Gulu is a city in the
Northern Region of
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 ...
. It is the commercial and administrative centre of
Gulu District
Gulu is a City in the Northern Region of Uganda. The regional headquarters are located in the city of Gulu, which is also the administrative capital of Northern Uganda The city consist of two main divisions... Gulu west and Gulu east.
Locatio ...
.
The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
, Uganda's capital and largest city, is approximately by road. Gulu is served by
Gulu Airport
Gulu Airport is a civilian and military airport in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is a designated entry and exit point in and out of the country.
Location
It is north-west of the central business district of Gulu, the largest metropolita ...
.
History
During the British Bagool rule in the 18th and 19th centuries, northern Uganda was less developed compared to the rest of the country. The people were conscripted into the army and the police. Many were sent to fight in the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
second World Wars
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
In the 1960s, many Sudanese, Rwandese, and Congolese refugees settled in the city.
The
Lord's Resistance Army
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Co ...
(LRA) under the leadership of
Joseph Kony
Joseph Rao Kony (likely born 1961) is a Ugandan militant who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Christian fundamentalist organization, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union and various ...
sprang up in the 1990s after Auma/Lakwena went to Kenya. The LRA became increasingly violent in Gulu and surrounding communities. Up to 15,000 children, known as "night commuters", were fleeing into the city for safety every evening. In 1996, the Ugandan government ordered all civilians in northern Uganda to relocate to
internally displaced person
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
A ...
(IDP) camps. Several organizations, such as
Stop the Genocide in Northern Uganda, called these camps "
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
" and demanded their immediate closure. At one time, an estimated two million people lived in these camps. In April 2009, all the IDP camps were closed and the people were allowed to return to their villages. By July 2009, an estimated 1,452,000 people (80.7 percent of those living in the camps) had voluntarily left the camps to return home. Since the spring of 2007, there has been relative peace in the region as the LRA became a much less significant threat.
Climate
Gulu's climate is
tropical wet and dry (Aw) according to the
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system.
Demographics
The national census in 2002 estimated Gulu's population at 119,430. The
Uganda Bureau of Statistics
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics ("UBOS") is an agency of the Ugandan government. Formed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998, the agency is mandated to "coordinate, monitor and supervise Uganda's National Statistical System".
Location ...
(UBOS) estimated the population at 149,900 in 2010. In 2011, UBOS estimated the mid-year population at 154,300.
The 2014 population census put the population at 152,276.
In 2020, the mid-year population of Gulu City was projected by city division as follows: Bar Dege (47,700), Laroo (32,300), Layibi (43,900) and Pece (53,500), for a total of 177,400.
Education
Gulu is the home of
Gulu University
Gulu University (GU) is a university in Uganda. It is one of the nine public universities in the country, as of September 2016.
Location
, GU has three campuses.
(a) The main campus is approximately , by road, north-east of the central business ...
, which has a wide range of programs including agriculture, medicine, business management, and conflict resolution. It is one of the three
public universities
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...
in the Northern Region, the others being
Muni University
Muni University (MU) is a public multi-campus university in Uganda. It is one of the public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country, licensed and supervised by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE).
Locati ...
in
Arua
Arua is a city and commercial centre within the Arua District in the Northern Region of Uganda.
Location
Arua is approximately , by road, north-west of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda, Arua is about , by road, west of Gulu, the ...
and
Lira University
Lira University (LU) is a university in Uganda. It is one of the eleven public universities and degree-awarding institutions in the country.
Location
The university campus is located on approximately of land, about , by road, northwest of down ...
in
Lira
Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
. Gulu University is the parent institution of the
Gulu University School of Medicine
Gulu University School of Medicine (GUSM), also known as Gulu University Medical School (GUMS) is the school of medicine of Gulu University, one of Uganda's public universities. The medical school was founded in 2004, two years after Gulu Univers ...
, one of the nine accredited medical schools in Uganda as of February 2015. The
Uganda Management Institute
Uganda Management Institute (UMI) is a government-owned national center for training, research, and consultancy in the field of management and administration in Uganda. It is one of the nine public universities and degree-awarding institutions in ...
