Districts of Uganda

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Updates: 

The latest version of the FIPS standard is called "Geopolitical Entities and Codes", published in 2010-04. It assigns codes to the newly created Ugandan districts.

Sorin Cosoveanu supplied some new links. There are news releases on the Parliament website with conflicting information about new districts. The first  (2008?-12-08) says, "Parliament is considering the creation of twenty new districts ... Zumbo, Amudat, Otuke, Lamwo, Kyegegwa, Buikwe, Buyende, and Maracha effective July 1, 2009.... Namayingo, Kiyunga, Kiryandongo, Ntoroko, Serere, Aleptong, Gomba, Kalungu, Buvuma, Butambala, Bulambuli, and Kyankwanzi effective July 1 2010." The problem with this list is that Maracha is already a district. In 2006, a district was formed by taking Maracha and Terego counties from Arua district. Its name was usually given as Maracha district or Maracha-Terego district. Schedule I of the Constitution calls it Nyadri district, but various sources make it clear that this refers to the same district. For example, this Daily Monitor  article says, "the people of Maracha County (the new Nyadri District) ...". It may be that the new Maracha district contemplated here will be split from Nyadri.

The second  item, undated, says, "Government has asked Parliament to approve the creation of six more new districts, which will become effective on July 1, 2010. The motion, which is an addition to an earlier request for the creation of 14 districts, will bring the total number of districts to 99.... The proposed new districts are Zombo, Amudat, Otuke, Lamwo, Kyegegwa, Buikwe and Buikwe, which will take effect on July 1, 2009. The new districts of Namayingo, Luuka, Kiryadongo, Ntoroko, Serere, Alebtong, Gomba, Kalungu, Buvuma, Butambala and Bulambuli will become effective on July 1, 2010." This creates more conflicts. In the first place, the content of the lists has changed somewhat. "Buikwe and Buikwe" has to be a mistake. Spelling changes (Zumbo to Zombo, Kiryandongo to Kiryadongo, Aleptong to Alebtong) are probably just variant names. The second district on the 2010 list has changed from Kiyunga to Luuka. The lists have both been truncated at the end. In the second place, the number of districts to be formed is eight in 2009 and twelve in 2010 (according to version 1; seven and eleven, respectively, in version 2, which is patently wrong). The wording at the start of this news item would seem to imply that fourteen districts were to be created in 2009 and six in 2010. This can be reconciled if we hypothesize that there was an earlier proposal to create eight districts in 2009 and six in 2010, to which the new proposal adds six more in 2010.

In fact, these were only plans; but they give us an idea of what to look for in the news. Source [16] says that Parliament approved the creation of seven new districts: Zombo (split from Nebbi), Amudat (split from Nakapiripirit), Otuke (split from Lira), Lamwo (split from Kitgum), Kyegegwa (split from Kyenjojo), Buikwe (split from Mukono), and Buyende (split from Kamuli). No action was taken on Maracha because of disagreement over whether Terego county should be included in Maracha or remain in Arua, according to the article; this contradicts information previously available that indicated that Maracha has already been formed. Finally, the article says, the session ended without deciding whether Namayingo should be split from Bugiri.

I have used Schedule I of the Uganda Constitution (source [15]) to resolve name conflicts, such as Busiki vs. Namutumba or Kibaale vs. Kibale. Note: sometimes a variant name is much more prevalent than the "official" one.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number II-1, dated 2010-02-03, has changes to the listing for Uganda. The prefix UG- is added explicitly to each province code. ISO codes are provided for the 3 districts created in 2007. The alternate names listed in Newsletter I-9 have been deleted.

In 2008, The Uganda Communication Commission set up a URL for each district, following the pattern www.district name.go.ug. Some, but not all, of them have been allowed to expire. Source [9] examines the reasons behind the rapid creation of new districts. It says that the creation of Lamwo district out of Kitgum was announced in 2007-07. It also says that Maracha and Tororo districts were not created when they were announced. Lamwo and Maracha didn't have UCC websites yet. Tororo's URL brought up a Joomla page.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-9 was published on 2007-11-28. It provided ISO codes for the 21 districts created since Newsletter I-5 was issued in 2003. The 56 existing codes were left unchanged. The newsletter listed alternate names for four districts: Amuru (Kilak), Isingiro (Kabingo), Maracha (Maracha-Terego), and Namutumba (Busiki).

