Geography of Uganda

Uganda is located in Eastern Africa, west of Kenya, south of South Sudan, east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and north of Rwanda and Tanzania. Despite its lengthy lakeshore, Uganda is landlocked with no access to sea. Uganda sits in the heart of the Great Lakes region and consists of many lakes and rivers including the largest fresh water lake in Africa, Lake Victoria. Other notable lakes include Lake Edward, Lake George and Lake Albert along its western border and Lake Kyoga in the east. The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows through Uganda as well as the Kagera River, Katonga River, Semiliki River and Sezibwa River.

The climate is generally tropical and equatorial with two dry periods from December to February and June to August. The northeast of the country is semiarid, including Moroto, Kabong, Nakapiripiriti, and Karenga districts. The terrain of Uganda mostly consist of plateaus surrounded by a rim of mountains including the Rwenzori Mountain range. Notable national parks include Bwindi, Rwenzori Mountains which has snow on its peak, Margherita, Kibale, Mgahinga National Park, Mount Elgon National game Park, Kidepo National game Park and Queen Elizabeth National game Park, with thick forests to modify climate. Uganda's plant cover is Savannah. However, forests also act as a source of Herbal Medicine. Some geographical places like Jinja and Kapchorwa have water Springs like Murchison Falls, Bujagali Falls, karuma falls and Sipii falls that aids Hydro Electric Power Generation and to cite out; Bujagali falls generates 5 MW that is exported to our physically disadvantaged neighbourhood in the names Rwanda and Burundi. Inselbergs are common features in the geography of Uganda. The inselbergs are commonly made of granite, sometimes of gneiss and never of amphibolite or volcanic rock. Protruding quartzite hills tend to form ridges rather than "true inselbergs".

Statistics

Area:
total: 241,551 square kilometres (93,263 mi²)
land: 200,523 square kilometres (77,422 mi²)
water: 41,028 square kilometres (15,841 mi²)

Area comparative

• Australia comparative: slightly larger than Victoria
• Canada comparative: slightly less than half the size of the Yukon
• United States comparative: slightly smaller than Wyoming
• EU comparative: slightly larger than Romania

Land boundaries:
total: 2,729 kilometres (1,696 mi)
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 877 kilometres (545 mi), Kenya 814 kilometres (506 mi), South Sudan 475 kilometres (295 mi), Tanzania 391 kilometres (243 mi), Rwanda 172 kilometres (107 mi)

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: 614 metres (2,014 ft) Albert Nile at border with South Sudan
highest point: 5,111 metres (16,768 ft) Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley

Natural resources:
copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land, gold

Land use: (2012)
arable land: 69,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles) 34.41%
permanent crops: 22,500 square kilometres (8,700 square miles) 11.22%
forest cover: 28,100 square kilometres (10,800 square miles) 14.01%
other: 80,931 square kilometres (31,248 mi²) 40.36%

Irrigated land: (2012)
140 square kilometres (54 square miles)

Total renewable water resources:
66 cubic kilometres (16 mi³) (2011) or 60 cubic kilometres (14 mi³) (2012)

Environment — current issues:
draining of wetlands for agricultural use, deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion, water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria, widespread poaching

Environment — international agreements:
party to:

• Convention on the International Maritime Organization
• Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
• Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
• Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Convention on Biological Diversity
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa
• International Plant Protection Convention
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat

signed, but not ratified:

• Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques

Geography — note: Uganda is one of six African states that lies on the equator. Most of Uganda lies north of the equator.