Cameroon

Encyclopedia : C : CA : CAM : Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a unitary republic of central Africa. It borders Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Gulf of Guinea. Cameroon, a German colony at the time of World War I, was split among the French and British as war spoils after the defeat of Germany. In 1960, French Cameroun became an independent republic, merging with the southern part of British Cameroons in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. It was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972, and the Republic of Cameroon or République du Cameroun in 1984 (its official languages are English and French).

Compared to other African countries, Cameroon enjoys relative political and social stability, which has in turn permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as an extensive petroleum industry. Despite movement toward political reform, however, power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy.

Contents

1 History
2 Politics
3 Administrative divisions
4 Geography

4.1 Natural regions
4.2 Rivers
4.3 Natural Resources

5 Economy
6 Demographics
7 Culture
8 Education
9 HIV virus origin
10 Miscellaneous topics
11 External links

History

The first inhabitants of Cameroon were the Pygmy Baka people. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations.

The first European contact was in the 16th century with the Portuguese, but they did not stay. The Portuguese did however give the would-be country its name. Explorers on the wouri River noted the abundance of prawns and gave the land the name camarão, the Portuguese word for prawn. The first permanent colonial settlements were started in the late 1870s, with the German Empire emerging as the major European Power. With the defeat of Germany in World War I, Cameroon became a League of Nations Mandate territory split between French Cameroons (Cameroun in French) and British Cameroons in 1919. These mandates were converted into United Nations Trusteeships in 1946.

In 1960, French Cameroon gained its independence and became The Cameroon Republic. It was joined in 1961 by the southern part of the British Cameroons. The remainder of the British Cameroons became part of Nigeria at the same time. The new coalition government was led by Ahmadou Ahidjo who led a crackdown on rebel groups who had remained since before independence.

Ahidjo stepped down in 1982 and was succeeded by the current president, Paul Biya. Biya has won numerous elections since he reinstituted them in 1992 but the fairness of these elections has been questioned. The last elections were held on October 11, 2004.

"Girl of Kamerun" circa 1914

Politics

Cameroon President Paul Biya (right)

More information on politics and government of Cameroon can be found at the Politics and government of Cameroon series.

The President of Cameroon holds executive power in the government of Cameroon. This provision was part of the reforms instituted in 1996 to the Constitution, that had been originally written in 1972. The President is given a broad range of powers, and is able to carry them out without consulting the National Assembly. Cameroon is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The National Assembly consists of 180 delegates and meets three times a year. The main responsibility of the Assembly is to pass laws, but rarely has it changed any laws or blocked the passage of legislation.

The judiciary is subordinate to the executive branch's Ministry of Justice. The Supreme Court may review the constitutionality of a law only at the president's request.

Administrative divisions of Cameroon.

Administrative divisions

Cameroon is divided into 10 provinces and subdivided into 58 divisions (called départements in French). The divisions are further sub-divided into sub-divisions and districts.

The provinces include: Adamawa Province, Centre Province, East Province, Far North Province, Littoral Province, North Province, Northwest Province, West Province, South Province, and Southwest Province.

Divisions (départements): see Divisions of Cameroon

Geography

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria

Geographic coordinates: 6° N 12° E

Map references: Africa

Area:
Total: 183,568 square miles (475,440 km²)
Land: 181,252 square miles (469,440 km²)
Water: 2,317 square miles (6,000 km²)

Cameroon can be divided into five geographic zones. These are distinguished by dominant physical, climatic, and vegetative features.

Mount Cameroon craters

Natural regions

Cameroon's coastal plain extends 10 to 50 miles (15–80 km) inland from the Gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic Ocean) to the edge of a plateau. In the former western state, however, the mass of Mt. Cameroon reaches almost to the sea. Exceedingly hot and humid, the coastal belt includes some of the wettest places on earth. For example, Debuncha, at the base of Mt. Cameroon, has recorded annual rainfalls of 400 inches (10,000 mm). The plain is densely forested.

The low southern plateau, rising from the coastal plain and dominated by tropical rain forest, has an average elevation of 1,500 to 2,000 feet (450–600 m). It is less humid than the coast.

In western Cameroon is an irregular chain of mountains, hills, and plateaus that extend from Mt. Cameroon almost to Lake Chad at the northern tip of the country. This region enjoys a pleasant climate, particularly in the Bamenda, Bamiléké, and Mambilla highlands. It also contains some of the country's most fertile soils, notably around volcanic Mt. Cameroon.

From the forested southern plateau the land rises northward to the grassy, rugged Adamaoua (Adamawa) highlands. Stretching across Cameroon from the western mountain area, the Adamaoua forms a barrier between the north and south. Its average elevation is 3,400 feet (1,035 m), and its climate is reasonably pleasant.

The northern savanna plain extends from the edge of the Adamaoua to Lake Chad. Its characteristic vegetation is scrub and grass. This is a region of sparse rainfall and high median temperatures.

Rivers

The country has four patterns of drainage. In the south, the principal rivers—the Wouri, Sanaga, Nyong, and Ntem—flow southwestward or westward directly into the Gulf of Guinea. The Dja and Kadeï, however, drain southeastward into the Congo River. In northern Cameroon, the Benoué River (Benue) runs north and west, eventually into the Niger, while the Logone River flows northward into Lake Chad.

Only part of Lake Chad lies within Cameroon. The rest belongs to Chad, Nigeria, and Niger. The lake varies in size according to seasonal rainfall.

