regions. At the border of the northern Sahel giraffes and antelopes, also abounds in region lies Lake and the Chad basin; monkeys – screaming red and green monkeys further south the land forms a sloping plain, and mandrills – and lions and leopards. There rising to the Mandara Mountains. The central are in the great tracts of hardwood region extends from the Benue (Bénoué) in the south and east. Some 38 River to the , with a plateau in mammal species and 21 species are the north. This region includes the Adamaoua thought to be endangered (2014). plateau which separates the agricultural Main : Yaoundé (capital, in Centre south from the pastoral north. In the west, Region, pop. 1.81m in 2010), the land is mountainous, with a double chain (principal port, in Coastal Region, 2.13m), of volcanic peaks, rising to a height of 4,095 (, 573,700), metres at Mount Cameroon. This is the (North-West, 546,400), (Far North, highest and wettest peak in western Africa. 436,700), (West, 383,200), The fourth region, to the south, extends from Ngaoundéré (Adamaoua, 314,100), the Sanaga River to the southern border, (East, 297,200), Loum (Coastal, 249,100), comprising a coastal plain and forested Kumbo (North-West, 222,600), Edéa plateau. There is a complicated system of (Coastal, 209,600), Mbouda (West, 188,200), drainage. Several rivers flow westwards: the Kumba (South-West, 180,000), Foumban KEY FACTS Benue River which rises in the Mandara (West, 171,600), Dschang (West, 149,300), Joined Commonwealth: 1995 Mountains and later joins the River Niger, and Nkongsamba (Coastal, 131,100), Population: 22,254,000 (2013) the Sanaga and Nyong rivers which flow into (South, 129,600), Kousséri (contiguous with the . The Dja and Sangha GDP p.c. growth: 0.0% p.a. 1990–2013 Ndjamena in Chad, Far North, 95,100) and drain into the Congo Basin. The Logone and UN HDI 2014: World ranking 152 Chari rivers flow north into Lake Chad. (South-West, 59,700). Official languages: French, English Climate: In the northern Sahel region, there Transport: There is a significant road network of 51,350 km, eight per cent paved. Time: GMT plus 1 hr is a long dry season from October–April, with temperatures varying from cool to very hot. The rail network runs 977 km north–south Currency: CFA franc (CFAfr) Further south, on the Adamaoua plateau, from Ngaoundéré to Yaoundé, with there are sharp drops in temperature at night. connections between Douala and Yaoundé, Geography In the south the climate is hot and humid, and from Douala to Nkongsamba and Kumba. Area: 475,442 sq km with two rainy seasons, in September/October and from March–June. Douala is the principal port, handles Coastline: 402 km Environment: The most significant issues are mainly wood exports, Garoua on the Benue Capital: Yaoundé (constitutional); Douala overgrazing, desertification, , River is navigable only during the wet season (economic) and overfishing. and Limbo-Tiko is a minor port, severely silted Cameroon is called Cameroun in French, up. Vegetation: There is tropical rainforest Kamerun in German, Camarões in (including ebony and mahogany) in the hot International airports are at Douala (10 km Portuguese, and Cameroon in English. The humid south, with along the south-east of the city), Yaoundé (25 km from country’s name derives from camarões, coast and river mouths. The southern coastal the city) and Garoua. meaning ‘shrimps’, so called by the 15th- plain and south-east plateau also contain the century Portuguese explorer Fernando Po cocoa and banana farms and the rubber and who named the River Rio dos Society oil palm . The central region has Camarões (‘shrimp river’), after the many KEY FACTS 2013 mixed deciduous and evergreen forest. Above shrimps. Cameroon in central Africa is the forest zone are drier woodlands, with Population per sq km: 47 bounded clockwise (from the west) by the taller grasses and mountain . High in Gulf of Guinea, , Chad, Central Life expectancy: 55 years the interior and on Mount Cameroon the African Republic, Congo, and Net primary enrolment: 92% grasses are shorter. Further north there is . savannah bushland, with trees becoming Population: 22,254,000 (2013); 53 per cent The country comprises ten regions: sparse towards the Chad basin. Forest covers of people live in urban areas and 20 per cent Adamaoua, Centre, Coastal, East, Far North, 41 per cent of the land area, having declined in urban agglomerations of more than one North, North-West, South, South-West and at 1.0 per cent p.a. 1990–2010. Arable land million people; growth 2.7 per cent p.a. West. comprises 13 per cent and permanent 1990–2013; birth rate 37 per 1,000 people (45 cropland three per cent of the total land area. in 1970); life expectancy 55 years (44 in 1970). Topography: The physical geography is varied, with forests, mountains, large Wildlife: The Waza National Park in the The population is ethnically diverse. In the waterfalls and deserts, falling into four north, originally created for the protection of north, the people are mostly Hausa, Fulbé

