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Top2. Study Area
Uganda is in latitudes 40.0' North and 10.30' South of the equator, and longitudes 300.0' East and 350.0' East of Greenwich (Figure 1). The greater part of Uganda consists of plateaus which are about 800 to 2,000 m (2,600–6,600 ft) in height. Along the western border, is the Rwenzori Mountains, Margherita Peak reaches a height of 5,109 m (16,762 ft), while on the eastern frontier Mount Elgon rises to 4,321 m (14,178 ft). By contrast, the Western Rift Valley, which runs from north to south through the western half of the country, is below 910 m (3,000 ft). For example, the surface of Lake Edward, Lake George and Lake Albert (L. Mobutu Sese Seko) is about 621 m (2,036 ft). The White Nile has its source in Lake Victoria and as the Victoria Nile, it runs northward through Lake Kyoga and then westward to Lake Albert, from which it emerges as the Albert Nile to resume its northward course to the Sudan. (Advameg, 2007), Uganda has a typically tropical climate with little variation in temperature throughout the year. Distinctive wet and dry seasons characterize the climate of most of the country, except in the semi-arid north east. The country's natural environment provided good grazing for cattle, sheep, and goats, with indigenous breeds dominating most livestock. Smallholder farmers owned about 95 percent of all cattle, although several hundred modern commercial ranches were established during the 1960s and early 1970s in areas that had been cleared of tsetse-fly infestation.
Figure 1. Map of Uganda showing eastern Uganda