Uganda
Overview
Uganda officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa
. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya
, on the north by South Sudan
, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, on the southwest by Rwanda
, and on the south by Tanzania
. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria
, which is also shared by Kenya and Tanzania.
Uganda takes its name from the Buganda
kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala
.
The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherer
s until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, when Bantu
-speaking populations migrated to the southern parts of the country.
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, on the north by South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, on the southwest by Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, and on the south by Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
, which is also shared by Kenya and Tanzania.
Uganda takes its name from the Buganda
Buganda
Buganda is a subnational kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Ganda people, Buganda is the largest of the traditional kingdoms in present-day Uganda, comprising all of Uganda's Central Region, including the Ugandan capital Kampala, with the exception of the disputed eastern Kayunga District...
kingdom, which encompasses a large portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
.
The people of Uganda were hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s until 1,700 to 2,300 years ago, when Bantu
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
-speaking populations migrated to the southern parts of the country.
Timeline
1953 Edward Mutesa II, the ''kabaka'' (king) of Buganda is deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda.
1961 Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
1962 Uganda becomes an independent Commonwealth realm.
1962 Uganda joins the United Nations.
1971 Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president.
1971 Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
1976 Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda.
1976 Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
1979 Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is deposed.
1986 The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.