Comparing the Wikipedia  article to the list of districts I showed at that time, I found the following discrepancies: Bukedea (pop. 122,527) is split from Kumi, Bududa (pop. 124,368) from Manafwa, and Lyantonde (pop. 66,175) from Rakai. This was eventually confirmed from other sources. Also, on the Wikipedia page, the names of Busiki, Kabingo, and Maracha were given as Namutumba, Isingiro, and Maracha-Terego, respectively. My current list, based on the Constitution, calls them Namutumba, Isingiro, and Nyadri.

Lucas Snyder computed the populations of the newly created districts (2005-07-01 and 2006-07-01). In most cases, it was possible to calculate the populations by using the populations of the individual counties that were taken to make each new district. The exception is Budaka district, which included some sub-counties of Pallisa district. The total 2002 population for Budaka and Pallisa is known to be correct.

FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 9, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2004-10-01. It assigned FIPS codes to the eleven new districts of 2000-2001. It also changed the FIPS codes of the old districts from which the new ones were formed. Details are below under Primary subdivisions and Change history.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-5, dated 2003-09-05, added eleven new districts to Uganda, and changed all ISO codes for districts. It cited the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (source [2]) as its source for the list of districts and the codes. All of the district names from the old list were still there, except that Kibale appeared as Kibaale in the newsletter (and also on the UBoS site).

Change Notice 7 to FIPS PUB 10-4, published 2002-01-10, assigned FIPS codes to the six new districts created in 1997. ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-3, published 2002-08-20, assigned ISO codes to them.

Country overview: 

Short nameUGANDA
ISO codeUG
FIPS codeUG
LanguageEnglish (en)
Time zone+3
CapitalKampala

 

Uganda was a British protectorate at the beginning of the 20th century. On 1962-10-09 it became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.

Other names of country: 

  1. Danish: Uganda
  2. Dutch: Oeganda, Republiek Oeganda (formal)
  3. English: Republic of Uganda (formal)
  4. Finnish: Uganda
  5. French: Ouganda m
  6. German: Uganda n
  7. Icelandic: Úganda
  8. Italian: Uganda f
  9. Norwegian: Uganda, Republikken Uganda (formal)
  10. Portuguese: Uganda, República f do Uganda m (formal)
  11. Spanish: Uganda, República f de Uganda (formal)
  12. Swedish: Uganda

Origin of name: 

Swahili for land of the Ganda, ethnic name

Primary subdivisions: 

Uganda is divided into 80 districts.

