Uganda Geography and Climate

Geography and Climate
Uganda lies on the elevated basin which rises between the eastern and western branches of the Great Rift Valley. Most of the country is over 1,000m in altitude and the topography is generally quite flat. The most mountainous part of Uganda is the Kigezi region in the southwest. North of Kigezi on the Congolese border, the 70km-long and 30om-wide Rwenzori Mountains form the highest point in the Rwenzori is exceeded in altitude on the African continent only by the free-standing Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro. Other large mountains in Uganda include the volcanic Virunga range on the border with Rwanda and DRC and Mount Elgon, a vast extinct volcano straddling the Kenyan border. There are several smaller volcanic mountains in the north and east.
With the exception of the semi-desert in the extreme North West, most of Uganda is well watered and fertile. Almost 25% of the country’s surface area is covered by water. Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and second largest fresh-water body in the world, is shared by Uganda with Tanzania and Kenya. Lakes Albert, Edward and George lie on or close to the Congolese border, while the marshy and ill-defined Lake Kyoga  lies in the centre of Uganda. At Jinja on the Lake Victoria shore, Owen Falls is regarded as the official source of the Nile, the world’s longest river. The Nile also passes through lakes Kyoga and Albert.

Uganda‘s equatorial climate is tempered by its elevated altitude. In most parts of the country, the daily maximum is between 20o C and 27 OC is between 12OC and 18OC. The highest temperatures in Uganda occur on the plains immediately east of Lake Albert, while the lowest have been recorded on the glacial peaks of the Rwenzori. Except in the dry north, where in some areas the average annual rainfalls of between 1,000mm and 2,000mm. There is wide regional variation in rainfall patterns. In western Uganda and the Lake Victoria region it can rain at almost any time of year. As a rough guide, however, the wet seasons are from mid September to November and from March to May.