Entebbe

Sister cities

• Ashkelon
• Kalmar Municipality

History

"Entebbe", in the local Luganda language, means a "seat" and was probably named that because it was the place where a Baganda chief sat to adjudicate legal cases. It first became a British colonial administrative and commercial centre in 1893 when Sir Gerald Portal, a colonial Commissioner, used it as a base. Port Bell went on to become Kampala's harbour. Although no ships dock there now, there is still a jetty, which was used by Lake Victoria ferries. Entebbe International Airport, the main international airport of Uganda, has been the site of some well known events, making it famous in Europe and abroad. It was from this airport that Queen Elizabeth II departed Africa to return to England in 1952 when she learned of her father's death and that she had become Queen. The airport was the scene of Operation Entebbe, a hostage rescue on 4 July 1976, when soldiers from the Sayeret Matkal, Paratroopers Brigade and Golani Brigade units of the Israeli Army freed over 100 hostages following a hijacking by a group of Palestinian and German militia. The city of Entebbe also hosted final resolution talks to end the M23 rebellion.

Geography

Entebbe experiences a tropical rainforest climate (Af) according to the Köppen climate classification as the city has no real dry season throughout the year. Its driest month is July with precipitation averaging , while the wettest is April with precipitation averaging . The temperature is moderated by the altitude. The hottest month is February with an average temperature of , while the coolest is July with an average temperature of .