DistrictHASCISOFIPSPopulationReg
AbimUG.AI317UGB658,590N
AdjumaniUG.AD301UG98201,493N
AmolatarUG.AT314UGB796,374N
AmuriaUG.AM216UGB8183,817E
AmuruUG.KQ319UGB9177,783N
ApacUG.AC302UG99405,524N
AruaUG.AW303UGA1413,113N
BudakaUG.BD217UGC1* 221,525E
BududaUG.BA223UGC2124,368E
BugiriUG.BG201UG66426,522E
BukedeaUG.BE224UGC3122,527E
BukwoUG.BW218UGC449,826E
BuliisaUG.BL419UGC564,823W
BundibugyoUG.BN401UG28212,884W
BushenyiUG.BS402UG29723,427W
BusiaUG.BU202UG67228,181E
ButalejaUG.BJ219UGC6160,927E
DokoloUG.DO318UGC7131,047N
GuluUG.GL304UGA2290,624N
HoimaUG.HO403UG31349,204W
IbandaUG.IB416UGC8198,043W
IgangaUG.IN203UGA3547,155E
IsingiroUG.NG417UGC9318,913W
JinjaUG.JI204UG33413,937E
KaabongUG.AB315UGD1379,775N
KabaleUG.KA404UG34471,783W
KabaroleUG.BR405UG79359,180W
KaberamaidoUG.KD213UG80122,924E
KalangalaUG.KN101UG3636,661C
KaliroUG.RO220UGD2153,513E
KampalaUG.KM102UG371,208,544C
KamuliUG.KX205UGA4558,566E
KamwengeUG.KE413UG81295,313W
KanunguUG.UU414UG82205,095W
KapchorwaUG.KP206UGA5143,684E
KaseseUG.KS406UG40532,993W
KatakwiUG.KK207UGA6123,215E
KayungaUG.KY112UG83297,081C
KibaaleUG.KI407UG41413,353W
KibogaUG.KG103UG42231,718C
KiruhuuraUG.KH418UGD3212,087W
KisoroUG.KR408UG43219,427W
KitgumUG.TG305UG84286,122N
KobokoUG.OK316UGD4131,604N
KotidoUG.KF306UGA7157,765N
KumiUG.KV208UG46265,488E
KyenjojoUG.KJ415UG85380,362W
LiraUG.LA307UGA8530,342N
LuweroUG.LW104UGA9336,616C
LyantondeUG.LY116UGD566,175C
ManafwaUG.MW221UGD6264,383E
MasakaUG.MA105UG71767,759C
MasindiUG.MC409UG50405,042W
MayugeUG.MG214UG86326,567E
MbaleUG.ME209UGB1332,174E
MbararaUG.RR410UGB2360,008W
MityanaUG.TY114UGD8269,763C
MorotoUG.MT308UG88170,506N
MoyoUG.MY309UGB3199,912N
MpigiUG.MI106UG89414,757C
MubendeUG.MD107UGB4436,493C
MukonoUG.MN108UG90807,923C
NakapiripiritUG.NP311UG91153,862N
NakasekeUG.NK115UGD9138,011C
NakasongolaUG.NA109UG73125,297C
NamutumbaUG.BK222UGE1169,156E
NebbiUG.NE310UG58433,466N
NtungamoUG.NT411UG59386,816W
NyadriUG.MH320UGD7310,338N
OyamUG.OY321UGE2270,720N
PaderUG.PD312UG92293,679N
PallisaUG.PL210UGB5* 300,729E
RakaiUG.RI110UG61405,631C
RukungiriUG.RK412UG93308,696W
SembabuleUG.SE111UG74184,178C
SironkoUG.SI215UG94291,906E
SorotiUG.SR211UG95371,986E
TororoUG.TR212UG76398,601E
WakisoUG.WA113UG96957,280C
YumbeUG.YU313UG97253,325N
80 districts24,748,977
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2.
  • FIPS: "Geopolitical Entities and Codes."
  • Population: 2002-09-13 census (calculated, *estimated)
  • Reg: ISO code for region the district belongs to:
    C = Central, E = Eastern, N = Northern, W = Western.
  • Capitals: Have the same name as the district, except
    for Kilak in Amuru, Fort Portal in Kabarole, and the
    dual capitals Mawogola and Lwemiyaga in Sembabule.

