POPULATION 24,699,073
CHRISTIAN 78 percent
MUSLIM 9 percent
AFRICAN INDIGENOUS BELIEFS 8 percent
AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CHURCHES 4 percent
OTHER 1 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

Situated in East Africa, the Republic of Uganda is a country of savannas and plains surrounded by mountain ranges. It is bordered by Tanzania and Rwanda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, the Sudan to the north, and Kenya to the east. Lake Victoria extends across its southeastern corner. Uganda became independent from Britain in 1962 and a republic in 1963. During the country's colonial history a massive conversion to Christianity took place, so that today Christians make up the large majority of the population.

In 1877 Anglicanism arrived with the first colonial explorers at the court of the kingdom of Buganda. They were followed two years later by Catholic missionaries. The advantages of literacy for court functionaries, and the sympathies of the king of Buganda, secured...