Entebbe
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| Entebbe | |
  Entebbe
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| Coordinates: 0°02′40″N 32°27′57″E / 0.04444°N 32.46583°E | |
| Country |  Uganda |
|---|---|
| Admin. division | |
| District | Wakiso District |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | |
| Population (2009) | |
| - Total | 115,142 (Est.) |
Entebbe is a city in Uganda. The city was, at one time, the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda, prior to Independence in 1962. Entebbe is the location of Entebbe International Airport, Uganda's largest commercial and military airport.
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[edit] Location
Entebbe lies at 00.04N, 320.280E. It is situated in Wakiso District, approximately 37 kilometres (23 mi), southwest of Kampala, Uganda's largest city and capital. Entebbe sits on the northern shores of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.
The Municipality is located on a peninsular into Lake Victoria covering a total area of 56.2 square kilometres (21.7 sq mi), out of which 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) is water.[1][2]
[edit] Population
During the 2002 national census, Entebbe's population was estimated at 90,500 people.[3] The population growth rate in central Uganda during the first decade of the 2000s has been estimated at approximately 3.5% per year. Using those statistics, it is estimated that in 2009, the population of the city of Entebbe is approximately 115,142. See Table below:
| Entebbe City Population Trends | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] History"Entebbe", in the local Luganda language, means a "seat", and was probably named that because it was the place where a Baganda chief sat to adjudicate legal cases. It first became a British colonial administrative and commercial centre in 1893 when Sir Gerald Portal, a colonial Commissioner, used it as a base. Port Bell went on to become Kampala's harbour. Although no ships land there now, there is still a jetty, which was used by Lake Victoria ferries. Entebbe is perhaps best known to Europeans as the home of Entebbe International Airport, the main international airport of Uganda, which was started in 1947. The Entebbe airport was the scene of one of the most daring counter-terrorism operations in history when soldiers from an elite unit of the Israeli army freed over 100 hostages following a hijacking by a group of Palestinian and German terrorists. It was also from this airport that Queen Elizabeth II departed Africa to return to England in 1952 when learning of her father's death and that she had become Queen. [edit] Tourist Attractions
[edit] See also[edit] References |