Further subdivisions:

See the Counties of Uganda page.

The districts are divided into counties, which are subdivided into sub-counties, which are subdivided into parishes, which are subdivided into villages. The old regions are still referred to, but no longer have any administrative status.

Territorial extent: 

  1. Bugiri includes the islands of Sigulu, Lolui, Dagusi, Sagitu, and others in Lake Victoria.
  2. Kalangala consists of the Sese Islands in Lake Victoria. The largest ones are Bugala and Bukasa.
  3. Mukono includes the islands of Buvuma, Kome, Damba, Bugaia, and others in Lake Victoria.

Change history: 

  1. The sources for the entries below include sources [4] and [5].
  2. 1926: Significant border adjustments made between Uganda and its neighboring countries.
  3. From 1945 or earlier until after independence, Uganda was divided into four provinces. During at least part of this period, the provinces were subdivided into districts. This table gives the populations of the provinces according to the censuses of 1948, 1959, and 1969.
Province194819591969Area(km.²)Capital
Buganda1,317,7051,881,1492,667,33261,609Kampala
Eastern1,514,4281,902,6972,817,06663,018Jinja
Northern945,1041,249,3101,631,89957,320Gulu
Western1,177,9391,503,3752,432,55054,913Masindi
4 provinces4,955,1766,536,5319,548,847236,860
  1. 1959: Status of provinces changed to regions, with no administrative function. Districts became the primary divisions. (This is a conjecture to try to explain the observed facts. According to [5], there were 16 districts at this time.)
  2. 1962: Mbale territory, with an area of 25 km.², was created from territory disputed between Bugisu and Bukedi districts. The city of Mbale was the capital of both districts. (GE-29) The New Vision site gives 1966 as the date of this change. [5] agrees with 1962.
  3. 1962-10-09: Uganda became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.
  4. 1966-05-28: Status of Busoga changed from territory to district. (GE-29)
  5. 1966-06-10: Buganda kingdom split into four districts: Bombo, Masaka, Mpigi, and Mubende. At this date, Uganda was divided into 15 districts, three kingdoms, and one territory, as listed in the following table. These were further subdivided into sazas (counties), which were subdivided into gombolas (sub-counties), which were subdivided into mirukas (parishes). (GE-29)
DivisionTypeCapital
AcholidGulu
AnkolekMbarara
BombodBombo
BugisudMbale
BukedidMbale
BunyorokHoima
BusogadJinja
KaramojadMoroto
KigezidKabale
LangodLira
MadidMoyo
MasakadMasaka
MbaletMbale
MpigidMpigi
MubendedMubende
SebeidKapchorwa
TesodSoroti
TorokFort Portal
West NiledArua
  • Type: district (d), kingdom
    (k), or territory (t).

