About Sperito's Country

Straddling the equator, Uganda has a diverse terrain with plains, forests, lakes, swamps and mountains. Much of the south is forested and most of the north is grassland. The country's high altitude mo read more...derates the tropical climate. The population is largely rural; its density is highest in the south. Uganda is made up of a hodgepodge of African natives where no one ethnic group dominates. Forty-two percent of Ugandans are Protestant, almost another forty-two percent are Catholic, and about twelve percent are Muslim. English is the official language and other languages, such as Luganda, are used for small-scale commerce. Sub-Saharan Africa, where Uganda lies, bears the heaviest burden of the AIDS epidemic. In this region approximately 22 million children and adults are living with HIV/AIDS; approximately 940,000 of these are Ugandan. By the fifteenth century, the Buganda kingdom ruled much of what is now central Uganda. European explorers entered the area in 1862. Following civil war, a British protectorate took control in 1896. Independence movements of the 1950s came to fruition in 1962 when Uganda was granted self-rule. In 1971, army commander Idi Amin took control through a coup, looting the country and killing an estimated 300,000 during an eight-year reign of terror. An invasion by the Tanzanian army in 1979 overthrew Amin and the country went through a period of instability where governments arose and were overthrown. In 1986, Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Army took over the leadership after a brief war; he is the current leader. Since then, Uganda's economy has strengthened and the government has remained stable but the 1990s have seen a rise in insurgency in the north.