Butaleja 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Eastern Uganda The Eastern region is one of four regions in the country of Uganda. As of Uganda's 2014 census, the region's population was . Districts , the Eastern Region contained 32 districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in s ...

. It is named after its 'chief town',

Butaleja Butaleja is a town in Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Butaleja District and the district headquarters are located there. The district is named after the town. Location Butaleja is ...

, where the district headquarters are located.

Location

Butaleja District is bordered by Budaka District to the north,

Mbale District Mbale District is a district in Eastern Uganda. It is named after the largest city in the district, Mbale, which also serves as the main administrative and commercial center in the sub-region. Location Mbale District is bordered by Sironko Distri ...

to the east,

Tororo District Tororo District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Tororo hosts the district headquarters. Location Tororo District is bordered by Mbale District to the north, Manafwa District to the north-east, Kenya to the east, Busi ...

to the southeast,

Bugiri District Bugiri District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Bugiri, where the district headquarters are located. Location Bugiri District is bordered by Namutumba District and Butaleja ...

to the south and

Namutumba District Namutumba District, sometimes referred to as Busiki District is a district in Eastern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Namutumba, where the district headquarters are located. Location Namutumba District is bordered by Pallisa District ...

to the west. The district headquarters at

, are located approximately , by road, southwest of

Mbale Mbale is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. Location Mbale is approximately , by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capita ...

, the nearest large city. The coordinates of the district are:00 56N, 33 57E.

Overview

Butaleja District was created by Act of the Ugandan Parliament, and became operational on 1 July 2005. Prior to that the district was known as ''Bunyole County'' and was part of

. The predominant ethnicity in the district (85%) are Banyole, a Bantu tribe whose language is called Lunyole. Lunyole has been listed by the Institute of Languages of

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

among the endangered minority languages in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. The main food of the Banyole is a

finger millet ''Eleusine coracana'', or finger millet, also known as ragi in India, kodo in Nepal, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species p ...

meal called ''Obusiima''. The traditional official meal included Obusiima and

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

sauce. Other ethnicities in the district (15%) include the

Jopadhola The Adhola people, also known as Jopadhola, are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples that live in Tororo District of Eastern Uganda and comprise about eight percent of the country's total population. They speak Dhopadhola, (a Luo language), ...

, the

Bagisu The Gisu people, or ''Bamasaba'' people of Elgon, are a Bantu tribe of the Masaba people of eastern Uganda, closely related to the Bukusu people of Kenya. Bamasaba live mainly in the Mbale District of Uganda on the slopes of Mount Elgon. Ancestor ...

, the

Basoga The Soga (or Basoga) are a Bantu ethnic group native to the kingdom of Busoga in eastern Uganda. History Early contact with European explorers Busoga's written history began in 1862. On 28 July Royal Geographical Society explorer John Han ...

, the Iteso, the

Karimojong The Karamojong or Karimojong are a Nilotic ethnic group. They are agro-pastoral herders living mainly in the north-east of Uganda. Their language is also known as ngaKarimojong and is part of the Nilotic language family. History The Karamojon ...

and the

Bagwere The Gwere people, or ''Bagwere'', are a Bantu ethnic group in Uganda. Location The Bagwere occupy an area of 2,388.3 km in eastern Uganda, mostly in Budaka District, Pallisa District and Kibuku District, Butebo District, where they make up ov ...

. Due to a high population density in the district,

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment (biophysical), environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; an ...

is a concern. There are two municipalities in the district;

, where the district headquarters are located and

Busolwe Busolwe is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is one of the two municipalities in Butaleja District, the other being Butaleja. Location Busolwe is approximately , by road, southwest of Butaleja, the location of the district headquarters. ...

, the location of

Busolwe General Hospital Busolwe General Hospital, also Busolwe Hospital, is a hospital in Busolwe Town, Butaleja District, in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is a public hospital, owned by the Ugandan Government and is administered by Butaleja District Local Governmen ...

, a 100-bed public hospital, administered by the

Uganda Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health is a cabinet-level government ministry of Uganda. It is responsible for planning, delivering, and maintaining an efficient and effective healthcare delivery system, including preventive, curative, and rehabilitative service ...

Population

In 1991, the national population census estimated the district population at about 106,700. The national census in 2002 estimated the population of the district at about 157,500. The annual population growth rate in the district was 3.5%. In 2012, the population of Butaleja District was approximately 221,100. The table below illustrates the growth trajectory of the district population between 2002 and 2012. All numbers are estimates.

Economic activities

Like in most of

's districts,

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

is the backbone of the district economy. Crops grown include: Livestock kept by the population include:

References

External links