Bundibugyo District is a
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
in the
Western Region of
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...
, bordering the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(DRC). The town of
Bundibugyo is where both the district headquarters and the
Bwamba Kingdom seat (
Obudhingiya Bwa Bwamba) are located.
Before July 2010, the districts of
Ntoroko and
Bundibugyo were one. These districts are the only two in Uganda that lie west of the Rwenzori mountains. Bundibugyo (With Ntoroko) was first named Semuliki district on separating it from the
Greator Kabarole district alongside Rwenzori district (Kasese) in 1974.
Location
Via
Karugutu
Bundibugyo District is bordered by
Ntoroko District to the northeast,
Kabarole District to the east,
Bunyangabu District to the southeast,
Kasese District to the south and the
D.R.C to the west and north. The district headquarters at Bundibugyo are located approximately , by road, west of
Fort Portal city the capital of
Rwenzori Sub-region. This is about , north of
Kasese town but no motorable roads link Kasese and Bundibugyo districts because of the Over 4 KM high
Rwenzori Mountains
The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range ...
. Travellers between the two districts must go around the mountains via Bunyangabu, Kabarole, and Ntoroko districts, an approximate diastance of . Or via the
D.R.C if they don't fly or walk over the Mountains.
Overview
In the late 1990s, tens of thousands of civilians were
displaced by the insurgency of the
Allied Democratic Forces
The Allied Democratic Forces (french: Forces démocratiques alliées; abbreviated ADF) is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government. It was o ...
(ADF) who were operating in the district. In one such raid on 7 April 1999, rebels killed 11 civilians and looted property during an attack in the district. In a separate attack in the same month, the
member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
for Bunyangabu county was shot and wounded in an attack in neighboring Kabarole District by ADF insurgents.
Population
The 1991 national population census estimated the district population at 92,300. During the 2002 national census, the population of was put at about 158,900. The annual population growth rate in the district was estimated at 5.2 percent.
In 2012, the population of the district was estimated at 261,700.
Economic activities
Subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry are the two major economic activities in the district. It is the largest producer of cocoa in Uganda, accounting for unprocessed beans worth UGX:90 billion annually.
See also
*
Semuliki National Park
*
Bundibugyo ebolavirus
References
External links
Bundibugyo District Information Portal
{{Authority control
Rwenzururu sub-region
Districts of Uganda
Western Region, Uganda