Mbale District
Encyclopedia
Mbale District is a district
Districts of Uganda
Uganda is divided into 111 districts and one city across four administrative regions. Most districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns....

 in Eastern Uganda
Eastern Region, Uganda
Eastern Region is a region of Uganda. It is divided into the following districts:...

. It is named after the largest city in the district, Mbale
Mbale
Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

, which also servess as the main administrative and commercial center in the sub-region.

Location

Mbale District is bordered by Sironko District
Sironko District
Sironko District is a district in Eastern Uganda. The district was created in 2000 and had previously been part of Mbale District. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its main commercial town, Sironko.-Location:...

 to the north, Bududa District
Bududa District
Bududa District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Bududa.-Location:Bududa District is bordered by Sironko District to the north, the Republic of Kenya to the east, Manafwa District to the south and Mbale District to the west...

 to the northeast, Manafwa District
Manafwa District
Manafwa District is a district in the Eastern Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Manafwa, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...

 to the southeast, Tororo District
Tororo District
Tororo District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its "chief town", Tororo.-Location:Tororo District is bordered by Mbale District to the north, Manafwa District to the northeast, the Republic of Kenya to the east, Busia District to the south,...

 to the south, Butaleja District
Butaleja District
Butaleja District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Its named after its 'chief town', Butaleja, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...

 to the southwest and Budaka District
Budaka District
Budaka District is a district in Eastern Uganda. It is named after Budaka, its 'chief town', where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...

 to the west. Pallisa District
Pallisa District
Pallisa District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its chief town, Pallisa, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...

 and Kumi District
Kumi District
Kumi District is a district in Eastern Uganda. The largest town in the district is Kumi, and the district headquarters are located there. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

 lie to the northwest of Mbale District. The coordinates of the district are:00 57N, 34 20E.

It has an area of 2467 square kilometre. Its central town and commercial centre is Mbale
Mbale
Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

, which is also the location of the district headquarters. The districts of Bududa
Bududa District
Bududa District is a district in Eastern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Bududa.-Location:Bududa District is bordered by Sironko District to the north, the Republic of Kenya to the east, Manafwa District to the south and Mbale District to the west...

, Manafwa
Manafwa District
Manafwa District is a district in the Eastern Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Manafwa, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...

 and Sironko
Sironko District
Sironko District is a district in Eastern Uganda. The district was created in 2000 and had previously been part of Mbale District. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its main commercial town, Sironko.-Location:...

 were part of Mbale District before they were split off as independent districts of their own.

Population

The national census of 2002 estimated the population of Mbale District at 332,200, with an annual population growth rate of 2.5%. With those statistics, it is estimated that the population of the district in 2010 was approximately 410,300. See table below:

{| style="font-size:100%;"
|-
| width="100%" align="center" | Mbale District Population Trends
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"
! style="width:2em;" |Year!! Estimated Population
|-
|2002||332,200
|-
|2003||341,100
|-
|2004||350,400
|-
|2005||359,800
|-
|2006||369,500
|-
|2007||379,500
|-
|2008||389,800
|-
|2009||400,300
|-
|2010||410,300
|-
|}

The district population is 92% rural. The main ethnic group in the district are the Bamasaba or Bagisu
Bagisu
The Gisu people, or Bagisu , alternately Gishu, Masaba, or Sokwia, are a tribe of the Masaba nation of eastern Uganda, closely related to the Bukusu people of Kenya...

. The main language spoken in the district is Lugisu also known as Lumasaba.

Economic activity

The primary economic activity in the district is agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

. Some of the main crops are coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, bean
Bean
Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

s, Matooke, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

s, potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

es, carrot
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...

s, and sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

es.

Education

The Islamic University in Uganda
Islamic University in Uganda
The Islamic University in Uganda is a multi-campus university for advanced study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The main campus of the university is located in Mbale, Uganda, about northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.-History:The idea to start IUIU was conceived at...

 (IUIU) is based in the city of Mbale. Nabumali High School
Nabumali High School
Nabumali High School , is a mixed, boarding, secondary school , in Eastern Uganda.-Location:The school is located in the village of Nabumali, in Mbale District, off the Tororo-Mbale Road, approximately , south of the city of Mbale...

, a mixed, boarding secondary school, is also located in Mbale District, approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi), by road, south of Mbale, on the Mbale
Mbale
Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

-Tororo
Tororo
Tororo is a town in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Tororo District. The district was named after the town.-Location:...

 Road.

Twinning

Mbale was formally linked with Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 through local and regional twinning ceremonies in 2005. The link was intended to associate professionals and organizations in Pontypridd with their counterparts in Africa, under the auspices of charity PONT - the Partnerships Overseas Networking Trust.

Famous people from Mbale

Notable people from Mbale District include the following:
  • Werikhe Kafabusa
    Werikhe Kafabusa
    Michael Werikhe Kafabusa, commonly known as Werikhe Kafabusa, is a Ugandan politician. He was the State Minister for Housing in the Ugandan Cabinet, from June 2006 until May 2011. In the Cabinet reshuffle of 27 May 2011, he was dropped from the cabinet and replaced by Sam Engola...

     - Uganda's State Minister for Housing, 2006 - 2011
  • Zandya Mutwalibi Mafabi - Mayor of Mbale
    Mbale
    Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

    , 2011 - 2016

See also

  • Mbale Uganda
    Mbale
    Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...

  • Mbale Kenya
  • Islamic University in Uganda
    Islamic University in Uganda
    The Islamic University in Uganda is a multi-campus university for advanced study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The main campus of the university is located in Mbale, Uganda, about northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.-History:The idea to start IUIU was conceived at...

  • Nabumali High School
    Nabumali High School
    Nabumali High School , is a mixed, boarding, secondary school , in Eastern Uganda.-Location:The school is located in the village of Nabumali, in Mbale District, off the Tororo-Mbale Road, approximately , south of the city of Mbale...

  • Bugisu sub-region
  • Eastern Region, Uganda
    Eastern Region, Uganda
    Eastern Region is a region of Uganda. It is divided into the following districts:...

  • Districts of Uganda
    Districts of Uganda
    Uganda is divided into 111 districts and one city across four administrative regions. Most districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns....

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK