The
Republic of Cameroon ( ) is a
unitary republic of central and western
Africa.
It is bordered by Nigeria
to the west;
Chad
to the northeast; the Central African
Republic
to the east; and Equatorial Guinea
, Gabon
, and the
Republic of the
Congo
to the south. Cameroon's coastline
lies on the Bight of
Bonny
, part of the Gulf of Guinea
and the Atlantic Ocean
. The country is called "
Africa in miniature" for its geological
and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts,
mountains, rainforests, and savannas.
The highest point is
Mount
Cameroon
in the
southwest, and the largest cities are Douala
, Yaoundé
, and Garoua
.
Cameroon is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic
groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music,
particularly
makossa and
bikutsi, and for its successful
national football team.
English and French are the official languages.
Early
inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad
and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the
southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the
coast in the 15th century and named the area
Rio dos
Camarões ("River of
Prawns"), the name
from which
Cameroon derives.
Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa
Emirate
in the north in the 19th century, and various
ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful
chiefdoms and fondoms.
Cameroon
became a German
colony in 1884. After World War I, the
territory was divided between
France and
Britain as
League of Nations mandates. The
Union des Populations
du Cameroun political party advocated independence but was
outlawed in the 1950s. It waged war on French and Cameroonian
forces until 1971. In 1960, French
Cameroun
became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President
Ahmadou Ahidjo. The
southern part of British
Cameroons merged with it in 1961 to form the
Federal Republic of Cameroon. The
country was renamed the
United
Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in
1984.
Compared to other African countries, Cameroon enjoys relatively
high political and social stability. This has permitted the
development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum
and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians
live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the
hands of the president,
Paul Biya, and his
Cameroon People's
Democratic Movement party, and
corruption is widespread. The
Anglophone community has grown
increasingly alienated from the government, and Anglophone
politicians have called for greater decentralisation and even the
secession of the former
British-governed territories.
History
The territory of present day Cameroon was first settled during the
Neolithic. The longest continuous
inhabitants are groups such as the
Baka.
The Sao culture arose around Lake Chad
c. AD 500 and gave way to the
Kanem and its successor state, the
Bornu empire. Kingdoms,
fondoms, and chiefdoms arose in the
west.
Portuguese sailors reached the coast in 1472. They noted an
abundance of prawns and crayfish in the
Wouri River and named it , Portuguese for "River
of Prawns", and the phrase from which
Cameroon is derived.
Over the following few centuries, European interests regularised
trade with the coastal peoples, and Christian
missionaries pushed inland.
In the early 19th
century, Modibo Adama led Fulani soldiers on a jihad
in the north against non-Muslim and partially Muslim peoples and
established the Adamawa
Emirate
. Settled peoples who fled the Fulani caused
a major redistribution of population.
The
German
Empire
claimed the territory as the colony of Kamerun in 1884
and began a steady push inland. They initiated projects to
improve the colony's infrastructure, relying on a harsh system of
forced labour. With the defeat of
Germany in
World War I, Kamerun became a
League of Nations mandate
territory and was split into
French and
British Cameroons in
1919. The French carefully integrated the economy of Cameroun with
that of France and improved the infrastructure with capital
investments, skilled workers, and continued forced labour.
The
British administered their territory from neighbouring Nigeria
.
Natives complained that this made them a neglected "colony of a
colony". Nigerian migrant workers flocked to Southern Cameroons,
ending forced labour but angering indigenous peoples. The League of
Nations mandates were converted into
United Nations
Trusteeships in 1946, and the question of independence became a
pressing issue in French Cameroun. France outlawed the most radical
political party, the
Union des Populations du
Cameroun (UPC), on 13 July 1955. This prompted a long guerrilla
war and the assassination of the party's leader,
Ruben Um Nyobé. In British Cameroons,
the question was whether to reunify with French Cameroun or join
Nigeria.
On 1 January 1960, French Cameroun gained independence from France
under President
Ahmadou Ahidjo, and
on 1 October 1961, the formerly British
Southern Cameroons united with its
neighbour to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Ahidjo used the
ongoing war with the UPC and fears of ethnic conflict to
concentrate power in the presidency, continuing with this even
after the suppression of the UPC in 1971.
His political party,
the Cameroon National Union
(CNU), became the sole legal political party on 1 September 1966
and in 1972, the federal system of
government was abolished in favour of a United Republic of
Cameroon, headed from Yaoundé
. Ahidjo pursued an economic policy of
planned liberalism, prioritising
cash crops and petroleum exploitation. The government used oil
money to create a national cash reserve, pay farmers, and finance
major development projects; however, many initiatives failed when
Ahidjo appointed unqualified allies to direct them.
