The Uganda Atlas

John Gibbons: Uganda At A Glance 2002

Sunset over Lake Albert in Western Uganda

U ganda lies astride the equator in the eastern region of Africa and is located on the raised part of the African plateau. Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa and borders Kenya to the east, Sudan to the north, Tanzania to the south, the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west and Rwanda in the south-west. It lies within the latitude of 4°12’N and 1°29’S, longitude of 29°34’E and 35°0’W. The total surface area is 241,551 km² of which 199,807 km² fall under land and 41,743 km² under water and swamps. The annual temperature and rainfall range between 12°c to 32°c and 800 to 1,700 mm, respectively. Uganda’s landscape has a rich diversity of relief features with great contrasts bearing significant influence on the physical and biological environments. The contrasts range from the great East African rift valley with the lowest elevation of about 620 m above mean sea level while the highest is about 5,111 m on Magherita peak in the Rwenzori Mountains.

The largest part of the country lies between 900-1,500 m but comprises of distinct landscape levels generally made up of plains, plateaus, and mountains. These landscapes are a product of different cycles of erosion, and tectonic and volcanic activities that took place on the African plateau - surface. The African surface developed upon complex underlying geological structures of ancient basement rocks which are some of the oldest on earth (pre-Cambrian age), estimated to be between 3000 - 6000 million years of age. The different landscapes bear great influence both direct and indirect, on the physical, biological, and human environments. For example, Uganda has rich and diverse climatic conditions, ecosystems, and other natural resources which include fresh water lakes, rivers, wetlands, fisheries, forests, wildlife, minerals, and soils that support different agricultural systems. Gifted by nature, the country was once referred to by Sir Winston Churchill as the ‘Pearl of Africa’.

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