Uganda

By African standards, Uganda is a postage stamp-size country, at the heart of the continent, sandwiched between Kenya, Rwanda, Congo, Sudan and Tanzania. It is roughly the size of Great Britain or the State of Oregon in the USA. Uganda's most alluring features are its forests, lakes and mountains. Most of the country is 1,000 m above sea level and there are three mountainous areas - the Rwenzori's, Mount Elgon and the Virunga volcanoes.

Wildlife has steadily increased and many species of game can be seen. Game viewing is free of the mass tourism in some countries. Primates, especially the mountain gorilla and chimpanzees, are a special attraction together with over a thousand species of birds. Most of Uganda is well watered and fertile. Although it lies on the Equator, its altitude tempers the climate. The Nile starts its long journey to the Mediterranean from Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, and traverses Murchison Falls National Park.

The population is about nineteen million, largely Christian, but with sizeable Muslim and Animist communities. The central area is largely Bantu speaking with the Baganda as the largest group. The Northern tribes are Nilotic in origin; the north is also the home of the nomadic Karamajong and the remote mountain tribe - the Ik. There are pygmy communities (the Batwa) in some forest areas. More than 30 languages are spoken - with English, Luganda and Swahili being the most widely used.

Lord Lugard established a British East African Company base in 1890 in Kampala and shortly afterwards Uganda became a British Protectorate, centered on four old African Kingdoms. The Uganda Railway linking the interior to the coast reached Kisumu (in Kenya) on Lake Victoria in 1901 and Kampala in 1915. The system of indirect rule gave Uganda greater autonomy than elsewhere in British-ruled Africa. At independence in 1962, Uganda was a prosperous and peaceful country. It went through a turbulent period after Amin seized control in 1971 and expelled the Asians. In 1986 the National Resistance Movement, lead by Yoweri Museveni, took control of the country. Today, the country is progressive, peaceful and inviting. The old kingdoms, abolished in the 1960s, were restored in 1993 and the monarchs have now re-emerged as symbols of traditional society. The 36th Kabaka of the Baganda, Ronald Mutebi, was crowned in 1993 and married in 1999, to great public rejoicing.