Kampala

Capital of Uganda, on Lake Victoria; population (2002 est) 1,208,544. It is linked by rail with Mombasa. Products include tea, coffee, fruit, and vegetables. The varied industries include engineering, chemicals, paint manufacture, textiles, footwear, cement, brewing, distilling, cigarettes, flour- and sugar-milling, and coffee processing.

Built on six hills at an altitude of about 1,220 m/4,000 ft and just north of Lake Victoria, it was the capital of the kingdom of Buganda in the 19th century, became the headquarters of the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1890, and was made capital of Uganda in 1962.

The city grew around the site, known as Mengo, where the kabaka, or king, of Buganda had his palace in the late 19th century. Throughout the colonial period it was the chief commercial and administrative centre of Uganda. Makarere University (1922), Uganda Technical College (1954), Rubaga Cathedral, and government buildings are in the city. Kampala was badly damaged during the civil war which followed the overthrow of the president, Idi Amin, in 1979.