UGANDA
Geography and climate
Uganda lies on the elevated basin, which rises between the eastern
and western branches of the Great Rift Valley. Most of the country is over
1000m in altitude, and the topography is generally quite flat. The most
mountainous part of Uganda is the Kigezi region in the southwest. Along the
Congolese border the 70km-long and 30km-wide Rwenzori Mountains form the
highest mountain range in Africa; Margherita Peak (5 109m), is exceeded only by
the freestanding Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Other large mountains in Uganda
include the volcanic Virunga range on the border with Rwanda and Congo, and Mt.
Elgon, a vast extinct volcano at the Kenyan border.
With the exception of the semi-desert in the extreme northeast, most
of Uganda is well watered and fertile. Almost 25 % is covered by water. Lake
Victoria is second in the world and start of the world’s longest river, the
Nile. Other large lakes are Lakes Albert, Edward, George and Kyoga. Lake Albert
is the lowest point in Uganda, 621m altitude.
Its elevated altitude tempers Uganda’s equatorial climate. In most
parts of the country, the daily maximum temperature is between 20 and 27 and
the minimum is between 12 and 18. The highest temperatures in Uganda occur on
the plains immediately east of Lake Albert (for example in Murchison Falls and
Budongo). Most parts of Uganda receive an annual rainfall of between 1000 and
2000mm. In western Uganda and the Lake Victoria region it can rain at almost
any time of the year. As a rough guide, however, the wet seasons are from mid
September to November and from March to May. The wettest months are April, May,
October and November.
Entebbe in
Feb: Average max 26 °C, average min 18 °C, rainfall 95 mm.
Masindi in
Feb: 31 °C, 12 °C, 50 mm. Fort Portal in Feb: 27 °C, 13 °C, 75 mm.
Terminology
Most Bantu
languages use a variety of prefixes to form words so that several similar words
are made from a common root:
mu- an individual
(muganda)
ba- people collectively
(baganda)
bu- the land they occupy
(buganda)
and the religions and customs are kiganda
The name
Uganda should be Buganda, but the Kiswahili-speaking guides the Europeans used
has the prefix u- as equivalent to of
bu- and therefore referred to the
Ganda kingdom as Uganda.
Country facts
Country name: Republic of
Uganda.
Capital: Kampala. Independence: 9 October
1962 (from UK). Population: 31,4 million
(July 2008). Area: Total: 236 040 sq
km, land 199 710 (half the size of Sweden). Ethnic groups: Baganda
16.9%, Banyakole 9.5%, Basoga 8.4%, Bakiga 6.9%, Iteso 6.4%, Langi 6.1%, Acholi
4.7%, Bagisu 4.6%, Lugbara 4.2%, Bunyoro 2.7%, other 29.6% (2002 census). Religions: Roman Catholic
41.9%, Protestant 42% (Anglican 35.9%, Pentecostal 4.6%, Seventh Day Adventist
1.5%), Muslim 12.1%, other 3.1%, none 0.9% (2002 census). Languages: English
(official), Ganda or Luganda, other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan
languages, Swahili, Arabic. Time difference: +2 CET (2
hours earlier than Sweden)(+3 UTC). Sunrise: 07:00 in Kampala
3 Feb. Sunset: 19:06 in Kampala 3
Feb. International telephone country code: +256 International airport:
Entebbe (EBB). International car code:
EAU Electricity: 240 Volt, 50
Hz. Plug type G (British 3-pin) http://kropla.com/!g.htm Currency: Ugandan shilling
(UGX) 1000 UGX = 3:76 SEK http://www.xe.com/ucc/ Visa: It is simpler and
cheaper to buy a Visa upon arrival at Entebbe Airport. Before 2008 there were transit visa for USD 15, and single-entry visa for USD30, but now (2008) it has been changed; both now cost USD 50. Therefore we have to buy a single entry or transit visa at arrival, then another single-entry visa entering from Rwanda. Total cost USD 100 (multiple-entry visa are USD 200, increased from 80 in 2007). See official website. Uganda has no
embassy in Sweden, but one in Copenhagen, Denmark. http://www.ugandaembassy.dk/visa.htm Inflation rate: 6.8% (2007
est.) International disputes: Uganda
is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs,
militias, and various government forces that extend across its borders; Uganda
hosts 209,860 Sudanese, 27,560 Congolese, and 19,710 Rwandan refugees, while
Ugandan refugees as well as members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) seek
shelter in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Garamba
