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Uganda Profile

Uganda is an independent nation in central Africa, bordered by Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, Zaire, and Sudan. The economy is overwhelmingly agricultural, with cassava, sweet potatoes, plantains, millet, and sorghum as the chief subsistence crops, and coffee (which provides over 90% of export revenues), cotton, tea, and tobacco are the principal cash crops. Stock-raising, fishing, and hardwood production are also significant.

There are four racial groups thriving in Uganda: Bantu (the most numerous), Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic. The majority of population is dependent on agricultural harvests in the fertile area South of Lake Kyoga. Nearly half of the population is Christian (Roman Catholic predominating), 6% is Muslim and the remainders are followers of tribal beliefs.

Uganda's population is about 21,000,000 and has a parliamentary democracy. Executive power is invested in the president who represents the majority party in the 126-member national assembly. Archeology tells that prehistoric man walked the earth in what is now Uganda and many sites have been excavated that show habitation over the centuries. One of the more recent excavations is in Kiboro, near Lake Albert, where there are traces of village life going back thousands of years. Around A.D. 1100 Bantu-speaking people migrated into the area that is now Uganda, and by the 14th century they were organized into several independent kingdoms. The most powerful of these were Bunyoro (16th-17th cent.) and later Buganda (18th-19th cent). In 1962 Uganda gained independence under a federal constitution that gave Buganda a large measure of autonomy.

The contrasts between the various peoples of Uganda reflect the multiplicity of its culture, traditions, and lifestyles. Uganda has been created by the union of many people, ancient people with their own traditional lands, their own customs and a way of life inherited from their ancestors.

Many of the traditions are colorful ceremonies serving as reminders of events in the past or celebrate seasons of the year. Spontaneous dancing and music are typical of life in Uganda. The Imbalu dancers, at the mass initiation ceremonies of the Bagisu boys are particularly exciting.

Around the country are monuments to Uganda's colorful past: forts, tombs, sites of bloody battles, as well as interesting houses and churches. The Kasubi Tombs hold the historic resting place of the Kabakas of Buganda and is a fine example of the traditional skills and craftsmanship of the Buganda in building and architecture.

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