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(Fulani), Sudanese and Choa Arab. In the ). The female–male ratio for Real growth in GDP west, the Bamiléké are the biggest ethnic gross enrolment in tertiary education is % group, followed by Tiker and Bamoun. South 0.70:1 (2011). Literacy among people aged 6 of the River Sanaga, there are Bantu groups: 15–24 is 83 per cent (2007). 5 Fang, Ewondo, Boulou, Eton, Bassa, Bakoko, Media: Cameroon Tribune (daily in French Douala. Some pygmies (including Baka) live in and English editions) is the official newspaper. 4 the south-eastern forested country. Le Messager is the leading independent daily 3 g Language: French and English are both in French, published in Douala since 1979. official languages. There are about 240 Other independent papers include The 2 indigenous languages including 24 major Herald , Mutations , La Nouvelle Expression language groups. and The Post . 1

Religion: Christians about 69 per cent, CRTV operates the national radio and TV 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Muslims 21 per cent and six per cent networks. After broadcasting was liberalised Animists, while other religious groups in 2000, dozens of private radio stations and Inflation including Jews and Baha’is make up less than several private TV channels were launched. % 3.0 five per cent of the population (2005 census). Some 31 per cent of households have TV sets Health: Public spending on health was two (2007). There are 11 personal computers per 2.5 per cent of GDP in 2012. There are three 1,000 people (2005). 2.0 referral , 70 general hospitals, 50 Communications: Country code 237; private hospitals, plus a wide network of public internet domain ‘.cm’. There are telephone 1.5 and private health centres – some of which are booths in all towns. Mobile phone coverage for the treatment of leprosy. Some 74 per cent is patchy but more extensive in the south. 1.0 of the population uses an improved drinking For every 1,000 people there are 36 landlines, water source and 45 per cent have access to 0.5 704 mobile phone subscriptions and 64 adequate sanitation facilities (2012). Infant internet users (2013). 0.0 mortality was 61 per 1,000 live births in 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (151 in 1960). In 2013, 4.3 per cent of people Public holidays: New Year’s Day, Youth Day aged 15–49 were HIV positive. (11 February), Labour Day (1 May), National state-o wne d rail co mpany Régifercam (having Day (20 May), Sheep Festival (21 May), Education: Public spending on education been streamlined by halving its staff), Assumption (15 August), Unification Day (1 was 3.1 per cent of GDP in 2012. There are CAMSUCO (sugar), SOCAPALM (), October) and Christmas Day. six years of compulsory education starting at BICEC (the last remaining state-owned bank) the age of six. Primary school comprises six Religious festivals whose dates vary from year and SONEL (electricity) were privatised; SNEC years and secondary seven, with a first cycle to year include Prophet’s Birthday, Good (water) was restructured as a public–private Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, partnership; and Cameroon Airlines was of four years. School attendance is lower in the Far North Region, where the population is Ascension of the Prophet, Eid al-Fitr (End of liquidated (2006). partly nomadic. Some 57 per cent of pupils Ramadan), Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) Cameroon reached the IMF/World Bank complete primary school (2010). The school and Islamic New Year. Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative year starts in September. Many secondary completion point in 2006, qualifying for schools are bilingual, with instruction in both Economy present value debt-relief of US$1.3 billion. French and English. Faith schools play an KEY FACTS 2013 From the mid-1990s, growth was sustained important role in the education system and at four to five per cent p.a. in a climate of are partly subsidised by the government. GNI: US$28.7bn relatively low inflation, as a result of the GNI p.c.: US$1,270 The public universities are the University of prudent monetary policies of the regional Yaoundé (founded in 1962); University of GDP growth: 3.9% p.a. 2009–13 central bank. From 2003 the Cameroon Douala (1977, Coastal Region); University of Inflation: 2.4% p.a. 2009–13 economy grew more slowly, growth Ngaoundéré (1982, Adamaoua Region); averaging 3.3 per cent p.a. 2003–07. It Cameroon developed rapidly from 1978 University of Buea (1992, South-West Region, slowed again in response to the global thanks to its oil wealth, agricultural diversity English medium); University of Dschang economic downturn in 2008–09, before and well-developed agro-industries. However, (1993, West Region); and the University of recovering from 2010; it then continued to after the mid-1980s, the economy declined Maroua (2008, Far North Region). The most grow at four to six per cent p.a. during and debt rose. From the late 1980s, the prominent is the University of Yaoundé, 2011–15. which now comprises two separate World Bank and IMF supported a series of universities on several campuses (University of economic reform programmes, which Yaoundé I and University of Yaoundé II). The included cuts in public expenditure (public- GDP by sector (2013) École Normale Supérieure of University of sector wages were reduced by 70 per cent in 1993), structural adjustment, privatisation of Yaoundé I is the leading school for teacher Agriculture the many publicly owned enterprises, and education. The many private institutions 22.7% rescheduling external debt. offering tertiary education include the Industry Catholic University of Central Africa (1989, In the run-up to privatisation, some 70 state- 29.7% Yaoundé); Bamenda University of Science and owned enterprises were closed down and Services Technology (1995, North-West Region); and others restructured, with a loss of about 47.6% Université des Montagnes (2000, Bangangté, 20,000 jobs. Then from the late 1990s the

The CommonwealTh Yearbook 2015 Cameroon

Oil and gas After World War I, the country was divided démocratique du peuple camerounais into two zones. The western zone (Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement – Oil production began in 1978 but fell steadily (comprising two separate areas, later known RDPC or CPDM) in 1985. from its peak of 186,000 barrels a day in as the Northern and Southern ) 1985 to about 63,000 barrels a day in 2013, Cameroon has never had a successful military was administered by Britain under a League although government has made exploitation coup. A plot by military officers was of Nations mandate. The rest of the country of marginal oilfields more viable and new uncovered in 1979. A further planned coup (comprising four-fifths of the total) was small fields have boosted production. Crude was discovered in 1983 and in February 1984 administered by , directly from Paris. oil is, nevertheless, the largest foreign- the former President Ahmadou Ahidjo (then During the French administration, the port at currency earner and accounted for 45 per in exile where he subsequently died) was Douala was built, the and cocoa cent of export earnings in 2011. tried in absentia and found guilty, along with industries increased and extensive road- two of his military advisers. Two months later, Oil is found in the Rio del Rey basin, close to building was undertaken. In the British area, the Republican Guard attempted a coup. This the Nigerian border, natural gas at Rio del there was local participation in government, was foiled by the army, but 500–1,000 Rey and in the basin extending to the south and both Northern and Southern Cameroons people were killed in the fighting; the of Douala. Prospects for large offshore finds were joined to parts of Nigeria for Republican Guard was then disbanded. of oil and gas were dramatically improved in administrative purposes. After 1945, the UK Political protest against the one-party system 2006 when Nigeria agreed that the Bakassi and France continued to administer the was widespread up to 1992, through a peninsula would be ceded to Cameroon. country as UN Trust Territories. campaign of civil disobedience known as villes During this period, political parties emerged, mortes or ‘ghost towns’, when towns were History the largest being the Union of the Peoples of virtually closed down to prompt reform. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Cameroon (UPC) led by Ruben Um Nyobe. Multiple political parties became legal in 1990 region may have been the first homeland of The UPC, which demanded that French and and legislative elections were held in March the , who developed methods British Cameroons should be united into one 1992. They were contested by 48 political of working iron and an advanced agriculture. independent country, was banned in the mid- parties but boycotted by the Social Democratic After around 200 BCE, the Bantu peoples 1950s, leading to a rebellion in which Front (SDF). The ruling CPDM took 88 seats, spread east and south, to become the thousands of people were killed, including the opposing parties a total of 92 seats. The dominant ethnic group of sub-Saharan Africa. Um Nyobe in 1958. Nonetheless, the country CPDM formed a coalition with the Movement proceeded to partial self-government in 1957 for the Defence of the Republic, which had six European exploration began in the 15th and full independence on 1 January 1960. seats, thus securing a majority of eight. century with the Portuguese who established sugar plantations and gained control of the After a UN plebiscite in 1961, Northern At presidential elections in October 1992 Paul slave trade around the coast in the following Cameroons chose union with Nigeria, as part Biya was re-elected with 40 per cent of the century. Dutch slave traders subsequently of the Northern Region. Southern Cameroons votes (in 1988 he had stood unopposed, gained the ascendancy. ravaged West joined the Republic in October 1961. The winning 98 per cent of the vote). Of the African societies until the middle of the 19th country became a federal republic in the eight candidates, his nearest rival was John century, when Britain’s abolition of the slave same year, with both components retaining Fru Ndi of the SDF, who gained 36 per cent. trade (in 1807) and the activities of the anti- their local parliaments. In 1972 the federation In 1995, with the approval of all other slavers became effective. In northern was dissolved and the country became a member countries, Cameroon joined the Cameroon, during the 19th century, nomadic unitary republic (the United Republic of Commonwealth. Fulani arrived and settled. Cameroon), the name changing once again Before the May 1997 general election there to the Republic of Cameroon in 1984. (a late entrant into the European was an outbreak of violence in the North- scramble for colonial possessions in Africa) Following independence, the country was West Region, which was attributed to the claimed Cameroon as a German Protectorate ruled first by President Ahmadou Ahidjo (from Anglophone separatist movement. A curfew in 1884; it remained so until 1916, when 1960 to 1982) and then by President Paul was enforced and public meetings banned. In Britain, France and Belgium took it by military Biya, who took office as President in 1982. A the election, with Commonwealth observers force in a combined operation. The German one-party regime was established in 1966 present, CPDM took 109 of the 180 administration built the railways between through the merger of the two governing Assembly seats, the SDF 43, the National Douala and Eséka and between Douala and parties and several opposition groups. In 1968 Union for Democracy and Progress 13, and Nkongsamba in the west; and German the ruling party was reconstituted as the the Union for Democracy and Change five. farmers settled in the areas that are now Union national camerounaise (UNC) and was In the run-up to the presidential election, the North-West and South-West Regions. renamed once again the Rassemblement leading opposition parties, the SDF, the National Union for Democracy, and Progress Cameroon on the international stage and the Union for Democracy and Change, were urging reform of the presidential Celebrated writers originating from Cameroon include Ferdinand Oyono, who was born in electoral system, and introduction of a two- Ebolowa, , in 1929 and died in 2010; and Mongo Beti, born in Akométan, tier process. The three parties boycotted the , in 1932 and died in 2001. election and advised their supporters not to The many Cameroon nationals who have excelled in international football include Samuel vote. The Commonwealth therefore declined Eto’o, African Footballer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010; Patrick Mboma, 2000; to send an observer mission. In October Thomas Nkono, 1979 and 1982; and Roger Milla, 1976 and 1990. 1997 President was re-elected for a Jazz bass player Richard Bona was born in Minta in 1967. He has played with Chaka Khan, seven-year term, defeating the six other Bobby McFerrin and Harry Belafonte. candidates in a landslide victory, receiving more than 92 per cent of the votes cast.

