[3] It sits along the northern shores of Lake Victoria, near the source of the White Nile,[4] at an average elevation of 1,204 metres (3,950 ft) above sea level.

A description of what the area looked like can be found in the notes of John Hanning Speke, the first European to lay eyes on the source of the Nile: Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I expected, for the broad surface of the lake was shut out from view by a spur of hill, and the falls, about twelve feet deep and four to five hundred feet broad, were broken by rocks; still it was a sight that attracted one to it for hours.

The roar of the waters, the thousands of passenger fish leaping at the falls with all their might, the fishermen coming out in boats, and taking post on all the rocks with rod and hook, hippopotami and crocodiles lying sleepily on the water, the ferry at work above the falls, and cattle driven down to drink at the margin of the lake, made in all, with the pretty nature of the country—small grassy-topped hills, with trees in the intervening valleys and on the lower slopes—as interesting a picture as one could wish to see.

After the Fall of Kampala to the coalition of the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) and the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), Ugandan President Idi Amin initially fled to Jinja.

[10][11] According to journalist Nelson Bwire Kapo, Amin even declared Jinja the new capital of Uganda,[12] but soon fled to Arua and from there into exile.

The remaining UA troops mostly fled,[15] and Jinja's civilian residents greeted the TPDF-UNLA force with cheers.

[16] Following the end of hostilities, Tanzanian officers reportedly used Jinja as a hub to transport stolen goods from Uganda to Mwanza, including cars, tons of coffee, large amounts of gasoline, and war materiel.

[22][23] In the past, factories chose Jinja as their base because of the nearby electric power station at the Owen Falls Dam.

[26] The biggest local employer is the Kakira Sugar Works (KSW), a member of the Madhvani Group of companies.

The factory burns bagasse byproducts from sugar manufacturing to generate 50 megawatts of electricity for internal use and sale to the national grid.

It has completed a $47 million (Shs122 billion) plant to produce 50,000 tonnes of steel products a year and directly employs 1,800 people.

[32] The Kiira EV Project received 40 hectares (100 acres) of land at the Jinja Industrial and Business Park.

[33][34] Jinja city's strategic location at the source of River Nile with numerous power generating plants makes it ideal for industrialisation.

[citation needed] The city also has several educational establishments including the following: The Qaddafi Barracks, an institution of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), are in Jinja.

[52] The town is also the site of the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College, another UPDF institution, located in the Kimaka neighbourhood about 3 miles (5 km) north of Jinja's central business district.

Jinja is commonly regarded as "the adventure capital of East Africa" due to the very many activities in town that one could engage in, especially for tourists.

Jinja hosts the regional offices of the Uganda Red Cross Society, a humanitarian organization.