A land of lakes and rivers

Most of Uganda lies along a plateau, with land gently rolling between 1,000-1,200 metres in altitude.

A number of volcanic mountains run down its eastern edge, Mount Elgon the highest at 4,321m. There are also mountain ranges in the east (the Ruwenzori, with Uganda’s highest peak at 5,109m) and south (the Virunga).  The low-lying Nile Rift Valley runs along the west of the country.

With eight major rivers and five huge lakes, water covers nearly one-fifth of Uganda. Lake Victoria forms the south-eastern corner of the country. It is Africa’s largest freshwater lake and was long considered to be the source of the Nile’s headwaters.

A long and complicated river

The Nile is the longest river in the world (at 6,695km). It has many different stretches and flows through a number of east African countries. Find out more about the Nile in North Sudan, for example. In Uganda, it is the ‘Victoria Nile’ and then the ‘Albert Nile’ (after exiting Lake Albert).

Lake Victoria is sometimes said to be the source of the Nile. However, this huge lake has many rivers which feed into it. The Ruvubu and Ruvyironza rivers (in Burundi) are regarded as the ultimate source of the Nile. They are upper branches of the Kagera River (in Rwanda) which flows into Lake Victoria.

Apart from the Victoria and Albert Nile (no prizes for guessing who these rivers and their lakes were named after), Uganda’s rivers are mainly seasonal and can be slow and swampy in stretches.

Forests under threat

Uganda is rich in wildlife and habitats. The country has semi-desert areas in the north-east, swampland along the Albert Nile in the north-west, savannah, and equatorial/montane forests in the south-west. However, much of southern Uganda’s natural rainforest has been cleared.

The National Environment Authority estimates that the country has lost two-thirds of its forests in the last 20 years. Trees are especially threatened by the increasing demand for charcoal/firewood by the growing population.

The environment is protected within the country’s ten national parks. One of these, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Bwindi is home to the rare mountain gorilla. Of all the gorilla species, the mountain gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei) is the most endangered, with fewer than 800 left; 480 live in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda, Congo and Uganda (Mgahinga National Park) and 300 in Bwindi.

In the Virunga Massif, the number of gorillas is rising thanks to conservation efforts which have limited poaching and reduced the threat of disease.

Though the gorillas receive much of the attention, Uganda is home to many primates, including communities of chimpanzees, baboons and colobus monkeys. Nocturnal primates include four different species of bushbabies, whose large round eyes shine out from the trees under torchlight.

An unusual resident of Uganda’s forests is the potto, a sloth-like animal which hunts for food at night, often hanging upside-down from tree branches.