Kampala

Kampala
From left to right: Kampala skyline, Bahá'í House of Worship on Kikaaya Hill, Uganda National Mosque, Makerere University main building, skyscraper in central business district, and view over Victoria Lake
Kampala Map of Uganda showing the location of Kampala.
Coordinates: 00°18′49″N 32°34′52″E / 0.31361°N 32.58111°E / 0.31361; 32.58111
Country	Uganda
District	Kampala
Government
• Lord Mayor	Erias Lukwago
• Executive director	Jennifer Musisi
Area
• Total	189 km2 (73 sq mi)
• Land	176 km2 (68 sq mi)
• Water	13 km2 (5 sq mi)
Elevation	1,190 m (3,900 ft)
Population (2014 Census)
• Total	1,507,080
• Density	7,928/km2 (20,530/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Kampalan, Kampalese
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)
Website	Homepage

Kampala is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Lubaga Division. The city is with Kampala District. Surrounding Kampala is the rapidly growing Wakiso District, whose population more than doubled between 2002 and 2014 and now stands at over 2 million.

Kampala was named the 13th fastest growing city on the planet, with an annual population growth rate of 4.03 percent, by City Mayors. Kampala has been ranked the best city to live in East Africa ahead of Nairobi and Kigali by Mercer, a global development consulting agency based in New York City, U.S.

In December 2015, Google launched its first wi-fi network in Kampala.

Before the arrival of the British colonists, the Kabaka of Buganda had chosen the zone that would become Kampala as a hunting reserve. The area, composed of rolling hills with grassy wetlands in the valleys, was home to several species of antelope, particularly impala. When the British arrived, they called it "Hills of the Impala". The language of the Buganda, Luganda, adopted many English words because of their interactions with the British. The Buganda translated "Hill of the Impala" as Akasozi ke'Empala - "Kasozi" meaning "hill", "ke" meaning "of", and "empala" the plural of "impala". In Luganda, the words "ka'mpala" mean "that is of the impala", in reference to a hill, and the single word "Kampala" was adopted as the name for the city that grew out of the Kabaka's hills.

The city grew as the capital of the Buganda kingdom, from which several buildings survive, including the Kasubi Tombs (built in 1881), the Lubiri Palace, the Buganda Parliament and the Buganda Court of Justice. In 1890, British colonial administrator Frederick Lugard constructed a forum along Mengo Hill within the city, which allowed for the British to occupy much of the territory controlled by the Buganda, including Kampala. In 1894, the British government officially established a protectorate within this territory, and in 1896, the protectorate expanded to cover the Ankole, Toro Kingdom, and Bunyoro kingdoms as well. In 1905, the British government formally declared the entire territory to be a British colony. From that time until the independence of the country in 1962, the capital was relocated to Entebbe, although the city continued to be the primary economic and manufacturing location for Uganda. In 1922, the Makerere Technical Institute, now known as Makerere University, started as the first collegiate institution both within Kampala, and within the British colonies on the east coast of Africa. Following the 1962 independence, Milton Obote became president of Uganda, and held the position until 1971, when former sergeant Idi Amin defeated his government in a military coup. He proceeded to expel all Asian residents living within Kampala, and attacked the Jewish population living within the city. In 1978, he invaded the neighboring country of Tanzania, and in turn, the government there started the Uganda–Tanzania War, which created severe damage to the buildings of Kampala. Since then, the city has since then been rebuilt with constructions of new construction of hotels, banks, shopping malls, educational institutions, and hospitals and the improvement of war torn buildings and infrastructure. Traditionally, Kampala was a city of seven hills, but over time it has come to have a lot more.