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Uganda is a landlocked country in east Africa about the same size
as the UK but with half the UK's population of some 44.27m (2019)
people. Whilst Uganda was a relatively prosperous country on
independence from the UK in 1962, decades of misrule until 1986,
left hundreds of thousands of its people dead and its economy
severely damaged. Today, life in Uganda
is promoted as a mild society with an expanding tourist industry.
Whilst to some extent this is true, it overlooks the ongoing
strife in the north of the country where ethnic hostilities
continue
and various armed gangs make the territory largely out of governmental control.
Just under 50% of the
population is aged 14yrs or younger and life expectancy is now 63
years having grown from just 45.9 in 1990. Uganda continues to be one of the poorest countries in the
world (achieving position 159 on the Human Development Index) with sub standard health care, high rates of malnutrition and
diseases such as malaria rampant, assisted by less than half of
those living in Uganda having access to safe drinking water; 21.9 million people don't have clean water and 8 in every 10 people don't have a decent toilet. There are an estimated 1.2 million children orphaned through
AIDS/HIV, that's nearly one in fourteen of the country's child
population. Literacy rates are relatively high for males at 77%
however this falls to just 63.9% for females although that rises significantly for young people (87%), most of whom now have some form of early education.
80% of people in Uganda are engaged in
agriculture where coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco and beef are the main
products with coffee being the country's main export. Its other main
exports are fish, tea, gold and cotton. Recent oil discoveries are likely to boost the economy further
however Uganda borders on the newly established Republic of South Sudan
and the potential for instability there particularly if north Sudan
switches off South Sudan's oil pipelines that run through its
territory make cause an influx of refugees in a country that that
already provides shelter for 1,400,000 refugees mainly coming from neighboring countries, especially South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Although now a few years out of date, a recent survey shed some light on life in Uganda for most of its people. 92% of the population (given that only 12% live in urban areas), don't have electricity at home and nearly all use firewood as their main source of heating and cooking with tadooba (kerosene candles) being the main source of light. Around half of all households have a radio but just 5% have a television set and most rural houses are of traditional build with earth floors although an increasing number now have iron roofs. The picture is very different in urban areas such as Kampala where internet use and mobile phone possession is increasingly common.
The table below show's Uganda's HDI and component indicators for 2019 relative to selected countries and groups:
| Country | HDI Value | HDI Rank | Life Expectancy | Schooling | GNI/Capita |
| Uganda | 0.544 | 159 | 63.4 | 6.2 | 2,123 |
| Madagascar | 0.528 | 164 | 67.0 | 6.1 | 1,596 |
| Tanzania | 0.529 | 163 | 65.5 | 6.1 | 2,600 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 0.547 | 61.5 | 5.8 | 3,686 | |
| Low HDI | 0.513 | 61.4 | 4.9 | 2,745 |
Life in Uganda: Volunteer in Uganda
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Life in Uganda: Uganda Education
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Life in Uganda: Sponsor a Child
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Life in Uganda: Uganda Country Profile
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