 

Source [6] has a table of districts with populations from the 1959 census. This list differs from the previous one in that Bombo, Mpigi, and Sebei disappear, to be replaced by Mengo. I'm not sure how to reconcile this with the information from the Geographic Notes. Based on the change reported in GE-40, Mengo represents the union of Bombo and Mpigi, but I don't know what happened to Sebei.

DistrictPopulation
Acholi286,846
Ankole531,335
Bugisu353,411
Bukedi400,432
Bunyoro128,198
Busoga677,410
Karamoja172,397
Kigezi494,488
Lango354,311
Madi50,737
Masaka443,877
Mbale Town13,569
Mengo1,337,895
Mubende99,377
Teso457,875
Toro349,354
West Nile385,019
17 districts6,536,531
  • Population: 1959 census.
    Population of Karamoja
    includes Karasuk, which
    is part of Kenya.
  1. 1967-09-08: New constitution approved. Status of kingdoms changed to districts. Mbale territory merged with Bugisu district. Capital of Bukedi moved to Tororo. Name of Bombo district changed to East Mengo. Name of Mpigi district changed to West Mengo. (GE-40)
  2. 1971-04: Acholi district split into East Acholi and West Acholi; Karamoja district split into North Karamoja and South Karamoja. Source [7] has this list of divisions of Uganda. As you can see, it reflects the partition of Acholi but not that of Karamoja.
DistrictFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)RegCapital
East AcholiUG06463,84427,853NGulu
West AcholiUG17N
AnkoleUG01861,14516,182WMbarara
BugisuUG02421,4332,546EMbale
BukediUG03527,0904,553ETororo
BunyoroUG04351,90319,609WHoima
BusogaUG05949,38414,047EJinja
East MengoUG07851,58323,440BBombo
KaramojaUG08284,06727,213EMoroto
KigeziUG09647,9885,218WKabale
LangoUG10504,31513,740NLira
MadiUG1189,9785,006NMoyo
MasakaUG12640,59621,300BMasaka
MubendeUG13330,95510,310BMubende
SebeiUG1464,4641,738EKapchorwa
TesoUG15570,62812,921ESoroti
ToroUG16571,51413,904WFort Portal
West MengoUG18844,1986,559BMpigi
West NileUG19573,76210,721NArua
19 districts9,548,847236,860
  • FIPS: Codes from the Defense Intelligence Agency.
  • Population: 1969 census.
  • Reg: Region to which the district belonged: Buganda
    (B), Eastern (E), Northern (N), or Western (W).
  1. 1974: Provinces were introduced as the new primary subdivisions of Uganda. Districts remained as secondary subdivisions, and were increased in number to 37 ([5]). These were the provinces during this period.
ProvinceFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)CapitalFormer
BusogaUG051,221,87213,340JinjaBusoga
CentralUG181,117,6486,270KampalaWest Mengo
EasternUG202,015,53022,260MbaleBugisu, Bukedi, Sebei, Teso
KaramojaUG08350,90826,960MorotoKaramoja (North and South)
NileUG21811,75515,730AruaMadi, West Acholi (part), West Nile
North BugandaUG221,554,37127,010BomboEast Mengo, Mubende
NorthernUG231,261,36441,520GuluAcholi (East and part of West), Lango
South BugandaUG12905,75415,970MasakaMasaka
SouthernUG241,963,42821,280MbararaAnkole, Kigezi
WesternUG251,427,44630,980Fort PortalBunyoro, Toro
10 provinces12,630,076221,320
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
  • Population: 1980 census
  • Former: Pre-1974 districts forming this province.
  1. 1979: Provinces abolished, and the number of districts reduced to 33, each named for its capital.
  2. ~1989: Name of Buganda region changed to Central.
  3. 1990: Kalangala district split from Masaka.
  4. 1991: Kibaale district split from Hoima, while 314 km.² of territory was transferred from Masindi to Hoima; Kiboga split from Mubende; Kisoro split from Kabale; Pallisa split from Tororo. The resulting districts were these:
District HASCISOFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)Area(mi.²)RegFormer
ApacUG.APAPAUG26460,7006,4882,505NNorthern
AruaUG.ARARUUG27624,6007,8303,023NNile
BundibugyoUG.BNBUNUG28116,0002,338903WWestern
BushenyiUG.BSBUSUG29734,8005,3962,083WSouthern
GuluUG.GUGULUG30338,70011,7354,531NNile, Northern