National Park; LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages across the border. Mammals: 342
species (132 large mammals and the remainder smaller; 94 bat species, 70 rats
and mice, 33 shrews and otter shrews, 8 gerbils, 4 elephant shrews and 1 golden
mole. Birds Uganda is
arguably the most attractive country in Africa to birdwatchers, not only
because of the unusually high number of species recorded within its borders,
but also because it offers easy access to several bird-rich habitats that are
difficult to reach elsewhere. Uganda’s remarkable avian diversity – 1008
species in an area similar to Great Britain – can be attributed to its
location at a transitional point between the East African savannah, the west
African rainforest and the semi-desert of the north. Indicative of
Uganda’s transitional location is the fact that only one bird is endemic to the
country, the somewhat nondescript Fox’s Weaver. However, if you take only East
Africa into consideration, then roughly 150 bird species are found only in
Uganda. This list includes 7 of the 20 hornbill species found in the region, 5
out of 14 honeyguides, 7 out of 21 woodpeckers, 11 out of 36 bulbuls and
greenbuls, 5 out of 20 bush shrikes, as well as 13 thrushes, 11 warblers, 10
flycatchers, 8 sunbirds, 8 weavers, 8 finches, 4 tinkerbirds, 4 pigeons, 3
kingfishers, 3 sparrowhawks, 3 cuckoos and 3 nightjars. Most of these
“Uganda specials” are west African and Congolese forest birds that would be
very difficult to see elsewhere, for the simple reason that the other countries
are poorly developed for tourism. The rainforest of western Uganda must be seen
as the country’s most important habitat, and the one that is of greatest
interest to birdwatchers, particularly if they are already reasonably familiar
with typical East African birds. The most alluring forest in terms of localised
species is probably Semliki, closely rivalled by Budongo, Kibale and Bwindi. There are 37
Albertine Rift bird endemics. All 37 of these have been recorded in DRC, and 9
are endemic to that country since their range is confines to the western
escarpment forests. More than 20 are resident in each of Uganda, Rwanda and
Burundi, while 2 extend their range southward into western Tanzania. All 24 of
the Albertine Rift endemics recorded in Uganda occur in Bwindi NP. Other
important sites in Uganda are the Rwenzori Mountain with 17 Albertine Rift
endemics, the Virungas with 14 and the Echuya Forest with 12. All but one of
the 29 endemics that occur on the eastern escarpment have been recorded in
Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest. The largest block of montane forest in east Africa is
in the Itombwe Mountains in DRC, inaccessible for tourists for time being. Several
Albertine Rift forest endemics share stronger affinities with extant or extinct
Asian genera than they do with any other living African species, affirming the
great age of these forests, which are thought to have flourished during
prehistoric climatic changes that caused temporary deforestation in lower-lying
areas such as the Congo Basin. The Congo Bay Owl, African Green Broadbill and
the Grayer’s Cuckoo-shrike, for instance, might be classed as living fossils
– isolated relics of migrant Asian stock that has been superseded
elsewhere on the continent by indigenous genera evolved from a common ancestor. Handsome
Francolin B M E R Rwenzori
Turaco B M E R Rwenzori
Nightjar B R Dwarf
Honeyguide B * African Green
Broadbill B * Kivu Ground
Thrush B * Red-throated
Alethe B E R Archer’s Robin
Chat B M E R Collared
Apalis B M E R K Mountain
Masked Apalis B M R Grauer’s Scrub
Warbler B M R * Grauer’s
Warbler B Neumann’s
Warbler B Red-faced
Woodland Warbler B M E R K Yellow-eyed
Black Flycatcher B Chapin’s
Flycatcher B * Rwenzori Batis
B M E R Stripe-breasted
Tit B M R Blue-headed
Sunbird B R K Regal Sunbird
B M E R Purple-breasted
Sunbird B R K Dusky
Crimsonwing B M E R K Shelley’s
Crimsonwing B M R Strange Weaver
B M E R B = Bwindi NP,
M = Mgahinga, E = Echuya, K = Kibale, * = of global conservation concern. Country facts Country name: Republic of
Rwanda (Former: Ruanda, German East Africa)
Climate: Temperate, with two
rainy seasons (“the big rains” mid-February to the beginning of June and “the small rains” from mid-September to
mid-December. It is generally drier in the east than in the west and the north.
