Basics Population: 22,804,937 Area: 237,000 square kilometres Currency: Shilling (£1=1340USh) Capital: Kampala History In the 14th century there were several different kingdoms in Uganda, including the Baganda. Ugandans had little contact with the outside world until the mid 19th century when Arabs arrived to trade and Europeans arrived to kill elephants for ivory and take slaves. In 1890, Uganda was taken under British control. The British encouraged people to grow coffee and cotton to sell, and many people continue to do this today. Uganda became independent in 1962. He became president Obote had promised that he would share his power with the Baganda king, but as soon as he got into power he attacked the palace. He then rewrote the constitution to give himself even more power. In 1969, Idi Amin threw Obote out and took over the country. About 300,000 people died in the fighting that followed. In 1972, Idi Amin attacked certain tribes and then kicked all of the Asians out of the country without letting them take anything with them. At this point the country began to completely fall apart and homes, schools, hospitals, roads and industries were destroyed. To try and make himself popular, Amin started a war with Tanzania, but he was soon beaten and fled to Libya. In 1980 the military took over the government for a bit, until Obote came back. He gave support to a different group of tribes than Amin had and some suffered heavily from mass murder, imprisonment and other abuses. In 1985 the military took power back, but the new president Okella didn't last long, and a group of people called the National Resistance took over. Their leader was Yoweri Museveni and he made a lot of improvements and became quite popular. Today there are still a few groups who are against the government and are fighting to take over the country.