Natural Resources

In general, Cameroon's natural resources are better suited to agriculture and forestry than to industry. Soils and climate in the south encourage extensive cultivation of crops such as cocoa, coffee, and bananas. In the north, natural conditions favour crops such as cotton and peanuts. The southern rain forest has vast timber reserves, but large areas of the forest are difficult to reach.

The southern rivers are obstructed by rapids and waterfalls, but these sites offer opportunities for hydroelectric development. The Wouri River estuary provides a harbor for the country's principal seaport city, Douala. In the north the Benoué River is seasonally navigable from Garoua into Nigeria.

Petroleum and natural gas are found offshore, and iron ore in the south near the coast. Northern Cameroon has large deposits of bauxite and limestone.

See also List of cities in Cameroon.

Tiko, Southwest Province

Economy

For a quarter-century following independence, Cameroon was one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. The drop in commodity prices for its principal exports —petroleum, cocoa, coffee, and cotton — in the mid-1980s, combined with an overvalued currency, widespread corruption, and economic mismanagement, led to a decade-long recession. Real per capita GDP fell by more than 60% from 1986 to 1994. The current account and fiscal deficits widened, and foreign debt grew. Yet because of its oil resources and favorable agricultural conditions, Cameroon still has one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa.

As with many developing countries, rapid urbanisation has created many strains on the economy. The single largest economic activity in Cameroon is still subsistence agriculture. Many obstacles are slowing Cameroon's growth; some of these include onerous levels of bureaucracy, crumbling infrastructure, and ingrained corruption. Recently, the government has claimed to be making another attempt to crack down on corruption and to create a more transparent business environment.

Demographics

Cameroon's demographic profile is comprised of an estimated 250 distinct ethnic groups, which may be formed into five large regional-cultural divisions:

Culture

The Kirdi and the Matakam of the western mountains produce distinctive types of pottery. The powerful masks of the Bali, which represent elephants' heads, are used in ceremonies for the dead, and the statuettes of the Bamileke are carved in human and animal figures. The Tikar people are famous for beautifully decorated brass pipes, the Ngoutou people for two-faced masks, and the Bamum for smiling masks.

L'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire (French Institute of Black Africa) maintains a library in Douala that specializes in the sociology, ethnology, and history of Africa. Of the several museums, the Diamare and Maroua Museum has anthropological collections relating to the Sudanese peoples, and the

**Holidays**
Date	English Name
January 1	New Year's Day
February 11	National Youth Day
May 1	Labor Day
May 20	National Day
August 15	Assumption
December 25	Christmas

Cameroon Museum of Douala exhibits objects of prehistory and natural history.

Cultural organizations include the Cameroun Cultural Association, the Cameroun Cultural Society, and the Federal Linguistic and Cultural Centre.

There are also numerous women's associations (including the [North West Women's Association for Rural Development]), youth organizations, and sporting associations. Unlike women's organizations recently created by Western development agencies in places like Central Asia, associations of women in West Africa have a long, indigenous history. In contemporary Cameroon they are often registered as Community Initiative Groups, or CIG's, yet they continue a tradition of women gathering together to give emotional and economic support to one another. Even though these groups are based on women dealing with women's problems (like child care, farming/provisioning the family with food, social justice etc.) they are not exclusive, and children as well as dedicated men are encouraged to join.

Education

Two separate systems of education were used in Cameroon after independence. East Cameroon's system was based on the French model, West Cameroon's on the British model. The two systems were merged by 1976. Christian mission schools have been an important part of the educational system.

Cameroon is known for having one of the best education systems in Africa. Primary school is both free and obligatory. Statistics say that 70% of all children aged between 6-12 years go to school, whilst 79% of the Cameroon population as a whole is literate. In the southern areas of the country almost all children of primary-school age are enrolled in classes. However, in the north, which has always been the most isolated part of Cameroon, registration is low. Most students in Cameroon do not go beyond the primary grades.

The country has institutions for teacher training and technical education. At the top of the educational structure is the University of Yaoundé. There is, however, a growing trend for the wealthiest and best-educated students to leave the country in order to study and live abroad, creating a brain drain.

HIV virus origin

Seven years of research and 1,300 chimpanzee genetic samples led Dr. Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, to identify chimpanzee communities near Cameroon's Sanaga River as the most likely originators. Transference from chimp to human most likely occurred when a human was bitten by a chimp or was cut while butchering one, and the human became infected.

"How many different transmission events occurred between that initial hunter and this virus making it to Kinshasa, I don't know. It could have been one, it could have been 10, it could have been 100," Hahn said. "Eventually, it ended up in an urban area, and that's where it really got going." [link]

Countries and territories of Africa (UN subregions)
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Central Africa	Angola · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Equatorial Guinea · Gabon · Republic of the Congo · São Tomé and Príncipe	East Africa>Eastern Africa	Burundi · Comoros · Djibouti · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Kenya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mauritius · Mozambique · Rwanda · Seychelles · Somalia · Tanzania · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Southern Africa	Botswana · Lesotho · Namibia · South Africa · Swaziland	List of dependent territories>Dependencies and other territories:	UK: Indian Ocean Territory · St. Helena (Ascension Island Tristan da Cunha)· France: Mayotte · Réunion · Portugal: Madeira · Spain: Canary Islands · Plazas de soberanía