The mountains are mild with frost and snow as possibilities. Lowest
point: Rusizi River 960 m, highest: Volcan Karisimbi 4 519 m. Capital: Kigali Independence: 1 July 1962
(from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship) Population: 10,2 million
(July 2008). It is the most densely populated country in Africa and the
population has doubled in 20 years. Population growth 2.8%. Area: Total: 26 338 sq km,
land 24 948 (6 % of Sweden, smaller than Småland) Ethnic groups: Hutu
(Bantu) 84%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 15%, Twa (Pygmy) 1% Religions: Roman Catholic
56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%,
none 1.7% (2001) Languages: Kinyarwanda
(official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official),
Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centres Time difference: +1 CET (1
hour earlier than Sweden)(+2 UTC). Sunrise: 06:07 in Kigali 3
Feb. Sunset: 18:19 in Kigali 3 Feb. International telephone country code: +250 International car code: RWA Electricity: 230 Volt, 50
Hz. Plug type C (European 2-pin) http://kropla.com/!c.htm and J (Swiss
3-pin) http://kropla.com/!j.htm Currency: Rwandan Franc
(RWF) 1000 RWF = 11:15 SEK http://www.xe.com/ucc/ Visa: Not needed for
Swedes. See offficial website. Inflation rate: 9.4% (2007
est.) Background In 1959, three
years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus,
overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years, thousands of
Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighbouring
countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan
Patriotic Front (RPF), and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with
several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions,
culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and
moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing
in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi
retribution - fled to neighbouring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since
then, most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda, but several thousand
remained in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the former
Zaire) and formed an extremist insurgency bent on retaking Rwanda, much as the
RPF tried in 1990. Despite substantial international assistance and political
reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 and its first
post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in August and September
2003 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural
output, and ethnic reconciliation is complicated by the real and perceived
Tutsi political dominance. Kigali's increasing centralization and intolerance
of dissent, the nagging Hutu extremist insurgency across the border, and
Rwandan involvement in two wars in recent years in the neighbouring DRC
continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts to escape its bloody legacy. Geography Rwanda’s
mountainous topography is a product of its position on the eastern rim of the
Albertine Rift Valley, part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu, which forms
the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is effectively a
large sump hemmed in by the Rift Valley. The western escarpment is also the
watershed between Africa’s two largest drainage systems; the Nile and the
Congo. Western and
central Rwanda are characterised by a seemingly endless vista of steep mountains,
interspersed with several substantial lakes. Much of this part of the country
lies at elevations of between 1 500 and 2 500m. In the far east of the country
the terrain is lower lying, with the Kagera River and associated network of
swamps, the most remote source of the world’s longest river, the Nile. Much of
this ecosystem is protected within Akagera NP. Fauna Rwanda
naturally supports a widely varied fauna, but the rapid human population growth
in recent decades has resulted in the extirpation of most large mammal species
outside of a few designated conservation areas; the Volcanoes Park, Akagera
Park and Nyungwe Forest. Rwanda has a
bird list of incredible 670 species in an area smaller than Belgium and a human
population density of 387/sq.km, highest in Africa and close to the density in
The Netherlands. Nyungwe alone supports 280 bird species including 26 Albertine
Rift endemics.
Shoebill
African Green Broadbill
Green-breasted Pitta
Nahan's Francolin
Brown-chested Plover
Karamoja Apalis
Black Bee-eater
Rwenzori Turaco
Red-fronted Antpecker
Purvell's Illadopsis
RWANDA