Uganda trivia: 45 questions and answers

Kampala. Kampala is the capital and largest city. Entebbe, on Lake Victoria, was the seat of the British government until independence in 1962 and is home to the main airport.

False. False. Uganda is landlocked. It has no coast, but it shares Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, with Kenya and Tanzania.

Buganda. Uganda is named after Buganda, the largest of the old kingdoms, whose kings ruled from the hills where Kampala now stands.

English and Swahili. English and Swahili are official; Swahili was added by a change to the constitution in 2005. Luganda is the most widely spoken local language, but it is not official.

9 October 1962. Uganda became independent on 9 October 1962, and the day is celebrated as Independence Day. 25 January 1971 is the date of Idi Amin's coup.

True. True. In July 1862 Speke saw the Nile flowing out of Lake Victoria over the Ripon Falls, near today's Jinja.

They were covered by water behind a dam. They were covered by water behind a dam: the Owen Falls Dam, finished in 1954, raised the water at the outlet of Lake Victoria and submerged the falls.

True. True. In August 1972 Amin gave Uganda's Asians, most of them of Indian origin, 90 days to leave. Many settled in Britain, and some families returned years later.

Tanzania. Tanzania. After Ugandan troops invaded northern Tanzania in late 1978, the Tanzanian army and Ugandan exiles fought their way north and took Kampala on 11 April 1979.

3 June. 3 June is Uganda Martyrs Day, a public holiday. On 3 June 1886 many of the young Christian martyrs were burned to death at Namugongo.

Green cooking bananas, steamed and mashed. Matooke is green cooking bananas, steamed and mashed, usually wrapped in banana leaves. Maize dough is posho, and millet bread is kalo.

'Rolled eggs', said quickly. The name comes from 'rolled eggs', said quickly: an omelette rolled up in a chapati.

Parcels of smoked banana leaves. Luwombo is steamed in parcels of smoked banana leaves, which give the chicken, meat, fish or groundnuts a gentle smoky taste.

Ghee from cow's milk. Eshabwe is made from ghee from cow's milk, washed and whipped with salted water until it turns white.

True. True. Malewa is smoked, dried bamboo shoots from Bugisu, cooked into a sauce with peanut or sesame paste.

False. False. Nsenene are bush crickets, insects related to grasshoppers, caught in the rainy seasons and fried as a crunchy snack.

True. True. Posho is white maize flour stirred into boiling water until firm; in Kenya and Tanzania it is called ugali.

Fried beans. Kikomando is chopped chapati with fried beans, a cheap and filling favourite of students and workers.

Entebbe. Entebbe, on a peninsula in Lake Victoria about 35 km from Kampala, has the main international airport.

Hill of the impala. Kampala means hill of the impala, after the antelopes that once grazed on the hill where the British built their first fort.

True. True. Fort Portal, in the green highlands of western Uganda, is the historic seat of the Tooro kingdom.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: as of the 2018 count about 459 mountain gorillas lived there, almost half of all mountain gorillas in the world.

About 7 metres. About 7 metres. The river is forced through the narrow gap and falls 43 m into the pool below.

The Mountains of the Moon. The Mountains of the Moon, which the ancient geographer Ptolemy named as the source of the Nile.

True. True. A fire destroyed the main tomb house in 2010; after it was rebuilt with traditional skills, UNESCO removed the site from the danger list in 2023.

The Kasubi Tombs. The Kasubi Tombs, inscribed in 2001. Uganda's other World Heritage Sites are Bwindi and the Rwenzori Mountains national parks.

False. False. Lake Mburo is a park of lakes and grassland known for zebras, impalas and elands. Uganda's mountain gorillas live in Bwindi and Mgahinga in the far south-west.

Kayabwe. Kayabwe sits right on the equator, and visitors stop at the monument to stand with one foot in each hemisphere.

Grey crowned crane. The grey crowned crane, the national bird, stands in a white circle in the middle of the black, yellow and red stripes.

400 metres hurdles. He won the 400 metres hurdles in Munich in a world record time of 47.82 seconds.

False. False. Tanzania has about 49 per cent of the lake, Uganda about 45 per cent and Kenya only about 6 per cent.

True. True. About 49.6 per cent of Ugandans were under 18 at the 2024 census, which makes Uganda one of the youngest countries in the world.

A fig tree. A fig tree (Ficus natalensis). Its inner bark is soaked and beaten into soft sheets of cloth.

Thank you. 'Webale' means thank you, and 'webale nnyo' means thank you very much.

amazzi. 'Amazzi' is water. 'Emmere' is food, 'kaawa' is coffee and 'ekibuga' is city.

False. False. 'Kaawa' means coffee; tea is 'caayi'.

Oli otya?. 'Oli otya?' is the everyday greeting. 'Webale nnyo' means thank you very much, 'weeraba' goodbye and 'mmeka?' how much?

How did you sleep?. 'Wasuze otya?' means how did you sleep, and it is used as good morning.

True. True. 'Mmeka?' means how much?, a useful word for markets and taxis.

Bulungi. 'Bulungi' means fine or well. 'Weeraba' is goodbye, 'nnyamba' is help me and 'owange' is excuse me.

Yellow fever. A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required, and officials may ask to see it on arrival.

999. 999 is the number for police, fire and ambulance in Uganda.

False. False. Photographing military, official and diplomatic sites is forbidden, including the Owen Falls Dam at Jinja. Always ask people before taking their photo, too.

A motorbike taxi. A boda boda is a motorbike taxi. They have many accidents, so official travel advice is to avoid them, or at least to wear a helmet.

True. True. Bilharzia is a parasite found in many African lakes; ask locally before swimming.