Bugiri District

Bugiri District
—  District  —
District location in Uganda
Coordinates: 00°33′N 33°45′E
Country	Uganda
Region	Eastern Uganda
Sub-region	Busoga sub-region
Capital	Bugiri
Population (2010 Estimate)
• Total	332,900
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)
Website	Homepage

Bugiri District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Bugiri, where the district headquarters are located.

Location

Bugiri District is bordered by Namutumba District and Butaleja District to the north, Tororo District to the northeast, Busia District to the east, Namayingo District to the southeast, Mayuge District to the southwest and Iganga District to the west. Bugiri, the district headquarters is located approximately 77 kilometres (48 mi), by road, east of Jinja, the largest city in Busoga sub-region. The coordinates of the district are:00 33N, 33 45E (Latitude:0.5500; Longitude:33.7500).

Overview

Bugiri District was carved out of Iganga District, to which it used to belong. The land surface is characterized by gentle undulating hills with few higher residual features. Another feature of the district is its being located in a flat and rolling topographical zone with 90% of its landmass constituting the drainage basins of Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. As a result, there are numerous swamps that criss-cross the road network, making the cost of the road improvement costly. In July 2010, the southern part of Bugiri District was split off to form Namayingo District.

Bugiri District is part of Busoga sub-region, which is conterminous with Busoga Kingdom, one of the constitutionally recognised kingdoms in Uganda. The districts that constitute Busoga sub-region include the following:

• Bugiri District
• Buyende District
• Iganga District
• Jinja District
• Kaliro District
• Kamuli District
• Luuka District
• Mayuge District
• Namayingo District
• Namutumba District

According to the 2002 national census, the subregion was home to an estimated 2.5 million people at that time.

Population

The 2002 national census estimated the population of the district at approximately 266,900. The annual population growth rate in the district is estimated at 2.8%. Given those statistics, it is estimated that the population of the district in 2010 was approximately 332,900. See table below:

Bugiri District Population Trends

Year Estimated Population 2002 266,900 2003 274,400 2004 282,000 2005 290,000 2006 298,100 2007 306,500 2008 315,000 2009 323,900 2010 332,900 Economic activities Agriculture forms the backbone of the district, as it does in the majority of districts in the country. The main crops include: Lowland Rice Cassava Maize Millet Sweet potatoes Coffee Sorghum Peas Sweet bananas Matooke Tilda Uganda Limited (TUL), a commercial agricultural company belonging to the Madhvani Group, grows rice on a commercial basis at Kibimba Rice Scheme, in the extreme east of Bugiri District. Private out growers also sell their produce to TUL. Due to the abundance of freshwater bodies in the district, commercial fishing is actively practiced by many in Bugiri District. At one time, the district produced in excess of forty (40) metric tones of fish on a daily basis. Unfortunately, due to unregulated fishing, the fish reserves in Lake Victoria have been severely disrupted to near-depletion. The daily catch has since markedly fallen from those high numbers. At the height of the fish boom, 75% of the output was exported (mainly to Western Europe), 20% was consumed locally and 5% was lost in processing. External links Bugiri District Information Portal See also Bugiri Busoga Eastern Region, Uganda Districts of Uganda References