Jinja [key], city (2002 pop. 71,213), SE Uganda, on the Victoria Nile River, near Lake Victoria. It is an industrial city and the commercial and processing center for a region where cotton, sugarcane, corn, and peanuts are grown. Manufactures include refined copper, steel, metal goods, forest products, textiles, soap, and processed food. It is connected by rail with Mombasa on the Indian Ocean, and by bridge with Njeru across the Victoria Nile. Jinja was founded in 1901 as a trading post; with the development of the nearby Owen Falls hydroelectric project, which includes the Nalubaale (1954) and Kiira (1999) dams, it became (1950s) a major industrial center; the Bujagali dam and power station were completed several miles downriver in 2012. The city's services and infrastructure declined during the regime of Idi Amin.
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