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resulted in reducing the CPDM’s holding to Further information 153 seats; while SDF took 16, the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP) six, Cameroon Government Gateway: www.spm.gov.cm Elections Cameroon: www.elecam.cm UDC four and Progressive Movement one. At National Institute of Statistics: www.statistics-cameroon.org the re-run in September 2007, the CPDM took Bank of Central African States: www.beac.int 13 of the 17 contested seats, the SDF two and Ministry of : www.cameroun-infotourisme.com the UNDP two. Commonwealth Secretariat: www.thecommonwealth.org In early 2008 the National Assembly Commonwealth of Nations: www.commonwealthofnations.org/ approved a constitutional amendment country/Cameroon removing presidential term limits which Media opened the way for President Biya to seek Cameroon Tribune : www.cameroon-tribune.cm re-election. Biya won the presidential La Nouvelle Expression : www.lanouvelleexpression.info election in October 2011 increasing his The Post : www.cameroonpostline.com Cameroon Radio Television: www.crtv.cm share of the vote to about 78 per cent. His main rival in a field of more than 20 candidates was John Fru Ndi (SDF) who nominated by the President. Each region is Relations with Nigeria secured about 10.7 per cent of the vote. thus represented in the by ten The International Court of Justice ruled in The election was observed by a senators, seven of whom are indirectly 2002 that the long disputed and fought-over Commonwealth expert team. elected and three appointed by the President. border areas of Nigeria should be ceded to Elections to the Senate were held for the first In the first Senate elections, held on 14 April Cameroon. These areas include the Bakassi time on 14 April 2013. 2013, the ruling CPDM won 56 of the 70 peninsula in the south which is believed to elective seats and the SDF 14. National contain very large offshore reserves of oil and Politics Assembly and local elections were held on 30 gas. In a UN-brokered agreement in June September 2013, when the CPDM won 148 2006, the two countries agreed on a phased Last elections: 9 October 2011 seats in the National Assembly, the SDF 18, the transfer of the peninsula. Nigerian troops (presidential), 14 April 2013 (Senate), 30 UNDP five, the UDC four and the UPC three. withdrew in August 2006 and Nigeria September 2013 (parliamentary and local) formally ceded the border areas to Cameroon Next elections: 2018 (presidential), 2018 International relations in August 2008. (senatorial), 2018 (parliamentary and local) Cameroon is a member of the African, Head of state: President Paul Biya Constitution Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, African Head of government: The President Union, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation Status: Republic with executive President Ruling party: Cameroon People’s internationale de la Francophonie, Legislature: National Assembly of Cameroon Democratic Movement Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, United Nations and World Trade Organization. Independence: 1 January 1960 Women MPs: 31% Under the constitution adopted in 1996 In the June 2002 general election, the third Cameroon is a unitary republic with an since the introduction of multi-party politics in Traveller information executive President – elected every seven 1990, the ruling Cameroon People’s Immigration and customs: Passports must years – who appoints the Prime Minister Democratic Movement (CPDM) gained 133 be valid for at least six months from the date and council of ministers. The President also seats, substantially extending its parliamentary of departure. Visas are required by all appoints the provincial Governors, the majority, while the Social Democratic Front Commonwealth nationals. A yellow fever judges and government delegates in main (SDF) took 21 (mainly in the English-speaking vaccination certificate is required from all towns. In April 2008, Cameroon’s North-West), the Union for Democracy and travellers aged over 12 months. Change (UDC) five and Union of the Peoples parliament approved a constitutional Travel within the country: Traffic drives on of Cameroon (UPC) three. Elections in nine amendment allowing the President to serve the right. for more than two terms. Presidential constituencies with 17 National Assembly elections must then be conducted not less seats were annulled by the Supreme Court Scheduled flights connect the main towns, and than 20 days or more than 120 days and re-run in September 2002, when 16 are daily between Douala and Yaoundé. Train following the vacancy. were won by the CPDM and one by the SDF. services are run by CAMRAIL. Coach services operate between Yaoundé and Douala. Taxis Incumbent President Paul Biya won a landslide The National Assembly has 180 members, are widely available in the main towns. directly elected every five years by universal victory in the October 2004 presidential adult suffrage, and has three sessions a year, election receiving 75 per cent of the votes. Travel health: Prevalent diseases where appropriate precautionary measures are in March, June and November. The The elections in July 2007 extended the ruling recommended include , dengue fever, constitution also provides for an upper house, CPDM’s majority in the National Assembly. On diphtheria, , hepatitis B, , the Senate, with 100 members, 70 per cent announcement of the results, 103 petitions for meningococcal meningitis, rabies, typhoid of whom are elected every five years by annulment were filed with the Supreme and yellow fever. electoral colleges comprising local Court. A re-run ordered by the Supreme Court government councillors and 30 per cent for 17 of the 180 seats in September 2007 There were 817,000 tourist arrivals in 2012.

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