Uganda

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Wing

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $56 million, 1.7% of budget (FY93/94)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49: 4,359,286 males fit for military service: 2,365,157 (1996 est.)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 10, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios

2.04 million (1992 est.)

Telephone system

fair system domestic: microwave radio relay and radiotelephone communications stations international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Telephones

54,900 (1989 est.)

Television broadcast stations

9 (1987 est.)

Televisions

193,000 (1992 est.) Defense

Agriculture

coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry

Budget

revenues: $574 million expenditures: $1.07 billion, including capital expenditures of $328 million (1994/95 est.)

Currency

1 Ugandan shilling (USh) = 100 cents

Economic aid

recipient: ODA, $NA

Economic 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 is the major export crop and 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. In 1990-94, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, and gradually improving domestic security. The economy again prospered in 1995 with rapid growth, low inflation, growing foreign investment, a trimmed bureaucracy, and the continued return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs.

Electricity

capacity: 162,000 kW production: 603 million kWh consumption per capita: 30 kWh (1990)

Exchange rates

Ugandan shillings (USh) per US$1 - 1,032.6 (November 1995), 979.4 (1994), 1,195.0 (1993), 1,133.8 (1992), 734.0 (1991)

Exports

$424 million (f.o.b., 1994) commodities: coffee 97%, cotton, tea partners: US 25%, UK 18%, France 11%, Spain 10%

External debt

$3.2 billion (1994)

Fiscal year

1 July - 30 June

GDP

purchasing power parity - $16.8 billion (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector

agriculture: 55% industry: 12% services: 33% (1995)

GDP per capita

$900 (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate

7.1% (1995 est.)

Imports

$870 million (c.i.f., 1994) commodities: petroleum products, machinery, cotton piece goods, metals, transportation equipment, food partners: Kenya 25%, UK 14%, Italy 13%

Industrial production growth rate

15% (1994)

Industries

sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

6.1% (1995)

Labor force

8.361 million (1993 est.) by occupation: agriculture 86%, industry 4%, services 10% (1980 est.)

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 236,040 sq km land area: 199,710 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Climate

tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Environment

current issues: draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching is widespread natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental Modification

Geographic coordinates

1 00 N, 32 00 E

Geographic note

landlocked

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

90 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total: 2,698 km border countries: Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km, Zaire 765 km

Land use

arable land: 23% permanent crops: 9% meadows and pastures: 25% forest and woodland: 30% other: 13%

Location

Eastern Africa, west of Kenya

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

none (landlocked)

Natural resources

copper, cobalt, limestone, salt

Terrain

mostly plateau with rim of mountains lowest point: Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita (Mount Stanley) 5,110 m

Administrative divisions

39 districts; Apac, Arua, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Soroti, Tororo

Capital

Kampala

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 on promulgation of the constitution in October 1995

Data code

UG

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Stephen Kapimpina KATENTA-APULI chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416

Executive branch

chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); election last held 9 May 1996 (next to be held NA); results - Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 74%, Paul K. SSEMOGERERE 24%, Muhammad MAYANJA 2%; note - this was the first popular direct presidential election since independence in 1962 head of government: Prime Minister Kintu MUSOKE (since 18 November 1994); cabinet: Cabinet, appointed by the president

FAX

[1] (202) 726-1727

FAX

[256] (41) 259794

Flag

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

Independence

9 October 1962 (from UK)

International organization participation

ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGADD, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal; High Court

Legal system

in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law and reinstituted a normal judicial system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Legislative branch

unicameral

Name of country

conventional long form: Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda

National Assembly

elections last held in 1980; note - the National Assembly was dissolved in July 1985 following a military coup and was succeeded on 1 February 1986 by the interim National Resistance Council, initially consisting of 23 appointed members, but by early-1989 enlarged to 278 members, of whom 210 were indirectly elected; the National Resistance Council, which had served as Uganda's acting legislature for more than 10 years, was dissolved on 15 June 1996 to prepare for the popular election of a new legislature on 27 June 1996 in keeping with the provisions of the new constitution

National holiday

Independence Day, 9 October (1962)

Other political or pressure groups

Lord's Resistance Army (LRA); West Nile Bank Front (WNBF)

Political parties and leaders

only officially recognized party - National Resistance Movement (NRM), Yoweri MUSEVENI note: Ugandan People's Congress (UPC), Milton OBOTE; Democratic Party (DP), Paul SSEMOGEERE; and Conservative Party (CP), Joshua S. MAYANJA-NKANGI continue to exist but the new constitution confirms the suspension of political party activity until 2001

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type of government

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador E. Michael SOUTHWICK embassy: Parliament Avenue, Kampala mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala telephone: [256] (41) 259792, 259793, 259795

Age structure

0-14 years: 50% (male 5,006,615; female 4,972,831) 15-64 years: 48% (male 4,842,908; female 4,874,471) 65 years and over: 2% (male 231,156; female 230,195) (July 1996 est.)

Birth rate

45.92 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate

20.72 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Baganda 17%, Karamojong 12%, Basogo 8%, Iteso 8%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Bunyoro 3%, Batobo 3%, European, Asian, Arab 1%, other 23%

Infant mortality rate

99.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Languages

English (official), Luganda, Swahili, Bantu languages, Nilotic languages

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 40.29 years male: 39.98 years female: 40.6 years (1996 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.) total population: 61.8% male: 73.7% female: 50.2%

Nationality

noun: Ugandan(s) adjective: Ugandan

Net migration rate

-2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.) note: Uganda is host to refugees from a number of neighboring countries, including Zaire, Sudan, and Rwanda; probably in excess of 100,000 southern Sudanese fled to Uganda during the past year; many of the 8,000 Rwandans who took refuge in Uganda have returned home

Population

20,158,176 (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate

2.24% (1996 est.)

Religions

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

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female all ages: 1 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate

6.61 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Airports

total: 21 with paved runways over 3 047 m: 2 with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 1 with paved runways under 914 m: 7 with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 1 with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 5 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 5 (1995 est.)

Highways

total: 30,320 km paved: 3,480 km unpaved: 26,840 km (1987 est.)

Merchant marine

total: 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,091 GRT/2,743 DWT (1995 est.)

Ports

Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell

Railways

total: 1,241 km single track narrow gauge: 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge note:: a program to rehabilitate the railroad is underway (1995)

Waterways

Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward; Victoria Nile, Albert Nile