Overview of Uganda

• The area is 93,065 square miles and 241,038 square kilometers
• The area of the U.S. is 3,794,099 square miles and 9,826,675 square kilometers
• The area of Africa as a whole is 11,700,000 square miles and 30,300,000 square kilometers

The population of Uganda is 40,853,749 people with 23% of it being urban. The growth rate of the population is 3.2% and the life expectancy rate is 58 for men, 62 for women.

Uganda has many natural resources such as mineral deposits, fertile soil, and oil, though the economy is still largely built off of subsistence farming; coffee and tea making up most of the profit in the central and western regions and tobacco and cotton in the northern and eastern regions.

Other crops include (but are not limited to) canvases, potatoes, maize, millet, flowers, and fish in the Lake Victoria region

The average temperature in Uganda ranges between 72 and 92 degrees Fahrenheit depending on region and season. In the dry season, the areas around Lake Victoria tend to be even cooler. When closer to mountain ranges such as the Ruwenzori or Kigezi Mountains in Southwest Uganda, the climate is cold and misty most of the year.

Terrain: plateaus and mountains

Rivers: Nile (biggest in Africa, runs through Uganda), White Nile, Katonga

Lakes: Victoria, Kyoga

Mountains/Mountain Ranges: Stanley, Rwenzori Range

Water, soil, vegetation, mineral deposits, and oil are big natural resources in Uganda, but as the population increases, more resources are used and are limited. Major cash crops include tea and coffee, and they are grown primarily in central and western regions. Tobacco and cotton are grown mainly in the north and east.

• The bulk of the work in the country when it comes to subsistence farming (the primary source of income for the country) is done by women
• People in Uganda to choose their spouses - usually for love - and after about 6 months of dating most families start planning the marriage. In some cultures, the widow with a recently deceased husband, instead of dating most families start planning the marriage. In some cultures, a widow with a recently deceased husband can be re-married to one of her former husband’s brothers widow with a recently deceased husband of a widow can be re-married to one of her former husband’s brothers 

7-4-2 system

Around 60-65% private and around 30-35% are government-owned

Around 40-45 universities, such as Uganda Christian University, Kyambogo University, and Gulu University

Pros- Quality of education is high and is growing, excellent curriculum, high moral values are taught and encouraged at all levels, Ugandans are very friendly making it easier for foreign students to fit in there

Cons- inadequate budgetary resources and infrastructure, inadequate sports facilities

• More the 40 different languages are spoken in Uganda
• Many tribal languages are named and spoken by those specific tribes. 
• Luganda is the dominant language of the southern and central regions and is spoken by the Baganda and Swahili and Luo are the prominent languages in the North with Luo being spoken by the Lango, Alur, and Acholi
• Though most people will speak their native language/dialect first, they do tend to learn/speak regional languages and English if they have a high education. English speakers are given the highest amount of respect and (generally speaking) have positions in the government, the education systems, and in trade. 

• Religion in Uganda is 45% prodistains, 40% Catholics, 14% Muslum, but many still perform ancestral indiginous practices
• The remaining 1% of the population is either agnostic, atheist, or an unlisted religion,
• Witchcraft is believed in and practised (to an extent) by part of the population, though the percentage is dwindling as the quality and spread of education increases

Rural families are usually large, especially when a man has many wives and has 6 - 7 children with each of his wives. Urban families usually have 4 - 5 children while the urban elite can have around 2 or 3.

A typical meal in Uganda would include starchy foods with meat and vegetables. Matooke is mashed green bananas which is a popular food in central Uganda and a staple food among most tribes. Other popular dishes include kwon kaal meaning millet bread, chapati meaning flatbread, pasho meaning maize paste. Other popular foods include rice, cassava, eggplant, yams, and sweet potatoes.