, a government-owned
tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
teaching and research institution in management and administration, has a campus in Gulu. Gulu also hosts
University of the Sacred Heart Gulu
The University of the Sacred Heart Gulu (USHG) is a private university affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu in Uganda. It caters to students primarily from Uganda and neighboring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Co ...
, a private university affiliated with the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu ( la, Guluen(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Gulu in Uganda.
History
* 1923.06.12: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Nilo Equatoriale from the Apostolic Vicariate of ...
.
Health
There are three hospitals in the city:
St. Mary's Hospital Lacor, the
Gulu Regional Referral Hospital
Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, commonly known as Gulu Hospital is a hospital in Gulu, northern Uganda. It is the referral hospital for the districts of Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Lamwo and Pader. The hospital also serves as one of the teaching hos ...
, and Gulu Independent Hospital.
There is also a center for non-medical integrative therapies, Thrive-Gulu, founded by Boston-based professor
Judy Dushku
Judith Ann Rasmussen Dushku (born 30 March 1942) is an American academic political scientist, journalist, writer and humanitarian. An active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and well known as a Mormon feminism, Mormon ...
and her husband Jim Coleman, and part-funded by
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Faith in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (2000–2003). She als ...
; it has received funding support from Irish aid agency
Trocaire and a Scandinavian foreign aid provider.
Transport
Air
The city is served by
Gulu Airport
Gulu Airport is a civilian and military airport in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is a designated entry and exit point in and out of the country.
Location
It is north-west of the central business district of Gulu, the largest metropolita ...
, which has a tarmac runway that measures . Gulu Airport is the second biggest airport in Uganda after
Entebbe International Airport
Entebbe International Airport is the only international airport in Uganda. It is located about southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. This is approximately by road south-west of the central business distric ...
.
Rail
Gulu has a station on the
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
railway that connects
Tororo
Tororo is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Tororo District.
History
Tororo was garrisoned by the Uganda Army's Air and Sea Battalion during the Uganda–Tanzania War ( ...
and
Pakwach
Pakwach is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main commercial, political and administrative center of Pakwach District.
Location
Pakwach is in Pakwach District, West Nile sub-region. It is approximately , by road, east of Nebbi, ...
, which had been out of service since 1993.
Rift Valley Railways
Rift Valley Railways (RVR) was a consortium established to manage the parastatal railways of Kenya and Uganda. The consortium won the bid for private management of the century-old Uganda Railway in 2005. The Kenya-Uganda railway had previously b ...
funded the clearing of vegetation and the repair of infrastructure, thus allowing the first commercial train for 20 years to run through Gulu on 14 September 2013.
Sport
The home venue for
Gulu United FC
Gulu United Football Club is a Ugandan football club located in Gulu, Gulu District in Northern Uganda. The club was playing in the Ugandan Big League in the 2011–12 season but there is currently no FUFA records that confirm that the club ...
is Pece War Memorial Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,000 people.
The stadium was built by the British in 1959, with long-delayed renovations starting in April 2017.
Places of worship
Predominant among the
places of worship
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...
are
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
facilities for communities including the:
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu ( la, Guluen(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Gulu in Uganda.
History
* 1923.06.12: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Nilo Equatoriale from the Apostolic Vicariate of ...
(
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
), Eastern Orthodox Diocese of Gulu (
Patriarchate of Alexandria
The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation "pope" (etymologically "Father", like "Abbot").
The Alexandrian episcopate was revered as one of the three major episco ...
),
Church of Uganda
The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop.
Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known a ...
(
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
),
Presbyterian Church in Uganda
Presbyterian Church in Uganda is a conservative Reformed Calvinistic denomination in Uganda with almost 100 churches in 5 presbyteries in the late 2000s.
Origin
The Presbyterian Church in Uganda was founded in the 1970s by the Ugandan pastor ...
(
World Communion of Reformed Churches
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...
