UGANDA LIES ON THE EQUATOR, occupying plateau lands in eastern Africa.
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CLIMATE |
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Uganda’s weather is generally hot and sunny, with fresh breezes. The temperature remains fairly constant throughout the year. Rainfall is heaviest between March and May.
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Between the Lakes
In ancient times great areas of Uganda (yoo-GAHN-dah) were densely forested. Through these equatorial forests wandered small bands of people who hunted wild animals, fished in the lakes and rivers, and gathered wild roots and berries for food.
Between three and two thousand years ago, forest farmers from the Cameroon region began to expand their settlements southward and eastward toward central and eastern Africa. They spoke a group of languages known as Bantu (BAN-too). In the lake region of eastern Africa, the soil was fertile and water abundant. Here, the Bantu-speakers met other people from whom they learned the skills of cattle herding and crop cultivation. By the 300s B.C.E. Bantu smiths were smelting iron ore to produce high quality iron for axes and other tools. This technology enabled them to clear large areas of forest and plant crops. As their forest environment disappeared, the bands of hunter-gatherers retreated westward.
By 1000 C.E. Bantu farmers in ever-increasing numbers were settling on the shores of Lake Victoria and growing plantains as their chief crop. They were grouped into clans (people descended from a common ancestor) and ruled by chiefs.
New peoples began to migrate into the savanna grasslands of northern Uganda too. They came from the Nile Valley, in what is now Sudan, and from Ethiopia. Their lives revolved around raising and raiding cattle. They were less tightly governed than the Bantu chiefdoms, but in Uganda the two cultures met and traded. They developed economic and political relationships, which the herders often dominated. New small states began to develop, some including both herders and farmers.
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FACTS AND FIGURES |
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Official name: Republic of Uganda Status: Independent state Capital: Kampala Major towns: Jinja, Masaka, Mbale, Mbarara, Entebbe, Gulu Area: 91,134 square miles (236,037 square kilometers) Population: 28,200,000 Population density: 309 per square mile (119 per square kilometer) Peoples: 17 percent Ganda; 8 percent Iteso; 8 percent Nyankole; 8 percent Soga; 7 percent Chiga; 6 percent Lango; 6 percent Nyoro; 6 percent Rwanda; 5 percent Gisu; 4 percent Acholi; 4 percent Lugbara; 3 percent Toro; 2 percent Adhola; 2 percent Alur; 2 percent Karamojong; 1 percent Kakwa; 1 percent European, Asian, or Arab descent; about 27 other ethnic groups make up the remaining 10 percent Official language: English Currency: Uganda shilling National day: Independence Day (October 9) Country’s name: The name Uganda is the Swahili version of Buganda, the kingdom of the Ganda people.
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There is no written history of this early period, only names that have been passed down in tales and folklore. These refer to a people called the Tembuzi (tehm-BOO-zee), of whom little is known. They were revered as gods and were led by a figure called Ruhanga (roo-AHNG-gah). The Chwezi (CHWAE-zee) people also feature as divine beings in the myths and legends of Uganda, but they must have been a historical people—probably cattle herders migrating southward from Ethiopia. Their period in Uganda is associated with sites such as Bigo, in the west, where there are massive earthworks. By 1500 most Chwezi seem to have migrated or been pushed southward.
