Abstract:

Most of Uganda's 241,000 square kilometres enjoy an equable climate shaped by •its mean altitude above sea level (about 1,000 m), the presence of several large lakes (Lakes Victoria, Albert, Edward, George, and Lake Kyoga) and its regular rainfall of 1,000 mm to 1,500 mm, with extremes of 500 mm and 2,000 mm only in the north—east and south—west respectively. Uganda's orientation astride the equator and the twice—yearly passage of the inter—tropical convergence zone give rise to two rainy seasons (first rains Much to 1V:ay; second rains September to November) in those districts nearest to the equator, and hence two cropping seasons a year. Northern districts exper_ence a single rainy season between May and October. Resembling a basin whose eastern and western rims correspond to the volcanic mountain formations of the Great Rift Valley, Uganda's river drainage is dominated by the Victoria Nile and the Albert Nile, which flow northwards from Lake Victoria, and become the Bahr el Jebel (White Nile) on entering Sudan. The Owen Falls dam on the Victoria Nile, with installed capacity of 150 megawatts, is the chief source of electrical power in Uganda, and the lakes themselves supply about 200,000 tonnes of fish a year, Uganda's chief source of animal protein in the human diet.