),
Baptist Union of Uganda
The Baptist Union of Uganda is a Baptist Christian denomination in Uganda. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Kampala.
History
The Baptist Union of Uganda has its origins in an American mission of the Intern ...
(
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...
),
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
, and
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
. There are also
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
mosques.
Water and sanitation
With loans obtained from the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and
KfW
The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment bank, investment and Development finance institution, development bank, based in Frankfurt ...
, the government of Uganda in 2020, completed Phase I of the Gulu Water Supply and Sanitation Project. The project required USh82.3 billion (US$22+ million) to be implemented. With the improvements, Gulu City has storage capacity of of
potable water
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...
. In addition, at least 42 public toilets have been built, capable of accommodating 250 people simultaneously. A new sewage sludge treatment plant in Cubu has been constructed.
Phase II of the project involves establishment of a drinking water intake plant, upstream of
Karuma Hydroelectric Power Station
The Karuma Hydroelectric Power Station is a 600 MW hydroelectric power project under construction in Uganda. When completed, it will be the largest power-generating installation in the country.
Location
The power station is located on the ...
, with pumping capacity of daily. This new potable water source will supply 341,000 people in Gulu and neighboring communities. It also includes the expansion of safe sanitation services to 170,000 new customers. KfW and the
CDC Group
British International Investment, (formerly CDC Group plc, Commonwealth Development Corporation, and Colonial Development Corporation) is the development finance institution of the UK government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ...
are expected to fund the second stage, starting in June 2021.
Notable people
*
Okot p'Bitek
Okot p'Bitek (7 June 1931 – 19 July 1982) was a Ugandan poet, who achieved wide international recognition for '' Song of Lawino'', a long poem dealing with the tribulations of a rural African wife whose husband has taken up urban life and wis ...
, poet
*
Taban Lo Liyong
Taban Lo Liyong (born 1939) is a poet, academic and writer of fiction and literary criticism from South Sudan. He was born in Kajo Kaji, Acholiland, in the Equatoria region of southern Sudan, but taken to Uganda at an early age. His politica ...
, poet and writer
*
Otema Alimadi, former premier of Uganda
*
Lumix Da Don, musical artist
*
Catherine Kyobutungi
Catherine Kyobutungi (born 1972) is an Ugandan epidemiologist who currently serves as the Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Center and a Joep Lange Chair. She was elected to the African Academy of Sciences in 2018.
...
, born here in 1972
*
Pen-Mogi Nyeko, veterinarian, academic and statesman. Former Vice Chancellor of Gulu University 2002–2018.
*
Betty Aol Ocan, Politician, Former Leader of Opposition in the 10th Parliament of Uganda.
*
Norbert Mao
Norbert Mao is a Ugandan political activist and lawyer. He has been president of the Democratic Party since 2010, three time presidential candidate and he served as the Local Council 5 chairman for Gulu District. He is the current minister for J ...
, President Democratic Party, Former Member of Parliament Gulu Municipality, Former LC5 Gulu District.
*Brig. George W.A. Nyero, Former UNLA Senior Commander, Army Representative in the Parliament of Uganda.
*
Oyet Francis Wod-Jal, Media Personnel, Software engineer and investigative journalist.
See also
*
Railway stations in Uganda
Railway stations in Uganda include:
Towns served by rail
Existing
* Bungoma - last town in Kenya
* Malaba
** (border)
* Tororo - near Kenya border; junction for north line
* Main Line
* Iganga
* Jinja - bridge over Victoria Nile ; ...
*
Acholi sub-region
The Acholi people (also spelled Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples (also spelled Lwo), found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru, ...
*
List of cities and towns in Uganda
This is a list of cities and towns in Uganda: The population data are for 2014, except where otherwise indicated. The references from which the estimated populations are sourced are listed in each article for the cities and towns where the ...
References
External links
New Cities Raise Great Expectations In Investments, RevenueAs of 23 May 2019.
As of 3 February 2017.
{{Gulu District
Gulu District
Acholi sub-region
Cities in the Great Rift Valley
Populated places in Northern Region, Uganda