HoimaUG.HOHOIUG31197,8005,4922,120WWestern
IgangaUG.IGIGAUG32944,00013,1135,063EBusoga
JinjaUG.JIJINUG33284,900734283EBusoga
KabaleUG.KAKBLUG34412,8001,827705WSouthern
KabaroleUG.KBKBRUG35741,4008,3613,228WWestern
KalangalaUG.KNKLGUG3616,4005,7162,207CSouth Buganda
KampalaUG.KMKLAUG37773,50023892CCentral
KamuliUG.KLKLIUG38480,7004,3481,679EBusoga
KapchorwaUG.KCKAPUG39116,3001,738671EEastern
KaseseUG.KSKASUG40343,0003,2051,237WWestern
KibaaleUG.KIKLEUG41219,3004,7181,822WWestern
KibogaUG.KGKIBUG42140,8003,7741,457CNorth Buganda
KisoroUG.KRKISUG43184,900662256WSouthern
KitgumUG.KTKITUG44350,30016,1366,230NNorthern
KotidoUG.KOKOTUG45190,70013,2085,100NKaramoja
KumiUG.KUKUMUG46237,0002,8611,105EEastern
LiraUG.LILIRUG47498,3007,2512,800NNorthern
LuweroUG.LULUWUG48449,2009,1983,551CNorth Buganda
MasakaUG.MAMSKUG49831,30010,6114,097CSouth Buganda
MasindiUG.MSMSIUG50253,5009,3263,601WWestern
MbaleUG.MLMBLUG51706,6002,546983EEastern
MbararaUG.MRMBRUG52929,60010,8394,185WSouthern
MorotoUG.MOMORUG53171,50014,1135,449NKaramoja
MoyoUG.MYMOYUG54178,5005,0061,933NNile
MpigiUG.MPMPIUG55915,4006,2222,402CCentral
MubendeUG.MUMUBUG56497,5006,5362,524CNorth Buganda
MukonoUG.MKMUKUG57816,20014,2425,499CNorth Buganda
NebbiUG.NENEBUG58315,9002,8911,116NNile
PallisaUG.PAPALUG60356,0001,919741EEastern
RakaiUG.RARAKUG61382,0004,9731,920CSouth Buganda
RukungiriUG.RURUKUG62388,0002,7531,063WSouthern
SorotiUG.SOSORUG63430,90010,0603,884EEastern
TororoUG.TOTORUG64554,0002,6341,017EEastern
38 districts16,583,000241,03893,065
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2.
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
  • Population: 1991-01-12 census (preliminary?)
  • Reg: Region (C = Central, E = Eastern, N = Northern, W = Western)
  • Capitals: Capitals have the same names as their districts, except Kabarole (capital Fort Portal).
  • Former: Pre-1990 province from which the district was formed.
  1. 1994: Ntungamo district formed by taking parts of Bushenyi and Mbarara.
  2. 1997-03-20: Adjumani district split from Moyo (former FIPS code UG54); Bugiri split from Iganga (UG32); Busia split from Tororo (UG64); Katakwi split from Soroti (UG63); Nakasongola split from Luwero (UG48); Sembabule split from Masaka (UG49). The following table shows the resulting situation. (Source [1].)
DistrictHASCISOFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)Area(mi.²)Reg
AdjumaniUG.ADADJUG6596,2642,8881,115N
ApacUG.APAPAUG26454,5045,8872,273N
AruaUG.ARARUUG27637,9417,5952,932N
BugiriUG.BGBUGUG66239,3071,453561E
BundibugyoUG.BNBUNUG28116,5662,097810W
BushenyiUG.BSBUSUG29579,1373,8271,478W
BusiaUG.BUBUAUG67163,597705272E
GuluUG.GUGULUG30338,42711,5604,463N
HoimaUG.HOHOIUG31197,8513,5631,376W
IgangaUG.IGIGAUG68706,4763,3701,301E
JinjaUG.JIJINUG33289,476677261E
KabaleUG.KAKBLUG34417,2181,695654W
KabaroleUG.KBKBRUG35746,8008,1093,131W
KalangalaUG.KNKLGUG3616,371432167C
KampalaUG.KMKLAUG37774,24116965C
KamuliUG.KLKLIUG38485,2143,3321,286E
KapchorwaUG.KCKAPUG39116,7021,738671E
KaseseUG.KSKASUG40343,6012,7241,052W
KatakwiUG.KWKATUG69144,5974,6471,794E
KibaaleUG.KIKLEUG41220,2614,2081,625W
KibogaUG.KGKIBUG42141,6073,8721,495C
KisoroUG.KRKISUG43186,681620239W
KitgumUG.KTKITUG44357,18416,1366,230N
KotidoUG.KOKOTUG45196,00613,2085,100N
KumiUG.KUKUMUG46236,6942,457949E
LiraUG.LILIRUG47500,9656,1512,375N
LuweroUG.LULUWUG70349,1945,3602,070C
MasakaUG.MAMSKUG71694,6973,2141,241C
MasindiUG.MSMSIUG50260,7968,4583,266W
MbaleUG.MLMBLUG51710,9802,504967E
MbararaUG.MRMBRUG52798,7749,7333,758W
MorotoUG.MOMORUG53174,41714,1135,449N
MoyoUG.MYMOYUG7279,3811,780687N
MpigiUG.MPMPIUG55913,8674,5141,743C
MubendeUG.MUMUBUG56500,9765,9492,297C
MukonoUG.MKMUKUG57824,6044,5941,774C
NakasongolaUG.NANAKUG73100,4973,1791,227C
NebbiUG.NENEBUG58316,8662,7811,074N
NtungamoUG.NTNTUUG59289,2221,981765W
PallisaUG.PAPALUG60357,6561,564604E
RakaiUG.RARAKUG61383,5012,317895C
RukungiriUG.RURUKUG62390,7802,584998W
