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| Culture of Uganda |
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Monuments |
Culture ofUganda is made up of a diverse range of ethnic groups.Lake Kyoga forms the northern boundary for theBantu-speaking people, who dominate much ofEast,Central, andSouthern Africa. In Uganda, they include the Baganda and several other tribes[1]
TheBaganda are the largest single ethnic group inUganda. They occupy the central part ofUganda which was formerly theBuganda Province. They are found in the present districts ofKampala, Mpigi,Mukono, Masaka, Kalangala,Kiboga, Rakai, Mubende, Luwero, Wakiso, Ssembabule, and Buikwe. They are a Bantu-speaking people and their language is calledLuganda.[2]
In the north, theLango and theAcholi peoples predominate, who speakNilotic languages. To the east are theIteso andKaramojong, who speak a Nilotic language, whereas the Gishu are part of the Bantu and live mainly on the slopes of Mt. Elgon. They speak Lumasaba, which is closely related to the Luhya ofKenya. A fewPygmies live isolated in therainforests of western Uganda.[3][4][5][6][7]
Ugandan traditions include folk music, dances, foods, clothing, and building styles, among others.[8]
In Northern Uganda, particularly theLango sub-region, a healing ritual called child-cleansing ceremony is conducted to restore the lost manhood of a child. In this ceremony, both the child and mother spend 3 days in a grass thatched house. Traditionally, they are tasked to drink sweetenedmillet porridge. As the 3 days elapse, both the mother and child sit at the door entrance with a company of paternal brothers.[9] This is believed to restore the lost manhood after the healing ritual is performed. TheAcholi people andLango people have their unique dances, such asLarakaraka andBwola for Acholi, and Okeme/Abuda for Lango people.[9][10]
In Western Uganda, there is theEmpaako naming system where the indigenous communities ofBatooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Banyabindi, and Batagwenda identify traditional names that match different seasons, times, and clans, among others. Other traditions include dances, namelyEntogoro andEkitagururo, performed by traditional dancers.[11][12][13]
Eastern Uganda has traditional practices such as theImbalu circumcision ceremony from theGisu people in theMbale District, andKaramoja herders who traditionally move to many places in search of water and pasture for their animals.[14] Central Uganda is known for traditional dances such asBakisimba, Nankasa, and Muwogola, which are inspired by their daily life.[15][16]
Christians make up 85.2 percent of Uganda's population. There were sizeable numbers ofSikhs andHindus in the country untilAsians were expelled in 1972 byIdi Amin, following an alleged dream, although many are now returning following an invitation from PresidentYoweri Museveni.Muslims make up 12 percent of Uganda's population.[17]
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Football is the national sport in Uganda. TheUganda national football team, nicknamed "The Cranes" is controlled by theFederation of Uganda Football Associations. They have never qualified for theFIFA World Cup finals. Their best finish in theAfrican Cup of Nations was second in1978.
Incricket, Uganda was part of theEast Africa team that qualified for theCricket World Cup in1975.
There is also anational basketball league played by some professional players as well as college students and a few high school students.[18][19] Uganda hosted a regional tournament in 2006,[20] which itsnational team, nicknamedThe Silverbacks,[21] won.
Rugby union is also a growing sport in Uganda, and theUganda national rugby union team has been growing stronger as evidenced by more frequent victories and close games against African powerhouses likeNamibia andMorocco.[22]
Atmulti-sport events, Uganda has enjoyed most of its success inathletics andboxing. Uganda has won seven medals at theOlympics and 39 at theCommonwealth Games, all in these two sports. Some of Uganda's most notable athletes includeJohn Akii-Bua, who won Uganda's first Olympic gold in the400 metres hurdles at the1972 Munich Olympics, andDavis Kamoga, a bronze medalist in the400 metres and the first Ugandan to win a medal at theIAAF World Championships in Athletics (winning a silver at the1997 World Championships inAthens).Moses Ndiema Kipsiro was the bronze medalist in the 5,000 metres at the2007 World Championships inOsaka, andStephen Kiprotich was the winner of themarathon at the2012 London Olympics and the 2013 World Championships. Notable among female athletes includeDorcus Inzikuru, who was the first Ugandan to win a gold at the World Athletics Championships when she won the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the2005 World Championships inHelsinki, before adding a gold at the2006 Commonwealth Games inMelbourne.
Ayub Kalule was one of Uganda's most successful boxers, winning golds in the light welterweight category at the1974 World Amateur Boxing Championships and the lightweight division at the1974 Commonwealth Games before turning professional and becomingWorld Boxing Association light-middleweight world champion in 1979.
As of April 2021, Uganda has been one of four African members of the rapidly growinginternational federation for lacrosse.[23] For the first time, Uganda will feature a national team at the 2022Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships.[24]
Uganda is ethnologically diverse, with at least 40 languages in usage.Luganda is the most common language.English andSwahili are the official languages of Uganda, even though English is more popular. Swahili, the East African lingua franca, is not widespread as a language though it was made an official national language in September 2005.[25] Luganda, a language widespread in central Uganda, has been the official local language but education is conducted in English.[26]
In Uganda, thekanzu[27] is the national dress of men in the country. Women from central and eastern Uganda wear a dress with a sash tied around the waist and large exaggerated shoulders called agomesi.[28] Women from the west and north-west drape a long cloth around their waists and shoulders calledsuuka. Women from the south-west wear a long baggy skirt and tie a short matching cloth across their shoulders c known as omushanana. Women also wear a floor-length dress called abusuti, which was introduced by the 19th-century missionaries.
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