Laos (2005) | Uganda (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural), and 1 special zone** (khetphiset, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan (Vientiane)*, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun**, Xekong, Xiangkhoang | 45 districts; Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakasongola, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Soroti, Tororo |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 41.6% (male 1,300,094/female 1,289,227)
15-64 years: 55.2% (male 1,693,494/female 1,737,196) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 88,744/female 108,386) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years:
51.08% (male 6,150,038; female 6,100,880) 15-64 years: 46.78% (male 5,613,499; female 5,607,526) 65 years and over: 2.14% (male 244,216; female 269,553) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry | coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry |
Airports | 44 (2004 est.) | 28 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total:
4 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 35
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
total:
24 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 8 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 236,800 sq km
land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km |
total:
236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Utah | slightly smaller than Oregon |
Background | Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997. | Uganda achieved independence from the UK in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed another 100,000 lives. During the 1990s the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections. |
Birth rate | 35.99 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 47.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $284.3 million
expenditures: $416.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues:
$959 million expenditures: $1.04 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
Capital | Vientiane | Kampala |
Climate | tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April) | tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | promulgated 14 August 1991 | 8 October 1995; adopted by the interim, 284-member Constituent Assembly, charged with debating the draft constitution that had been proposed in May 1993; the Constituent Assembly was dissolved upon the promulgation of the constitution in October 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic
conventional short form: Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao local short form: none |
conventional long form:
Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda |
Currency | - | Ugandan shilling (UGX) |
Death rate | 11.83 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 17.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.49 billion (2001) | $3.6 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia M. HASLACH
embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, B. P. 114, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy, Box V, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] (21) 212581, 212582, 212585 FAX: [856] (21) 212584 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Martin G. BRENNAN embassy: Parliament Avenue, Kampala mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala telephone: [256] (41) 259792, 259793, 259795 FAX: [256] (41) 259794 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador PHANTHONG Phommahaxay
chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Edith Grace SSEMPALA chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416 FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727 |
Disputes - international | Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; Laos and Thailand pledge to complete demarcation of boundaries in 2005, while ongoing disputes over squatters and boundary encroachment by Thailand including Mekong River islets persist; in 2004 Cambodian-Laotian boundary commission agrees to re-erect missing markers in two adjoining provinces; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels | the Ugandan military is deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of rebel forces in that country's civil war; a resurvey of the latitudinal boundary with Tanzania in 2000 revealed a 300-meter discrepancy that both sides are currently adjudicating |
Economic aid - recipient | $243 million (2001 est.) | $1.4 billion (2000) |
Economy - overview | The government of Laos - one of the few remaining official Communist states - began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 6% in 1988-2004 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure; it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. The government has sponsored major improvements in the road system. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining. In late 2004, Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status with the US, allowing Laos-based producers to face lower tariffs on their exports; this may help spur growth. | Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government - with the support of foreign countries and international agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation and boosting production and export earnings. In 1990-2000, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. Ongoing Ugandan involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption within the government, and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced HIPC debt relief worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original Highly Indebted Poor Countries HIPC debt relief add up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001 should be somewhat lower than in 2000, because of a decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. |
Electricity - consumption | 3.036 billion kWh (2002) | 1.06 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 400 million kWh (2002) | 174 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 125 million kWh (2002) | 1 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 3.56 billion kWh (2002) | 1.326 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
0.98% hydro: 99.02% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Mekong River 70 m
highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m |
lowest point:
Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m |
Environment - current issues | unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water | draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
Ethnic groups | Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1% | Baganda 17%, Karamojong 12%, Basogo 8%, Iteso 8%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Bunyoro 3%, Batoro 3%, non-African (European, Asian, Arab) 1%, other 23% |
Exchange rates | kips per US dollar - 10,820 (2004), 10,569 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.6 (2001), 7,887.6 (2000) | Ugandan shillings per US dollar - 1,700 (February 2001), 1,830.4 (January 2001), 1,644.5 (2000), 1,454.8 (1999), 1,240.2 (1998), 1,083.0 (1997), 1,046.1 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphadon (since 26 February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 27 March 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since 27 March 2001); First Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone BOUPHAVANH (since 3 October 2003) Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Deputy Prime Minister THONGLOUN Sisolit (since 27 March 2001), and Deputy Prime Minister SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007); prime minister appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term election results: KHAMTAI Siphadon elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA% |
chief of state:
President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime Minister Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected legislators elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 12 March 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); note - first popular election for president since independence in 1962 was held in 1996; prime minister appointed by the president election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 69.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 27.8% |
Exports | NA | $500.1 million (f.o.b., 1999) |
Exports - commodities | garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin | coffee, fish and fish products, tea; electrical products, iron and steel |
Exports - partners | Thailand 19.3%, Vietnam 13.4%, France 8%, Germany 5.3%, UK 5% (2004) | Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Kenya (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band | six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $26.2 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 49.5%
