ug

Uganda


Uganda is located on the East African plateau, averaging about 1,100 meters above sea level. Most of the country drains northwards to the Sudanese Plain. Here is also the lowest point at Lake Albert with 621 m asl. At the western border with Congo is a mountain ridge with Mount Stanley (5,110 m asl).

The geology of Uganda is dominated by Precambrian rocks, crystalline rocks like granites and metamorphites which cover 90% of the surface of the country. Along the western border runs the East African Rift Valley which is associated with volcanic rocks. The country has a great variety of mineral deposits which are mined, mostly by foreign mining companies. Dominant are the copper and cobalt deposits, for example Kilembe (60 km southwest of Fort Portal) which is one of the main copper producers. At Tororo in the Sukulu Hills near the south-east border the calcium phosphate apatite is mined. Most of the country is covered by regolith, the result of the weathering of crystalline rocks under humid tropical conditions.