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Uganda

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Topographic Map of Uganda

Its geography is very diverse consisting of volcanic hills, mountains, and lakes. The country sits at an average of 900 meters above sea level. Both the eastern and western borders of Uganda have mountains. The Ruwenzori mountain range contains the highest peak in Uganda, which is named Alexandra and measures 5,094 meters.

Economy:

In 2015, Uganda’s economy generated export income from the following merchandise: coffee (US$402.63 million), oil re-exports (US$131.25 million), base metals and products (US$120.00 million), fish (US$117.56 million), maize (US$90.97 million), cement (US$80.13 million), tobacco (US$73.13 million), tea (US$69.94 million), sugar (US$66.43 million), hides and skins (US$62.71 million), cocoa beans (US$55.67 million), beans (US$53.88 million), sesame (US$52.20 million), flowers (US$51.44 million), and other products (US$766.77 million).

The country has largely untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. While agriculture accounted for 56 percent of the economy in 1986, with coffee as its main export, it has now been surpassed by the services sector, which accounted for 52 percent of GDP in 2007. In the 1950s, the British colonial regime encouraged some 500,000 subsistence farmers to join co-operatives. Since 1986, the government (with the support of foreign countries and international agencies) has acted to rehabilitate an economy devastated during the regime of Idi Amin and the subsequent civil war.

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Uganda Export Treemap

Uganda is a member of the East African Community and a potential member of the planned East African Federation.

Uganda has a large diaspora, residing mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom. This diaspora has contributed enormously to Uganda’s economic growth through remittances and other investments (especially property). According to the World Bank, Uganda received in 2016 an estimated US$1.099 billion in remittances from abroad, second only to Kenya (US$1.574 billion) in the East African Community, and seventh in Africa. Uganda also serves as an economic hub for a number of neighboring countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Rwanda.

Transportation:

There are 35 airports in Uganda. Commercial airlines operate scheduled passenger services out of four airports. Uganda has an international airport, Entebbe International Airport, which is located 25 miles (40 km) south-west of Kampala. In 2017 the airport traffic hit 1.53 million passengers, 8% more than the previous year. A second international airport, Hoima International Airport, is currently under construction.

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Entebbe International Airport
Road transportation is the most important way of transportation in Uganda. 95% of freight and passenger traffic is handled by road traffic. The road network in Uganda is approximately 80,448 miles (129,469 km) long. About 4% of these roads are paved which means about 3,293 miles (5,300 km). The different types of roads are national roads (13,676 mi (22,009 km)—17%), district roads (20,916 mi (33,661 km)—26%), urban roads (5,631 mi (9,062 km)—7%), and community roads (40,224 mi (64,734 km)—50%). The national roads make up about 17% of the road network but carry over 80% of the total road traffic. In Uganda there are 83,000 private cars which means 2.94 cars per 1000 inhabitants.

The rail network in Uganda is approximately 783 miles (1,260 km) long. The longest lines are the main line from Kampala to Tororo (155 miles (249 km)), the western line from Kampala to Kasese (207 miles (333 km)), the northern line from Tororo to Pakwach (398 miles (641 km)).

Flag of Uganda:

The flag of Uganda was adopted on 9 October 1962, the date that Uganda became independent from the British Empire. It consists of six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red (bottom); a white disc is superimposed at the center and depicts the national symbol, a grey crowned crane, facing the hoist side.

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