Uganda: Culture & People

Population

With a population of around 25 million, Uganda is made up of a complex and diverse range of ethnic groups with the more fertile, wetter south and west being the most populous areas.

Bantu-speaking tribes make up the majority, with the Kampala-based Baganda as the most populous group - at 20 percent of the total population.

Nilotic language speakers dominate the north and to a degree the east, where pygmies also maintain a tenuous existence in the rainforests.

Language

English is the official language but there are 33 different local languages (in a country the size of Great Britain!) and so English, and to some degree KiSwahili, are used between Ugandans of different ethnic backgrounds.

Culture

Centuries of rival kingdoms and shifting centres of power make for a fascinating history, and Ugandans hold their ancestry in high regard. The monarchy (albeit with no powers) was restored in 1993.

Ugandan Art has an international reputation and visitors often remark on the friendliness and politeness of the locals. Greetings are an elaborate affair and may include inquiries as to the health of your family.

Religion

Around two-thirds of Ugandans profess to follow Christianity (split fairly evenly between Protestant and Roman Catholic) with the remaining third practising animism and traditional beliefs. Small pockets of Islam exist, particularly in the recently- returned Asian communities.

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