Moroto District
Encyclopedia
Moroto District is a district
in Northern Uganda
. Like many other Uganda
n districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Moroto, where the district headquarters are located.
to the north, the Republic of Kenya to the east, by Amudat District
to the south, Nakapiripirit District
to the southwest, Napak District
to the west and by Kotido District
to the northwest. It lies on the foot of Mt. Moroto. The district headquarters at Moroto
, are located approximately 210 kilometres (130.5 mi), by road, northeast of Mbale
, the nearest large city. The coordinates of district are:02 32N, 34 40E.
which consists of: Abim District
, Amudat District
, Kaabong District
, Kotido District
, Moroto District, Nakapiripirit District
and Napak District
. In 2002, the population of Karamoja sub-region was estimated at approximately 800,000, by the national census conducted that year.
Moroto District is a plain covered by the Savannah grassland and some low lying rocky hills. It comprises three counties: Bokora County, Matheniko County and Moroto Municipality. It is inhabited by the Karimojong, a distinctive ethnic group that highly cherishes its traditions.
The district is a hub of mineral resources that are yet to be optimally exploited. There are about fifty (50) different minerals and precious stones in the Karamoja region. Of these, Moroto has gold
, silver
, copper
, iron
, titanium
, manganese
, niobium
, tantalite
and chrome
. Other proven minerals include marble
, mica
, garnets
, limestone
and asbestos
.
{| style="font-size:100%;"
|-
| width="100%" align="center" | Moroto District Population Trends
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"
! style="width:2em;" |Year!! Estimated Population
|-
|2002||77,250
|-
|2003||79,600
|-
|2004||82,000
|-
|2005||84,400
|-
|2006||87,000
|-
|2007||89,600
|-
|2008||92,300
|-
|2009||95,000
|-
|2010||97,900
|-
|}
Crops raised include:
Recently, commercial cultivation of the Jatropha
plant has begun in the region. The seed extract is used as a bio fuel to generate thermal electricity and to power motor engines for trucks and buses.
Bee keeping is another activity that is gaining popularity.
Livestock kept includes:
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 Northern Uganda
Northern Region, Uganda
Northern Region is a region of Uganda. It is divided into the following districts:...
. Like many other Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Moroto, where the district headquarters are located.
Location
Moroto District is bordered by Kaabong DistrictKaabong District
Kaabong District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Kaabong, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
to the north, the Republic of Kenya to the east, by Amudat District
Amudat District
Amudat District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Amudat, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
to the south, Nakapiripirit District
Nakapiripirit District
Nakapiripirit District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like many other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Nakapiripirit, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
to the southwest, Napak District
Napak District
Napak District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Napak.-Location:Napak District is bordered by Abim District to the northwest, Kotido District to the north, Moroto District to the northeast and east, Nakapiripirit District to...
to the west and by Kotido District
Kotido District
Kotido District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Kotido, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
to the northwest. It lies on the foot of Mt. Moroto. The district headquarters at Moroto
Moroto
Moroto is a town in Northern Uganda, lying west of Mount Moroto. It is the 'chief town' of Moroto District and the district headquarters are located there. The district was named after the town.-Location:...
, are located approximately 210 kilometres (130.5 mi), by road, northeast 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:...
, the nearest large city. The coordinates of district are:02 32N, 34 40E.
Overview
Moroto District is part of the larger Karamoja sub-regionKaramoja
Karamoja sub-region, commonly known as Karamoja, is a region in Northern Uganda.-Location:The subregion, is located in northeastern Uganda and comprises the following seven districts:* Abim District* Amudat District* Kaabong District...
which consists of: Abim District
Abim District
Abim District is a district in Northern Uganda. It's named after its 'chief town', Abim, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
, Amudat District
Amudat District
Amudat District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Amudat, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
, Kaabong District
Kaabong District
Kaabong District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Kaabong, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
, Kotido District
Kotido District
Kotido District is a district in Northern Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Kotido, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
, Moroto District, Nakapiripirit District
Nakapiripirit District
Nakapiripirit District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like many other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Nakapiripirit, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...
and Napak District
Napak District
Napak District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Napak.-Location:Napak District is bordered by Abim District to the northwest, Kotido District to the north, Moroto District to the northeast and east, Nakapiripirit District to...
. In 2002, the population of Karamoja sub-region was estimated at approximately 800,000, by the national census conducted that year.
Moroto District is a plain covered by the Savannah grassland and some low lying rocky hills. It comprises three counties: Bokora County, Matheniko County and Moroto Municipality. It is inhabited by the Karimojong, a distinctive ethnic group that highly cherishes its traditions.
The district is a hub of mineral resources that are yet to be optimally exploited. There are about fifty (50) different minerals and precious stones in the Karamoja region. Of these, Moroto has gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
, manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
, niobium
Niobium
Niobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It's a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite...
, tantalite
Tantalite
Tantalite, [2O6], is a mineral group that is close to columbite. The two are often grouped together as a semi-singular mineral called coltan or "columbite-tantalite" in many mineral guides. However, tantalite has a much greater specific gravity than columbite...
and chrome
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
. Other proven minerals include marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
, garnets
Garnets
Garnets may have the following meanings:*Plural for "Garnet".*Garnets, an obsolete unit of dry volume in Imperial Russia.*Haddon Heights High School Garnets...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
.
Population
The 2002 national census estimated the population of the district, as constituted after July 2010, at about 77,250. It is estimated that the population of the district had grown to about 97,900 by 2010. See table below:;{| style="font-size:100%;"
|-
| width="100%" align="center" | Moroto District Population Trends
|- valign="top"
|
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"
! style="width:2em;" |Year!! Estimated Population
|-
|2002||77,250
|-
|2003||79,600
|-
|2004||82,000
|-
|2005||84,400
|-
|2006||87,000
|-
|2007||89,600
|-
|2008||92,300
|-
|2009||95,000
|-
|2010||97,900
|-
|}
Economic activities
Subsistence crop and livestock agriculture form the backbone of Moroto District's economic backbone.Crops raised include:
- Groundnuts
- MaizeMaizeMaize 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...
- CassavaCassavaCassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
- Beans
- SorghumSorghumSorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
Recently, commercial cultivation of the Jatropha
Jatropha
Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees , from the family Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός , meaning "physician," and τροφή , meaning "nutrition," hence the common name physic nut. Mature plants produce separate male and female...
plant has begun in the region. The seed extract is used as a bio fuel to generate thermal electricity and to power motor engines for trucks and buses.
Bee keeping is another activity that is gaining popularity.
Livestock kept includes:
- CattleCattleCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
- Goats
- ChickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
- Turkeys
See also
- Moroto
- Karamoja sub-regionKaramojaKaramoja sub-region, commonly known as Karamoja, is a region in Northern Uganda.-Location:The subregion, is located in northeastern Uganda and comprises the following seven districts:* Abim District* Amudat District* Kaabong District...
- Northern Region, UgandaNorthern Region, UgandaNorthern Region is a region of Uganda. It is divided into the following districts:...
- Districts of UgandaDistricts of UgandaUganda is divided into 111 districts and one city across four administrative regions. Most districts are named after their main commercial and administrative towns....