonal 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 staff side

Economy

Overview: Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. For most of the past 15 years the economy has been devastated by political instability, mismanagement, and civil war, keeping Uganda poor with a per capita income of about $300. (GDP remains below the levels of the early 1970s, as does industrial production.) Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounted for 97% of export revenues in 1988. Since 1986 the government has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing petroleum prices, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation, which was running at over 300% in 1987, and boosting production and export earnings.

GDP: $4.9 billion, per capita $300 (1988); real growth rate 6.1% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 72% (FY89)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $365 million; expenditures $545 million, including capital expenditures of $165 million (FY89 est.)

Exports: $272 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—coffee 97%, cotton, tea; partners—US 25%, UK 18%, France 11%, Spain 10%

Imports: $626 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities—petroleum products, machinery, cotton piece goods, metals, transportation equipment, food; partners—Kenya 25%, UK 14%, Italy 13%

External debt: $1.4 billion (1989 est.)

​Industrial production: growth rate 25.1% (1988)

Electricity: 173,000 kW capacity; 312 million kWh produced, 18 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement

Agriculture: accounts for 57% of GDP and 83% of labor force; cash crops—coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco; food crops—cassava, potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; livestock products—beef, goat meat, milk, poultry; self-sufficient in food

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-88), $123 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $60 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $140 million

Currency: Ugandan shilling (plural—shillings); 1 Ugandan shilling (USh) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Ugandan shillings (USh) per US$1—370 (December 1989), 223.09 (1989), 106.14 (1988), 42.84 (1987), 14.00 (1986), 6.72 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Communications

Railroads: 1,300km, 1.000-meter-gauge single track

Highways: 26,200 km total; 1,970 km paved; 5,849 km crushed stone, gravel, and laterite; remainder earth roads and tracks

Inland waterways: Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward; Victoria Nile, Albert Nile; principal inland water ports are at Jinja and Port Bell, both on Lake Victoria

Merchant marine: 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,697 GRT

Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft

Airports: 39 total, 30 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: fair system with radio relay and radio communications stations; 61,600 telephones; stations—10 AM, no FM, 9 TV; satellite earth stations—1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT

Defense Forces

Branches: National Resistance Army (NRA)

Military manpower: males 15-49, about 3,836,921; about 2,084,813 fit for military service

Defense expenditures: 1.4% of GDP (1985)