[1] Butiaba is located on the eastern shores of Lake Albert, in Buliisa District, in the Bunyoro sub-region of Western Uganda.

[2] Butiaba is located about 58 kilometres (36 mi) north of Hoima, the largest city in the Bunyoro sub-region.

[3] This location is approximately 257 kilometres (160 mi), by road, northwest of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.

At Soroti, it would be loaded onto railway wagons for transportation by rail to Mombasa, Kenya, on the Indian Ocean, for export.

[7][8] When the East African Railways Corporation was dissolved in the 1970s, Butiaba's prominence declined and the harbour became dormant.