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Uganda


Uganda is located in East Africa and is a relatively small country, about the size of the United Kingdom. Situated in the Great Rift Valley, Uganda is where the East African savannah meets the West African rainforest. Its unique land and variety of wildlife prompted Winston Churchill to call it the "Pearl of Africa." Although intersected by the equator, Uganda's climate is relatively mild because heat and humidity are modified by its altitude and numerous lakes, which cover about 20 % of its land. In fact, Uganda is home to Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh water lake. Although landlocked, Uganda exports millions of pounds of fish each year.

According to Ian Leggett in An Oxfam Country Profile, "Uganda is a young country. The announcement of its creation and of its status as a British protectorate was published in the London Gazette in 1894. Unfortunately, most of the people who lived in the territory that was described to the world as being Uganda had never heard of the London Gazette, nor did a country called Uganda mean anything to them. Not surprisingly, they felt no allegiance to an imperial creation whose borders cut across existing economic, political, and social relationships." Leggett goes on to note that the formation of Uganda was not the result of a gradual process of national integration but determined by competition between imperial powers - Great Britain, Germany, and France.

Uganda gained its independence from British rule in 1962. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the country suffered under two bloody dictatorial regimes - Idi Amin and Milton Obote - and two wars. In 1986, pragmatic leader Yoweri Museveni introduced democratic and economic reforms. He continues to lead the nation today.

Uganda, which has a population of 22 million, is bordered by Kenya, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The capital of Uganda is Kampala, the country's largest city, which is home to about 1.2 million people. Although Uganda has experienced an annual economic growth rate of 7% in recent years, the country is still ranked the 30th poorest in the world. In Uganda, the AIDS pandemic is a driving force in a vicious cycle of poverty and illness.

* For more information, see Uganda: An Oxfam Country Profile by Ian Leggett.




 

 



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