SembabuleUG.SESEMUG74144,0393,8891,502C
SorotiUG.SOSORUG75285,7933,8791,498E
TororoUG.TOTORUG76391,9771,631630E
45 districts16,671,705236,03691,134
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2.
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4.
  • Population: 1991-01-12 census.
  • Area: Land area only, except that the totals include water area.
  • Reg: Region to which the district belongs: C = Central, E = Eastern,
    N = Northern, W = Western.
  • Capitals: Capitals have the same name as their districts, except Kabarole
    (capital Fort Portal) and Sembabule (capitals Mawogola and Lwemiyaga).
  1. 2000-11-28: The Uganda Parliament passed a motion to create 11 new districts: Kamwenge, Kayunga, Kyenjojo, Mayuge, Pader, Sironko, Wakiso, and Yumbe, retroactive to 2000-07-01; and Kaberamaido, Kanungu, and Nakapiripirit, effective 2001-07-01. Kamwenge district split from Kabarole; Kayunga split from Mukono; Kyenjojo split from Kabarole; Mayuge split from Iganga; Pader split from Kitgum; Sironko split from Mbale; Wakiso split from Mpigi; Yumbe split from Arua.
  2. 2001-07-01: Kaberamaido district split from Soroti; Kanungu split from Rukungiri; Nakapiripirit split from Moroto. The following table shows the districts at that date. (Source [3].)
DistrictHASCISOFIPSPop-2002Pop-1991Pop-1980
AdjumaniUG.AD301UG65201,49396,26448,789
ApacUG.AP302UG26676,244454,504313,333
AruaUG.AA303UG77855,055538,147394,303
BugiriUG.BG201UG66426,522239,307155,513
BundibugyoUG.BN401UG28212,884116,566112,216
BushenyiUG.BS402UG29723,427579,137408,663
BusiaUG.BU202UG67228,181163,597126,184
GuluUG.GU304UG30468,407338,427270,085
HoimaUG.HO403UG31349,204197,851142,247
IgangaUG.IA203UG78716,311489,627360,312
JinjaUG.JI204UG33413,937289,476228,520
KabaleUG.KA404UG34471,783417,218328,757
KabaroleUG.BR405UG79359,180299,573224,638
KaberamaidoUG.KD213UG80122,92481,53579,344
KalangalaUG.KN101UG3636,66116,3718,575
KampalaUG.KM102UG371,208,544774,241458,503
KamuliUG.KL205UG38712,079485,214349,549
KamwengeUG.KE413UG81295,313201,654129,022
KanunguUG.UU414UG82205,095160,708118,658
KapchorwaUG.KC206UG39193,510116,70273,967
KaseseUG.KS406UG40532,993343,601277,697
KatakwiUG.KW207UG69307,032144,597177,447
KayungaUG.KY112UG83297,081236,177194,793
KibaaleUG.KI407UG41413,353220,261152,054
KibogaUG.KG103UG42231,718141,607138,676
KisoroUG.KR408UG43219,427186,681126,664
KitgumUG.TG305UG84286,122175,587145,821
KotidoUG.KO306UG45596,130196,006161,445
KumiUG.KU208UG46388,015236,694239,539
KyenjojoUG.KJ415UG85380,362245,573166,161
LiraUG.LI307UG47757,763500,965370,252
LuweroUG.LU104UG70474,627349,194338,508
MasakaUG.MA105UG71767,759694,697520,312
MasindiUG.MS409UG50469,865260,796223,230
MayugeUG.MG214UG86326,567216,849128,056
MbaleUG.MB209UG87720,925498,675372,169
MbararaUG.MR410UG521,089,051782,797590,998
MorotoUG.MT308UG88170,50696,83395,863
MoyoUG.MY309UG72199,91279,38157,703
MpigiUG.MI106UG89414,757350,980271,775
MubendeUG.MU107UG56706,256500,976371,584
MukonoUG.MN108UG90807,923588,427439,482
NakapiripiritUG.NP311UG91153,86277,58492,778
NakasongolaUG.NA109UG73125,297100,49773,966
NebbiUG.NE310UG58433,466316,866233,000
NtungamoUG.NT411UG59386,816305,199213,161
PaderUG.PD312UG92293,679181,597162,890
PallisaUG.PA210UG60522,254357,656261,183
RakaiUG.RA110UG61471,806383,501274,558
RukungiriUG.RK412UG93308,696230,072177,901
SembabuleUG.SE111UG74184,178144,039102,269
SironkoUG.SI215UG94291,906212,305184,772
SorotiUG.SR211UG95371,986204,258219,838
TororoUG.TO212UG76559,528391,977281,043
WakisoUG.WA113UG96957,280562,887389,433
YumbeUG.YU313UG97253,32599,79477,980
56 districts24,748,97716,671,70512,636,179
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes.
  • ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2.
  • Pop-2002: 2002-09-13 census.
  • Pop-1991: 1991-01-12 census, adjusted for new districts.
  • Pop-1980: 1980-01-18 census, adjusted for new districts.