industry: 27.5% services: 23% (2004 est.) |
agriculture:
43% industry: 17% services: 40% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2004 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 00 N, 105 00 E | 1 00 N, 32 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand | landlocked |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | total: 21,716 km
paved: 9,664 km unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.) |
total:
27,000 km paved: 1,800 km unpaved: 25,200 km (of which about 4200 km are all-weather roads) (1990) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 30.6% (1997) |
lowest 10%:
3% highest 10%: 33.4% (1992) |
Illicit drugs | estimated cultivation in 2004 - 10,000 hectares, a 45% decrease from 2003; estimated potential production in 2004 - 49 metric tons, a significant decrease from 200 metric tons in 2003 (2005) | - |
Imports | NA | $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1999) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods | vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals |
Imports - partners | Thailand 60.5%, China 10.3%, Vietnam 7.1%, Singapore 4% (2004) | Kenya 27.5%, US 21.2%, France 19.3, UK 5%, India 4% (1999) |
Independence | 19 July 1949 (from France) | 9 October 1962 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 9.7% (2001 est.) | 7% (1999) |
Industries | tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism | sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement |
Infant mortality rate | total: 85.22 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 95.04 deaths/1,000 live births female: 75.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
91.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 12.3% (2004 est.) | 6.5% (2000) |
International organization participation | ACCT, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 1,640 sq km
note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.) |
90 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | People's Supreme Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee) | Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | 2.6 million (2001 est.) | 8.361 million (1993 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80% (1997 est.) | agriculture 82%, industry 5%, services 13% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 5,083 km
border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km |
total:
2,698 km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 765 km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km |
Land use | arable land: 3.8%
permanent crops: 0.35% other: 95.85% (2001) |
arable land:
25% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 9% forests and woodland: 28% other: 29% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages | English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic |
Legal system | based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice | in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (109 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - total number of seats increased from 99 to 109 for the 2002 election)
elections: last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 109 |
unicameral National Assembly (276 members - 214 directly elected by popular vote, 62 nominated by legally established special interest groups and approved by the president - women 39, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 3; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 27 June 1996 (next to be held May or June 2001); election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - election campaigning by party was not permitted |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 55.08 years
male: 53.07 years female: 57.17 years (2005 est.) |
total population:
43.37 years male: 42.59 years female: 44.17 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 66.4% male: 77.4% female: 55.5% (2002) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 61.8% male: 73.7% female: 50.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT
by type: cargo 1 (2005) |
total:
3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,091 GRT/8,229 DWT ships by type: roll on/roll off note: these ships are in cargo and passenger service on Uganda's inland waterways (2000 est.) |
Military - note | Laos is one of the world's least developed countries; the Lao People's Armed Forces are small, poorly funded, and ineffectively resourced; there is little political will to allocate sparse funding to the military, and the armed forces' gradual degradation is likely to continue; the massive drug production and trafficking industry centered in the Golden Triangle makes Laos an important narcotics transit country, and armed Wa and Chinese smugglers are active on the Lao-Burma border (2005) | - |
Military branches | Lao People's Army (LPA; includes Riverine Force), Air Force | Army, Air Wing, Marine Unit |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $10.7 million (2004) | $95 million (FY98/99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.5% (2004) | 1.9% (FY98/99) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
5,118,755 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
2,778,457 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Republic Day, 2 December (1975) | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) |
Nationality | noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s)
adjective: Lao or Laotian |
noun:
Ugandan(s) adjective: Ugandan |
Natural hazards | floods, droughts | NA |
Natural resources | timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones | copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: according to the UNHCR, by the end of 1999, Uganda was host to 218,000 refugees from a number of neighboring countries, including: Sudan 200,600, Rwanda 8,000, and Democratic Republic of the Congo 8,000 |
Pipelines | refined products 540 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphadon, party president]; other parties proscribed | only one political organization, the National Resistance Movement or NRM [President MUSEVENI, chairman] is allowed to operate unfettered; note - the president maintains that the NRM is not a political party, but a movement which claims the loyalty of all Ugandans
note: the new constitution requires the suspension of political parties while the Movement system is in governanace; of the political parties that exist but are prohibited from sponsoring candidates, the most important are the Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Milton OBOTE]; Democratic Party or DP [Paul SSEMOGERERE]; Conservative Party or CP [Joshua S. MAYANJA-NKANGI]; Justice Forum [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; and National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975 | NA |
Population | 6,217,141 (July 2005 est.) | 23,985,712
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2002 est.) | 55% (1993 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.42% (2005 est.) | 2.93% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998) | AM 19, FM 4, shortwave 5 (1998) |
Radios | - | 2.6 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
1,241 km narrow gauge: 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge note: a program to rehabilitate the railroad is underway (1995) |
Religions | Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%) | Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: service to general public is poor but improving with over 20,000 telephones currently in service and an additional 48,000 expected by 2001; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas
domestic: radiotelephone communications international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
general assessment:
seriously inadequate; two cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short range traffic international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania |
Telephones - main lines in use | 61,900 (2002) | 50,074; however, 80,868 main lines were installed (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 55,200 (2002) | 9,000 (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (1999) | 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999) |
Terrain | mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus | mostly plateau with rim of mountains |
Total fertility rate | 4.77 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 6.88 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 5.7% (1997 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 4,600 km
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003) |
Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile |