Introduction
With an estimated 30 million inhabitants, Uganda is one of the most populous countries in Africa. The urban population has grown at a rate of 5.7 percent annually and now represents 12.5 percent of the total population. In 2003, the Ugandan government reported that the current rate of population growth in the country was "unsustainable" and threatened to strangle efforts to lift the country's inhabitants out of poverty. In 2005, the population growth rate was 3.31 percent overall. In 2008, that rate was 3.6 percent.
Cultural Demography
There are four main ethnic groups in Uganda. The largest in number are the Bantus who occupy the central and western regions of the country. Bantu groups include the tribes of Buganda, Banyankole, Basoga, Bakiga, Batoro, Banyoro, Banyarwanda, Bagisu, Bagwere and Bakonjo. The Nilotics, who occupy the north-central regions include the Lango, Acholi, Alur, Padhola, Lulya and Jonam. The Nilo-Hamitics who occupy eastern and northeastern regions include the Teso, Karamojong, Kumam, Kakwa, Sebei, Pokot, Labwor and Tepeth. Other Nilo-Hamitic groups including the Lugbara, Madi and Lendu live in the northwest of Uganda.
Until 1972, Asians constituted the largest non-indigenous ethnic group in Uganda. In that year, the Idi Amin regime expelled 50,000 Asians, who had been engaged in trade, industry and various professions. In the years since Amin's overthrow in 1979, Asians have slowly returned. About 3,000 Arabs of various national origins live in Uganda. Other non-indigenous people in Uganda include several hundred Western missionaries and a few diplomats and business people.
In general, religious affiliation in Uganda can be broken down in the following way: 33 percent of Ugandans name themselves Catholic, 33 percent Protestant, 16 percent Muslim and 18 percent adhere to indigenous practices. Left outside these rather precise percentages offered in official statistics is any account of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda. Indeed, this small Jewish population came into being in 1920 via a Buganda leader named Semei Kakungulu.
Health and Welfare
In terms of health and welfare, the infant mortality rate is 65.99 deaths per 1,000 live births. Meanwhile, Ugandans have an average life expectancy at birth of 52 years of age. English is the official language of Uganda, however Swahili and Luganda are widely spoken. An estimated 66.8 percent of the population, ages 15 and older, are literate (76.8 percent of males and 57.7 percent of females).
Note: About 8.2 percent of GDP in this country is spent on health expenditures. About 3.2 percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures.
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main areas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as econom ic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI places Uganda in the low human development category, at 143rd place. Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at Countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.