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Traditional music from Uganda
Africa is inhabited by different ethnic groups, each with a musical tradition of its own. This is a rich traditional music heritage that has been orally transmitted from generation to generation for centuries. Despite external influences, the majority of these ethnic groups continue to value and practise their respective traditional musical styles, which in turn have to establish strong musical and cultural identities and continue to do so.
Ugandan music is generally rhythmic and the complexity of these rhythms varies due to the difference between the ethnic groups. These differences are also reflected in the varied instrumentation. Some musical genres are played on simple instruments while others, especially the dance music, are played in ensembles of complex instrumental formation. African music is usually pentatonic, but a few tribes also use a hexatonic scale. Most of the Ugandan vocal music is accompanied by traditional instruments. The literature embedded in vocal music is purposely meant to transform the social communities, i.e. in their structural adjustment.
Although Uganda is inhabited by a large variety of ethnic groups, a broad linguistic division is usually made between the Bantu-speaking majority and the non-Bantu speakers, who occupy the eastern, northern and north-western part of the country (these may be sub-divided into Nilotic and Central Sudanic peoples). By far the largest in number the Bantus have come from Central Africa from the Cameroon Highlands or Congo Basins. The non-Bantu peoples (they constitute less than one-tenth per cent of the population) the Acholi, Alur (Nilotic language groups who comes from the north), the Nilo-Hamitics and the Lugbara (Central Sudanic group) in the north.
The country
The republic of Uganda is an independent nation located in East Africa astride the equator, bordered on the east by Kenya, on the south by Tanzania and Rwanda, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ex. Zaire), and on the north by Sudan. It covers an area of 241,040 sq. km. The population is approximately 28 million, of which 66 per cent are Christians, (the Anglican, the Catholics as well as the Pentecostal Church), 18 per cent practise traditional beliefs, and 16 per cent are Muslim. There were sizeable numbers of Sikhs and Hindus in the country.The official language is English, and the capital is Kampala.
The country has many lakes and swamps. The Lake Victoria and Lake Kioga flow into the river Nile. The Lake Edward and Lake Albert are situated on the border to Congo. A large part of Uganda is flat, there are volcanic mountains. The biggest is the Rwenzori mountain range at the border to the Congo with the highest point being the Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5'110 m. The Mount Elgon range at the border to Kenya with 4'321 m. The southwestern part of Uganda, is also mountainous. The rest of the country constitutes of grassland and forests. In the northeast, there is the semi-desert.
There is to be found a large variety of wildlife in the Kabalega National Park in the northwest and the Lake Mburo National Park in the south. The economy, in general, is agricultural, with matooke, cassava, sweet potatoes, plantains, millet and sorghum.
Uganda's long string of tragedies since independence has been a staple of the Western media, so most people still regard the country as a volatile place to be avoided. However, most parts of the country have been stable for several years, and the country's transformation has been little short of astounding. Kampala is now the modern, bustling capital of a new Uganda.
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