Uganda experienced two great waves of migration. The first brought the Bantu-speaking peoples from further west in Africa, and the second, the Nilotic people from Sudan and Ethopia. These broad families are still geographically split today, the Bantu in the centre and south of the country and the Nilotic peoples in the north. Until the 19th century, landlocked Uganda saw few outsiders compared with its neighbours. Despite fertile lands and surplus harvests, trading links with the great Indian Ocean ports were limited. During the reign of the Bugandan kabaka (king) Mwanga in the mid-19th century, contacts were finally made with Arab traders and early European explorers. Uganda was not to escape the tide of colonialism sweeping across the continent.
How did Uganda gain its independence?
The East African country Uganda gained independence from Great Britain as a parliamentary democratic monarchy with traditional kingdoms Ankole, Buganda, Bunyoro and Toro receiving federal status and a degree of autonomy. Buganda, under the leadership of Sir Edward Mutesa, was the most powerful kingdom. Milton Obote the leader of the socialist Uganda People's Congress (UPC) became the first prime minister of the newly independent Uganda. In 1963 Uganda became the Republic of Uganda, with Mutesa II as first (largely ceremonial) president.
Timeline of Major events
500 B.C.-1300 A.D.Bantu-speaking people migrate to the region. They establish the state of Buganda.
1862British explorer John Speke is the first European to visit Buganda.
1894-1900Britain takes control of the area, calling it Uganda. Britain recognizes the kabaka, or Buganda tribal king, as ruler, but maintains its authority.
1926 The Toro- Semliki Wildlife Reserve becomes the nation's first protected area.
1962 Uganda gains independence. The Buganda king, Mutesa II, becomes president, with Milton Obote as prime minister.
1967 Obote imposes a new constitution, which makes him president and abolishes all of Uganda's tribal kingdoms.
1971 Military leader Idi Amin overthrows Obote. During Amin's cruel eight-year rule, an estimated 300,000 people are killed.
1978 Amin attacks Tanzania. Ugandan exiles and Tanzanian troops invade Uganda. Amin is forced out of the country in 1979.
1986 Yoweri Museveni takes power. He brings stability and improved human rights protection.
1993 A constitutional amendment restores the kingdom of Buganda and other kingdoms.
2000 Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya join to form the East African Community and pledge cooperation.
2008 After years of fighting, a cease-fire agreement is signed with a rebel group 2010 A fire destroys the historical burial site of four ancient rulers of the Buganda region. Violence breaks out after angry protesters, who blamed arsonists for the fires, clash with security forces.