This area of numerous hills and swamps that later become known as Kampala was part of the core of the highly centralised Buganda Kingdom. Kampala, the city from Cathedral Hill in 1936.

History įor a chronological guide, see Timeline of Kampala. Hence the name 'Kampala' came to refer to this initial British colonial settlement that would later on spread out from the occupied Old Kampala hill near the pre-existing Kibuga (capital) of the Buganda Kingdom. Kasozi means 'hill', ke 'of', and empala the plural of 'impala'. This was then shortened to K'empala and finally Kampala.

The Baganda, in whose territory this British settlement was located, then translated 'Hill of the Impala' as Akasozi ke'Empala. As a result, when the British colonial officials were allocated this hill by the then Kabaka of Buganda, they referred to it as 'The Hill of the Impala'. īefore the British construction of Fort Lugard, the hill was a hunting reserve of the Kabaka (King) of Buganda and had several species of antelope, especially the impala. Kampala originally referred to only the present-day Old Kampala hill, on whose summit Fort Lugard was located, and the initial headquarters of the British colonial authorities in the soon to be Uganda Protectorate. Mercer (a New York–based consulting firm) has regularly ranked Kampala as East Africa's best city to live in, ahead of Nairobi and Kigali. Kampala is reported to be among the fastest-growing cities in Africa, with an annual population growth rate of 4.03 percent, by City Mayors. In 2015, this metropolitan area generated an estimated nominal GDP of $13.80221 billion (constant US dollars of 2011), which was more than half of Uganda's GDP for that year, indicating the importance of Kampala to Uganda's economy. It has a rapidly growing population that is estimated at 6,709,900 people in 2019 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in an area of 8,451.9 km 2 (3,263.3 square miles). Kampala's metropolitan area consists of the city proper and the neighboring Wakiso District, Mukono District, Mpigi District, Buikwe District and Luweero District.

The city proper has a population of 3,846,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Rubaga Division. Kampala ( UK: / k æ m ˈ p ɑː l ə/, US: / k ɑː m ˈ-/) is the capital and largest city of Uganda.

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