The sub-region covers an area of 13,030.6 km and is home to an estimated 2.5 million people of Iteso and Kumam ethnicity.[1] home to the Iteso people, known for agriculture (especially citrus), cattle rearing, and distinct culture, encompassing districts like Soroti, Kumi, Amuria, and Katakwi, and facing challenges like past insecurity but showing potential in resources like oil, with strong cultural ties to other Nilotic groups
Politically, Pallisa District does not belong to Teso Sub-region although Iteso tribes populate larger parts of this district.
Geography
Teso sub-region borders Karamoja to the north and east, Lango to the west, and Bukedi to the south.[2] Much of the countryside forms an undulating plateau with rock outcrops, plus shallow lakes, swamps, and extensive wetlands linked to the Lake Kyoga basin.[2]
The sub-region has a bimodal rainfall pattern supporting two main cropping seasons.[2] Vegetation includes grassland savannah, and soils are often sandy loam, varying with terrain.[2]
Administrative units
Teso sub-region includes ten districts plus Soroti City as a separate local government unit in the 2024 census reporting tables.[3]
Administrative units in Teso sub-region (2024 preliminary census)
The 2024 census (preliminary results) reports population growth from 1,819,708 in 2014 to 2,462,344 in 2024 for Teso sub-region.[3] The largest ethnic group is the Iteso, and the sub-region also includes communities such as the Kumam, including areas of intermarriage.[2]
Agriculture is a major livelihood. Common crops include cassava, sorghum, finger millet, groundnuts, rice, and sweet potatoes, plus oilseed crops and cotton as a major cash crop in parts of the farming system.[2] Mixed crop and livestock production is widespread, with cattle, goats, sheep, and poultry, and ox-plough cultivation is common in farming practice.[2] A regional profile by Encyclopaedia Britannica notes early adoption of ox ploughs among Teso farmers and cotton cultivation during the early 1900s, with millet as a key staple crop.[6]
Environment and tourism
Wetlands linked to the Lake Kyoga system support birdlife, including species associated with the Lake Opeta–Bisina wetland system highlighted in regional profiles.[2] Two Ramsar sites in eastern Uganda linked to this wetland complex include Lake Bisina Wetland System and Lake Opeta Wetland System.[7][8]
The late 1980s and early 1990s period included an armed insurgency in parts of the sub-region involving the Uganda People's Army, a group recruited largely from the Iteso, active from 1987 to 1992.[12] Livestock raiding and insecurity along the Karamoja border has also affected neighbouring districts in northeastern Uganda in multiple periods, including early 2000s reporting on raids into bordering districts.[13]
Culture
Cultural leadership among the Iteso is organised under the Iteso Cultural Union, headed by the Emorimor (paramount chief). Media reporting identifies Emorimor Paul Sande Emolot as a recent cultural leader in public functions.[14]
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