Rubanda District is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in the Western Region of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The largest town in the district, Rubanda, serves as the main administrative and commercial center in the district.

Location

Rubanda District is bordered by Kabale District to the east and north,

Kanungu District Kanungu District is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. The town of Kanungu is the site of the district headquarters. Location Kanungu District is bordered by Rukungiri District to the north a ...

to the north-west,

Kisoro District Kisoro District is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. The town of Kisoro is the site of the district headquarters. Education Kisoro Municipality includes Metropolitan International Universi ...

to the west, and

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

to the south. The town of Rubanda is approximately , by road, west of

Kabale Kabale City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the main city of Kabale District, and the district headquarters are located at Makanga hills. It is sometimes nicknamed "Kastone" as in the local Rukiga language, a "kabale" is a sma ...

, the largest city in the

Kigezi sub-region Kigezi sub-region is a region in Western Uganda that consists of the following districts: * Kabale District * Kanungu District * Kisoro District * Rukungiri District The area covered by the above districts constituted the former Kigezi Dist ...

. This is approximately , by road, south-west of

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, ...

, the largest city in the Western Region. Rubanda is about , by road, south-west of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, the capital and largest city of Uganda.

Overview

Rubanda District was established by an Act of Parliament on 3 September 2015 and became operational on 1 July 2016. Before its creation, the district was Rubanda County in neighboring Kabale District. The rationale for its creation was to "bring services closer to the people" and to improve "service delivery" to constituents. The district had an elevated altitude, with volcanic mountains and hills, separated by V-shaped valleys.

Lake Bunyonyi Lake Bunyonyi ("Place of many little birds") is in south-western Uganda between Kisoro and Kabale, close to the border with Rwanda. The lake appeared from 2004 to 2009 on the Ugandan shilling, USh note under the title "Lake Bunyonyi and t ...

, the second deepest lake in Africa, is found in the district.

Population

The majority of the population are

Bakiga Kiga people, or ''Abakiga'' ("people of the mountains"), are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group native to south western Uganda and northern Rwanda. History Origins The Kiga people are believed to have their origins in Rwanda. This is mentione ...

, with a smaller number of

Batwa The Twa, often referred to as Batwa or Mutwa (singular), are indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, recognized as some of the earliest inhabitants of the area. Historically and academically, the term � ...

. There are still smaller pockets of Bafumbira and Banyarwanda in the district.

Mineral wealth

The district has vast deposits of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

in Muko sub-county and surrounding communities. The local blacksmiths called "abahesi", are able to make commercial and domestic tools, including knives, pangas (machetes), hoes and

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

s. Other minerals found in the districts include wolfram,

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

References

External links