Douala

For other uses, see Duala.

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country. Conseqeuently, it handles most of the country's major exports, such as oil, cocoa and coffee, as well as trade to or from Chad. It is also home to the Eko Market, the country's largest market.

The city is built on the banks of the Wouri River, the two sides linked by Bonaberi Bridge. Its population in 1991 was recoded as around 1.6 million and is now likely to have exceeded 2 million. The climate is hot and humid.

The first Europeans to visit the area were the Portuguese in about 1472. By 1650, it had become the site of a town formed by immigrants from the interior who spoke the Douala language and during the eighteenth century it was center of the transatlantic slave trade. Before coming under German rule in 1884, the town was also known as Cameroons Town; thereafter it became Kamarunstadt ("Camaroon City"), the capital of German Kamerun. It was renamed Douala in 1907 and became part of the French Cameroons in 1919. From 1940 to 1946, it was the capital of Cameroon.

Akwa is Douala's nightlife center and Bonanjo its center of commerce and administration. Along the city's main thoroughfare lie some of Cameroon's best restaurants, coffee houses and French-style patisseries; along the waterfront, many bars and bistros may be found, commanding views of the Gulf of Guinea and nearby mangrove swamps. Many of these are frequented by the city's large expatriate population, mainly French or Lebanese, most of whom work in the petroleum industry.

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New Liberty Statue in Douala.

Douala is Africa's most expensive city, in terms of cost of living [link].

Transport

It is linked by rail to Yaoundé, Kumba and Nkongsamba.

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