City Expansion
In 2001, the city limits were substantially expanded to include many of the surrounding communities within the city; including: Namirembe, Naakulabye, Kasubi, Bwaise, Kawempe, Kikaaya, Mpererwe, Lubaga, Nateete, Busega, Mutundwe, Ndeeba, Katwe, Kibuli, Kabalagala, Ntinda, Kiwaatule, Kisaasi; Najjanankumbi; Nakawa, Kyambogo, Nagulu, Bugoloobi, Mbuya, Luzira, Port Bell and Butabika.
The eastern and northeastern suburbs of Banda, Kireka, Bweyogerere, Namanve Kirinnya, Namugongo, Kyaliwajjala, Bulindo and Nsasa, among others, were carved out into a separate municipality called Kira Municipality. Today, Kira Municipality is the second largest town in Uganda with an estimated population of about 180,000 in 2011.
Other features of the city include the Uganda Museum, Ugandan National Theatre, Nakasero Market and St. Balikuddembe Market (formerly Owino Market). Kampala is also known for its nightlife, which includes several casinos, notably Casino Simba in the Garden City shopping center, Kampala Casino and Mayfair Casino. Entebbe International Airport is located at Entebbe, 22 miles (35 km) away, while Port Bell on the shores of Lake Victoria is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away.
Kampala hosts one of only seven Bahá'í houses of worship in the world. It is known as the Mother Temple of Africa and is situated on Kikaya Hill on the outskirts of the city. Its foundation stone was laid in January, 1958; it was dedicated on January 13, 1961. See Bahá'í Faith in Uganda.
The Ahmadiyya Central Mosque in Kampala is the central mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which has six minarets and can hold up to 9,000 worshippers.
Kampala going westwards has Kabaka's Lubiri, the palace of the king of Buganda. Buganda is one of the oldest kingdoms in Africa, dating back to the late 13th century. Other landmarks include the Kasubi tombs, the magnificent mosque at old Kampala, Namirembe and Rubaga Cathedral, at the very edge there is Kasumba Square Mall at the intersection of Northern Bypass and Busega roundabout.
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Famous quotes containing the words city and/or expansion:
“Not to find one’s way in a city may well be uninteresting and banal. It requires ignorance—nothing more. But to lose oneself in a city—as one loses oneself in a forest—that calls for a quite different schooling. Then, signboard and street names, passers-by, roofs, kiosks, or bars must speak to the wanderer like a cracking twig under his feet in the forest.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“Every expansion of government in business means that government in order to protect itself from the political consequences of its errors and wrongs is driven irresistibly without peace to greater and greater control of the nation’s press and platform. Free speech does not live many hours after free industry and free commerce die.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)