Uganda (2001) | British Virgin Islands (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 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 | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years: 21.9% (male 2,401; female 2,358)
15-64 years: 73.1% (male 8,181; female 7,709) 65 years and over: 5% (male 578; female 503) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry | fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish |
Airports | 28 (2000 est.) | 3 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | 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.) |
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
Area | total:
236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km |
total: 153 sq km
land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | 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. | First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. |
Birth rate | 47.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 15 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$959 million expenditures: $1.04 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
revenues: $121.5 million
expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997) |
Capital | Kampala | Road Town |
Climate | tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast | subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 80 km |
Constitution | 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 | 1 June 1977 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI |
Currency | Ugandan shilling (UGX) | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | 17.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.46 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.6 billion (2000 est.) | $36.1 million (1997) |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.4 billion (2000) | NA% |
Economy - overview | 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. | The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.06 billion kWh (1999) | 35.43 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 174 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 1 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 1.326 billion kWh (1999) | 38.1 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0.98% hydro: 99.02% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Sage 521 m |
Environment - current issues | draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread | limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) |
Environment - international 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 | 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% | black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed |
Exchange rates | 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) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002)
head of government: Chief Minister Orlando SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor |
Exports | $500.1 million (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, fish and fish products, tea; electrical products, iron and steel | rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand |
Exports - partners | Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Kenya (1999) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | 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 | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $26.2 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $320 million (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
43% industry: 17% services: 40% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2000 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 32 00 E | 18 30 N, 64 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
27,000 km paved: 1,800 km unpaved: 25,200 km (of which about 4200 km are all-weather roads) (1990) |
total: 177 km
paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3% highest 10%: 33.4% (1992) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center |
Imports | $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals | building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery |
Imports - partners | Kenya 27.5%, US 21.2%, France 19.3, UK 5%, India 4% (1999) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US |
Independence | 9 October 1962 (from UK) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7% (1999) | NA |
Industries | sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement | tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center |
Infant mortality rate | 91.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 18.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.5% (2000) | 2.5% (2002) |
International organization participation | 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 | Caricom (associate), CDB, ECLAC (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | 16 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 90 sq km (1993 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction |
Labor force | 8.361 million (1993 est.) | 4,911 (1980) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 82%, industry 5%, services 13% (1999 est.) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | 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 |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
25% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 9% forests and woodland: 28% other: 29% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (1998 est.) |
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 | English (official) |
Legal system | in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | English law |
Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
43.37 years male: 42.59 years female: 44.17 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 76.06 years
male: 75.07 years female: 77.1 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 61.8% male: 73.7% female: 50.2% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya | Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
Merchant marine | 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.) |
total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 19,203 GRT/28,864 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Army, Air Wing, Marine Unit | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $95 million (FY98/99) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 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 | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) | Territory Day, 1 July |
Nationality | noun:
Ugandan(s) adjective: Ugandan |
noun: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander |
Natural hazards | NA | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) |
Natural resources | copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land | NEGL |
Net migration rate | -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 |
10.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | 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] |
Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 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.) |
21,730 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 55% (1993 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.93% (2001 est.) | 2.1% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell | Road Town |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 19, FM 4, shortwave 5 (1998) | AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (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) |
0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% | Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991) |
Sex ratio | 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.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.15 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA international: submarine cable to Bermuda |
Telephones - main lines in use | 50,074; however, 80,868 main lines were installed (1998) | 10,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,000 (1998) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999) | 1 (plus one cable company) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly plateau with rim of mountains | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly |
Total fertility rate | 6.88 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.72 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 3% (1995) |
Waterways | Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile | none |