UGANDA The Pearl of Africa
Uganda also dubbed the pearl of Africa is a unique adorable country. In the east of Africa is a country gifted with mesmerizing beauty. Rich with beautiful soils, nature, vegetation, waters, mountains and fascinating creatures; How dare you miss out on a safari in Uganda?
Away from any other country, Uganda is a virgin land with heartwarming hearts filled with hospitable gestures towards anybody that finds their way into this magical land. In addition to its admired background, Uganda in a further unique way is a book in which many stories that anybody wouldn’t ever want to miss are embedded. Due to the wonderful outlook, and inside beauty of Uganda, all eyes are on this country that has grown from being an innocent republic in the veer to front its political, social and economic wellbeing.
Indeed for so much in Uganda, you agree with me it’s the Pearl of Africa.
Where is Uganda?
Uganda is a country is located in the African continent within the East African region. Uganda covers 197,100 square kilometers of land and 43,938 square kilometers of water, making it the 81st largest nation in the world with a total area of 241,038 square kilometers.
Uganda is surrounded with neighbors of whom it is in good terms with. These are:
- Democratic Republic of the Congo – west
- Kenya – East
- Rwanda – South west
- South Sudan – North
- Tanzania – South
Uganda’s latitude and longitude for the country are 1.1027° N, 32.3968° E. and uses a currency called shillings ( /=).
The History of Uganda as a safari destination
Uganda once a country engulfed by the pre-colonial time became a British protectorate (1894-1962).The pre-colonial times found Uganda a virgin land administered by Kingdom ship .Uganda being one of the last parts of the continent to be reached by outsiders, as Arab traders in search of slaves and ivory arrived in the 1840s.Soon followed by two British explorers. Speke who contributed much to Uganda’s history arrived in 1862. Stanley followed in 1875.
The then visit made by Speke and Stanley to (Kabaka) of Buganda Mutesa opened his eyes. The ruler later became so attached to his new visitors in his kingdom which is one of the four strongholds of culture in this region which became firmly established by the mid-nineteenth century. The others, lying to the west, are Ankole, Toro and Bunyoro.
With much appreciation, the existence of these African kingdoms had a profound influence on the development of Uganda during the colonial period being interfered with during scramble for Africa in the 1880s. With fight for separate spheres of interest by oversees states, the lucky Uganda fell in the then hands of the Britain who administered it. During their time, the then Africans were introduced to Christianity, British leadership, education among others and Uganda being crowned a British protectorate (1896-1962).
Buganda remains a significant Kingdom because of the remarkable agreements made between it and the whites such include the 1900 Buganda Agreement among others which greatly saw Buganda and Uganda at the peak of social, economic and political development.
Other kingdoms and chiefdoms that gave a rise to development in Uganda include, Ankole kingdom, Toro kingdom, Bunyoro – Kitara kingdom, Acholi and Teso chiefdoms, among others. Read about cultural tours in Uganda.
Uganda initially rose to fame in the early 1960s after many disagreements, and pressure build-up to allow the establishment of European farms and plantations still in the years before World War I. This made it a point of principle that Uganda is to be an African state. The economics of the protectorate support this policy. Uganda grew prosperous as cotton, introduced by the British, grown with great success by African peasant farmers.
By 1960s, Uganda had brilliant young educated Africans who had learnt much about British rule and later got the urge to liberate this East African country from the British. Britain granted Uganda full internal self-government in March 1962. In the following month Milton Obote of Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) got elected first prime minister. It is he who negotiated the terms of the constitution under which Uganda becomes independent on 9th October 1962.
From then, Uganda has changed governments in the struggle to irk Uganda’s social, economic and political gestures with the current National Resistance Movement (NRM) headed by His excellence Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Under his rule, social, economic and political strategies have been laid thus rising Uganda to fame especially in the Tourism, Sports, Trade and international Relations as concerned with a strong Army uphold that has helped keep Africa at peace through the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF)
Therefore Uganda continues working on its target of being a middle income state by 2030 and the sole aim of keeping and making East Africa one, through the East African Community in a bid to rise to fame.