UGANDA The Protectorate of Uganda, which has an area of 118,000 square miles, rises from the plains of the Bahr-el-Jebel in the Sudan on to the plateau of East Africa, where it occupies most of the northern part of the region lying between the eastern and western rift valleys. Except in the north, where it slopes down towards the Sudan, and in the east, where it rises to the higher plateaus bordering the Eritrean rift, the average elevation of the land is about 4,000 feet, and much of it consists of rolling country in which numberless rounded hills are separated from one another by broad and swampy rivers.
Notwithstanding its position on the equator, the high altitude of Uganda gives it a more moderate climate than might have been expected. Entebbe, which is situated on Victoria Nyanza at a height of 3,906 feet above sea-level, has a mean annual temperature of 72° F., with a range of less than 2° between June (the coldest) and January (the hottest month). The rain fall, which occurs at all seasons of the year, but is heaviest in the spring and autumn months, is between 40 and 60 inches, except in the north-east, where it is less than 30, and in the south-west, where it is over 60 inches. The natural vegetation of the country
consists of scattered forests, grasslands, and thorn bush ; while the food crops of the native population include bananas, sweet potatoes, maize, and millet. Cattle, sheep, and goats are also reared.
Considerable attention has recently been given to the cultiva tion of cotton, the exports of which, though relatively small, are increasing rapidly ; and attempts are also being made to grow rubber, sisal, coffee, cacao, and rice. Among other exports are wild rubber and ivory. Most of the trade passes over the Uganda railway and through Mombasa. The only line within the country itself is that which is being constructed from Jinja on Victoria Nyanza to Kakindu, where it will tap the cotton-growing district round Lake Kioga.
The native population, which numbers about 3,500,000, has recently suffered severely from sleeping sickness. Concerning the suitability of the high plateaus in the east for white settlement but little is as yet known.