Uganda is a landlocked country lying on the equator. It is more than 800 km from the Indian Ocean. It is bounded by South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya. Uganda covers a land area of 241,038 sq km. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania. The country gained independence from the British on 9 October 1962.

The population was estimated at about 37.7million in 2017 with an average annual growth rate of 3.3% compared with an average of 2.5% for sub-Saharan Africa. The main languages spoken are English, Kiswahili and Luganda. A large segment of the population is rural (83.5% in 2016). The age distribution of the population is as follows: 0-14 years (48%), 15-64 years (49%) and 65 years and over (2%).

Uganda is divided into 80 districts, spread across four administrative regions: Northern, Eastern, Central and Western. The districts are subdivided into counties. Most of the districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns.