Gulu City Travel Guide, Uganda – Northern Region
GULU CITY TRAVEL GUIDE
LOCATION OF GULU CITY, UGANDA
Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda, serving as the commercial and administrative center of Gulu District. It’s situated at coordinates 2°46’54.0"N 32°17’57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda’s capital, is approximately 333 kilometers (207 miles) by road. The city’s elevation is around 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) above sea level. Gulu is known for its agricultural activities, including the cultivation of cotton, tea, coffee, corn (maize), sorghum, and tobacco. If you’re planning a visit, you’ll find it located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) North of Kampala.
POPULATION OF GULU CITY, UGANDA
The population of Gulu is 146,858 as indicated by the UBOS.
SOME HISTORY OF GULU CITY, UGANDA
During the British Bagool rule in the 18th and 19th centuries, Northern Uganda was less developed compared to the rest of the country. The people were conscripted into the army and the police, with many sent to fight in the first and second World Wars.[
In the 1960s, many Sudanese, Rwandan, and Congolese refugees settled in the city.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) under the leadership of Joseph Kony sprang up in the 1990s after Auma/Lakwena went to Kenya. The LRA became increasingly violent in Gulu and surrounding communities. Up to 15,000 children, known as "night commuters", were fleeing into the city for safety every evening. In 1996, the Ugandan government ordered all civilians in Northern Uganda to relocate to internally displaced person (IDP) camps. Several organizations, such as Stop the Genocide in Northern Uganda, called these camps "concentration camps" and demanded their immediate closure.
At one time, an estimated two million people lived in these camps. In April 2009, all the IDP camps were closed and the people were allowed to return to their villages. By July 2009, an estimated 1,452,000 people (80.7 percent of those living in the camps) had voluntarily left the camps to return home. Since the spring of 2007, there has been relative peace in the region as the LRA became a much less significant threat.
