Uganda

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa, set among the Great Lakes in the basin of the Nile. Kenya, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania surround it, and it shares Lake Victoria with Kenya and Tanzania.

Kampala is the capital. English is the official language and Swahili the second one, while Luganda, the language of the Buganda kingdom that gave the country its name, is widely spoken. Bantu and Nilotic peoples arrived about 3,000 years ago and founded kingdoms such as Kitara, which later states like Toro, Ankole and Busoga claim as their forerunner. British explorers looking for the source of the Nile came in the 1860s, and missionaries reached Buganda in 1877. Britain set up the Uganda Protectorate in 1894 and enlarged it by treaties with Toro in 1900 and Ankole in 1901.

Uganda became independent from the United Kingdom on 9 October 1962. In 1963 a ceremonial president, chosen from among the traditional kings, replaced the Queen as head of state, and a constitution of 1967 declared the republic. The president leads both state and government, and the country is split into four regions made up of districts. In the west the Rwenzori range holds Mount Stanley at 5,109 m (16,762 ft), and the old volcano Mount Elgon stands on the Kenyan border. The Victoria Nile runs from Lake Victoria through Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert.

Coffee led exports in 2015, ahead of fish, tobacco and tea, and oil has been found in the Lake Albert area. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site like Rwenzori Mountains National Park, shelters mountain gorillas, and hippos live in Murchison Falls National Park. John Akii-Bua won the first Olympic gold for Uganda in the 400 m hurdles at the 1972 Munich Games. Stephen Kiprotich took the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics, and Joshua Cheptegei set world records over 5 km and 15 km.