 

Note: The first digit of a district's ISO code can also be used to find its region: 1 = Central, 2 = Eastern, 3 = Northern, 4 = Western. The ISO codes are also used by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics for coding census data, except for one transposition: according to source [17], the UBOS codes for Pader, Yumbe, and Nakapiripirit are 311, 312, and 313, respectively. Their ISO codes are 312, 313, and 311, respectively. The ISO codes were intended to match the census codes, so there's a mistake somewhere.

  1. 2005-07-01: Fourteen new districts created. According to source [14], Amolatar district was created by taking Kyoga county from Lira; Amuria district created by taking Amuria and Kapelebyong counties from Katakwi; Budaka district created by taking Budaka county and Kakoro, Kabwangasi, Kirika and Kadama sub-counties from Pallisa; Bukwo district created by taking Kongasis county from Kapchorwa; Butaleja district created by taking Bunyole county from Tororo; Ibanda district created by taking Ibanda county from Mbarara; Kaabong district created by taking Dodoth county from Kotido; Isingiro district created by taking Kabingo and Bukanga counties from Mbarara; Kaliro district created by taking Bulamogi county from Kamuli; Kiruhuura district created by taking Kazo and Nyabushozi counties from Mbarara; Koboko district created by taking Koboko county from Arua; Manafwa district created by taking Bubulo and Manjiya counties from Mbale; Mityana district created by taking Mityana and Busujju counties from Mubende; and Nakaseke district created by taking Nakaseke county from Luwero. There is, however, an unresolved discrepancy with source [10]. That list substitutes Isingiro district for Budaka and Kabingo. Source [11] says that Budaka and Tororo were to be reconsidered because of boundary disputes. It lists Mityana among the districts to be formed in 2006; and it lists Amuria as being created in both 2005 and 2006. Source [12] has more details.
  2. 2006-07-01: Seven new districts created. According to source [14], Abim district was created by taking Labwor county from Kotido (former HASC code UG.KZ); Buliisa district created by taking Buliisa county from Masindi; Namutumba district created by taking Busiki county from Iganga; Dokolo district created by taking Dokolo county from Lira (UG.LR); Amuru district created by taking Kilak and Nwoya counties from Gulu; Nyadri district created by taking Maracha and Terego counties from Arua (UG.AU); Oyam district created by taking Oyam county from Apac. The original plan included a new district to be created by taking Tororo county from Tororo, but this was deferred. Amuru district was probably called Kilak for a while.
  3. 2007-07-01: Three new districts created by act of Parliament, passed 2006-07-13 (source [8]). Bukedea district created by taking Bukedea county from Kumi (former HASC code UG.KU); Bududa district created by taking Manjiya county from Manafwa (UG.MF); Lyantonde district created by taking Kabula county from Rakai (UG.RA). Cf. source [13].

Other names of subdivisions: 

  1. Amuru: Kilak (variant)
  2. Bukwo: Bukwa (variant)
  3. Buliisa: Bulisa (variant)
  4. Namutumba: Busiki (variant)
  5. East Mengo: East Buganda (variant)
  6. Isingiro: Kabingo (variant)
  7. Kibaale: Kibale (variant)
  8. Kiruhuura: Kiruhura (variant)
  9. Luwero: Luweero (variant)
  10. Manafwa: Bubuulo, Manafa (variant)
  11. Nyadri: Maracha-Terego, Maracha (variant)
  12. Sembabule: Ssembabule (variant)
  13. West Mengo: West Buganda (variant)

Sources: 

  1. [1] 1991 census data from Uganda Bureau of Statistics  (retrieved 2001-06-20).
  2. [2] 2002 preliminary census data from http://www.ubos.org/2002censuspreliminarytable.pdf (now a dead link, retrieved 2003-09-13).
  3. [3] 1980 and 1991 populations from http://www.ubos.org/appendix1.pdf, Provisional Summary tables in Appendix 1 of Uganda's 2002 census (dead link, retrieved 2004-01-22). Populations adjusted to reflect the geography as of 2001.
  4. [4] Geographic Note GE-29 and Geographic Note GE-40. Office of the Geographer, U.S. State Department.
  5. [5] "Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Local Government System" (RCI). Government of Uganda, 1987.
  6. [6] Atlas of Uganda. 1967.
  7. [7] "Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features". (U.S.) Defense Intelligence Agency, 1972-09-29.
  8. [8] Ugandan Hansard  (retrieved 2010-02-20).
  9. [9] Green, Elliott, "District Creation and Decentralisation in Uganda ". Crisis States Research Centre, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, 2008-01.
  10. [10] Uganda electoral commission page at http://ec.or.ug/vpd.pdf (dead link, retrieved 2006-03-07) had a list of districts as of 2006-02-15.
  11. [11] The (Uganda) Weekly Observer, article dated 2005-08-04.
  12. [12] Press review (July 13-30, 2005)  from the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (retrieved 2006-07-31).
  13. [13] The Ministry of Local Government website, at http://www.molg.go.ug/LGlist.htm, said that Bududa and Bukedea were "not yet approved" (dead link, retrieved 2007-05-19).
  14. [14] New Vision  (dated 2005-08-08, retrieved 2006-03-07) has a discussion of issues in district creation, and a timeline that appears to be partly copied from the Statoids site.
  15. [15] The Uganda Parliament website has a simplified abridgement of the Constitution  as of 2006-02-15. On pp. 71-73 (following the page numbering in the document) there is a schedule listing 80 districts (retrieved 2010-02-21).
  16. [16] Allafrica.com  has an article dated 2009-12-16 describing parliamentary action on new districts (retrieved 2010-02-21). The same site has a recapitulation of the 2009 session of Parliament , stating the same conclusions.
  17. [17] 2002 Uganda Census Code List  (retrieved 2010-05-15).
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