Uganda
Waiting for the first voice
تا مرد سخن نگفته باشد / عیب و هنرش نهفته باشد
Until a man has spoken, his faults and his gifts both stay hidden.
No advice from here yet. Know an elder from this country? Your recording could be the first: 2–3 minutes on a phone.
Did you know
The White Nile is the only outlet of Lake Victoria, its flow regulated by Uganda's Nalubaale Dam. (source)
Elders in numbers
- of people are 65 or older
- 2.2%
- people aged 65 or older
- 1.1M
- will be 65 or older in 2050
- 4.3%
- is how long people live after 60, on average
- 17.3 years
- of people 65+ live alone
- 10.9%
- women 12%, men 9.6%
- of people 65+ live in collective quarters: care homes, hospitals, hostels and the like
- 0.6%
Sources: World Bank, 2025; World Bank projection for 2050; WHO, 2023; UN, 2024; UN, 2002 census
Languages
59 languages, 10 of them endangered
- NyangiaCritically endangered
- Soo languageSeverely endangered
- NubiDefinitely endangered
- SabaotDefinitely endangered
- AmbaVulnerable
- IkVulnerable
- KukuVulnerable
- MvubaVulnerable
- SyanVulnerable
- TalingaVulnerable
- Acholi
- Adhola
Show all 59
- Alur
- Aringa
- Bari
- Bukusu
- Didinga
- Gungu
- Gwere
- Haya
- Hema
- Kakwa
- Karamojong
- Keliko
- Kenyi
- Khayo
- Kiga
- Kinyarwanda
- Kirundi
- Kiswahili
- Konjo
- Kumam dialect
- Lango
- Lango
- Lendu
- Lotuko
- Luganda
- Lugbarati
- Ma'di
- Masaba
- Nande
- Ndo
- Ngiti
- Nyambo
- Nyole
- Nyoro
- Pökoot
- Runyankole
- Ruuli
- saamia
- Sabiny
- Soga
- Southern Ma'di
- Suba
- Teso
- Tooro
- Toposa
- Turkana
- Ugandan Sign Language
Languages and their status: Glottolog v5.3, CC BY 4.0. Names: Wikidata.
UNESCO intangible heritage
- Ma'di bowl lyre music and dance2016
- Koogere oral tradition of the Basongora, Banyabindi and Batooro peoples2015
- Male-child cleansing ceremony of the Lango of central northern Uganda2014
- Empaako tradition of the Batooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Batagwenda and Banyabindi of western Uganda2013
- Bigwala, gourd trumpet music and dance of the Busoga Kingdom in Uganda2012
- Barkcloth making in Uganda2008
List and years: ich.unesco.org
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