Uganda (2001) | French Guiana (2004) | |
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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 department of France) |
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: 29.6% (male 28,959; female 27,657)
15-64 years: 64.5% (male 66,388; female 57,020) 65 years and over: 5.9% (male 5,736; female 5,549) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry | corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry |
Airports | 28 (2000 est.) | 11 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
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: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km |
total: 91,000 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km water: 1,850 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | slightly smaller than Indiana |
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 French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its communication satellites from Kourou. |
Birth rate | 47.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 21 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$959 million expenditures: $1.04 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996) |
Capital | Kampala | Cayenne |
Climate | tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast | tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 378 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 | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda |
conventional long form: Department of Guiana
conventional short form: French Guiana local long form: none local short form: Guyane |
Currency | Ugandan shilling (UGX) | euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 17.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.82 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.6 billion (2000 est.) | $1.2 billion (1988) |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
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 department of France) |
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 department of France) |
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 | Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.4 billion (2000) | NA (1995) |
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 is tied closely to the larger French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90% of the country. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly among younger workers. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.06 billion kWh (1999) | 423.2 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) | 455 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0.98% hydro: 99.02% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 m |
Environment - current issues | draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread | NA |
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 |
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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 or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10% |
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) | Euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) |
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: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Ange MANCINI (since 31 July 2002)
head of government: President of the General Council Joseph HO-TEN-YOU (since 26 March 2001); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils |
Exports | $500.1 million (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, fish and fish products, tea; electrical products, iron and steel | shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing |
Exports - partners | Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Kenya (1999) | France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2001) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
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 | the flag of France is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $26.2 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.551 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
43% industry: 17% services: 40% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2000 est.) | NA |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 32 00 E | 4 00 N, 53 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South American continent |
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: 722 km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
3% highest 10%: 33.4% (1992) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | - | small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe |
Imports | $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals | food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals |
Imports - partners | Kenya 27.5%, US 21.2%, France 19.3, UK 5%, India 4% (1999) | France 63%, US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2002 est.) |
Independence | 9 October 1962 (from UK) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7% (1999) | NA |
Industries | sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement | construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining |
Infant mortality rate | 91.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 12.46 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.5% (2000) | 1.5% (2002 est.) |
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 | UPU, WCL, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 90 sq km (1993 est.) | 20 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana) |
Labor force | 8.361 million (1993 est.) | 58,800 (1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 82%, industry 5%, services 13% (1999 est.) | agriculture 18.2%, industry 21.2%, services, government, and commerce 60.6% (1980) |
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 |
total: 1,183 km
border countries: Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km |
Land use | arable land:
25% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 9% forests and woodland: 28% other: 29% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0.14%
permanent crops: 0.05% other: 99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001) |
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 | French |
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 | French legal system |
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 General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - PS 28.28%, various left parties 22.56%, RPR 15.91%, independents 8.6%, Walwari Committee 6%; seats by party - PS 11, various left parties 9, RPR 6, independents 3, Walwari Committee 2 note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
43.37 years male: 42.59 years female: 44.17 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 76.89 years
male: 73.57 years female: 80.38 years (2004 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: 83% male: 84% female: 82% (1982 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname |
Map references | Africa | South America |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 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.) |
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Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Army, Air Wing, Marine Unit | no regular military forces; Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $95 million (FY98/99) | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (FY98/99) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
5,118,755 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 52,294 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
2,778,457 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 33,914 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun:
Ugandan(s) adjective: Ugandan |
noun: French Guianese (singular and plural)
adjective: French Guianese |
Natural hazards | NA | high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding |
Natural resources | copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land | bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium, tantalum, clay |
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 |
6.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 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] |
Guyanese Democratic Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Paul DEBRIETTE]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [Muriel ICARE]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the PRG in France) [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON] |
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.) |
191,309 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 55% (1993 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 2.93% (2001 est.) | 2.25% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell | Cayenne, Degrad des Cannes, Saint-Laurent du Maroni |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 19, FM 4, shortwave 5 (1998) | AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters) (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) |
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Religions | Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% | Roman Catholic |
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: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2004 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: NA
domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 50,074; however, 80,868 main lines were installed (1998) | 51,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,000 (1998) | 138,200 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999) | 3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly plateau with rim of mountains | low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains |
Total fertility rate | 6.88 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.05 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 22% (2001) |
Waterways | Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile | 3,760 km
note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2004) |