Located in north western Uganda. Arua is an important local commercial centre, it is a base for a large refugee population from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo and is an aid distribution centre for those nations. It is located nearly 520 kilometres by road, northwest of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Capital of the former West Nile province, however, it was broken up in the 1970s into Arua, Nebbi and Moyo districts, Arua town became the capital of Arua District.
The dominant tribe in Arua District is the Lugbara, who are divided up into the different dialects of Vurra who come from Vurra County, Ayivu who are from Ayivu County, Madi who are from Madi-Okollo County. It should be noted that the Madi from Madi-Okollo have a variant dialect from those in Moyo District and Adjumani District.
Arua is an important base for NGOs working in the West Nile region or serving Western Equatoria in Sudan or northeastern Congo DRC. It has become increasingly important as a commercial supply centre and transport route as the Yei–Juba road has opened up and supplies come into Juba from the south rather than through Khartoum.
A branch of the Ugandan Railways was extended to Arua sometime after 1964.There are also many coach lines that run to Kampala and back. - Gaa-Gaa - Nile Coach - Post Bus These are just a few of the coach lines that offer transport to the capital Kampala, from Arua.
The 2002 national census estimated the population of Arua town at 43,929. In 2008, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimated the population of the town to be 53,600.
The writer is an author of the some of the tourism articles of Safaris Uganda
Friday, May 14, 2010
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