Ahidjo stepped down on 4 November 1982 and left power to his
constitutional successor,
Paul Biya.
However, Ahidjo remained in control of the CNU and tried to run the
country from behind the scenes until Biya and his allies pressured
him into resigning. Biya began his administration by moving toward
a more democratic government, but a failed
coup d'état nudged him
toward the leadership style of his predecessor. An
economic crisis took effect in
the mid-1980s to late 1990s as a result of international economic
conditions, drought, falling petroleum prices, and years of
corruption, mismanagement, and
cronyism. Cameroon turned to foreign aid,
cut government spending, and
privatised industries. With the reintroduction
of multi-party politics in December 1990,
Anglophone pressure groups called for
greater autonomy, with some advocating complete secession as the
Republic of
Ambazonia. In February 2008,
Cameroon experienced its worse violence in 15 years when a
transport union strike in Douala escalated into
violent protests
in 31 municipal areas.
Politics and government
The
President of Cameroon
has broad, unilateral powers to create policy, administer
government agencies, command the
armed forces, negotiate and ratify
treaties, and declare a state of emergency. The president appoints
government officials at all levels, from the
prime minister (considered the
official head of government), to the provincial governors,
divisional officers, and urban-council members in large cities. The
president is selected by popular vote every seven years. In smaller
municipalities, the public elects mayors and councilors. Corruption
is rife at all levels of government. In 1997, Cameroon established
anti-corruption bureaus in 29 ministries, but only 25% became
operational, and in 2007,
Transparency International placed
Cameroon at number 138 on a list of 163 countries ranked from least
to most corrupt. On 18 January 2006, Biya initiated an
anti-corruption drive under the direction of the
National Anti-Corruption
Observatory.
Cameroon's legal system is largely based on
French civil law with common law influences.
Although nominally independent, the judiciary falls under the
authority of the executive's
Ministry of Justice. The
president appoints judges at all levels. The judiciary is
officially divided into tribunals, the
court of appeal, and the
supreme court. The
National Assembly elects the members of a nine-member
High Court of Justice that
judges high-ranking members of government in the event they are
charged with high treason or harming national security.
Human rights organisations accuse police and military forces of
mistreating and even torturing criminal suspects, ethnic
minorities,
homosexuals, and
political activists. Prisons are overcrowded with little access to
adequate food and medical facilities, and prisons run by
traditional rulers in the north are charged with holding political
opponents at the behest of the government. However, since the early
2000s, an increasing number of police and gendarmes have been
prosecuted for improper conduct.
The
National Assembly
makes legislation. The body consists of 180 members who are elected
for five-year terms and meet three times per year. Laws are passed
on a majority vote. Rarely has the assembly changed or blocked
legislation proposed by the president. The 1996 constitution
establishes a second house of parliament, the 100-seat Senate, but
this body has never been put into practice. The government
recognises the authority of traditional chiefs, fons, and
lamibe to govern at the local level and to resolve
disputes as long as such rulings do not conflict with national
law.
President
Paul Biya's
Cameroon People's
Democratic Movement (CPDM) was the only legal political party
until December 1990. Numerous ethnic and regional political groups
have since formed. The primary opposition is the
Social Democratic Front (SDF), based
largely in the Anglophone region of the country and headed by
John Fru Ndi. Biya and his party have
maintained control of the presidency and the National Assembly in
national elections, but rivals contend that these have been unfair.
Human rights organisations allege that the government suppresses
the freedoms of opposition groups by preventing demonstrations,
disrupting meetings, and arresting opposition leaders and
journalists.
Freedom House ranks
Cameroon as "not free" in terms of political rights and civil
liberties. The last
parliamentary
elections were held on 22 July 2007.
Cameroon is a member of both the
Commonwealth of Nations and
La Francophonie. Its
foreign policy closely follows
that of its main ally, France. The country relies heavily on France
for its defence, although military spending is high in comparison
to other sectors of government.
Biya has clashed with the government of
Nigeria over possession of the Bakassi
peninsula and with Gabon
's president,
El Hadj Omar Bongo, over personal
rivalries. Nevertheless, civil war presents a more credible
threat to national security, as tensions between Anglophones and
Francophones remain high.
Education and health
Most children have access to free, state-run schools or subsidised,
private and religious facilities. The
educational system is a mixture of
British and French precedents with most instruction in English or
French. Cameroon has one of the highest school attendance rates in
Africa. Girls attend school less regularly than boys do because of
cultural attitudes, domestic duties, early marriage and pregnancy,
and sexual harassment. Although attendance rates are higher in the
south, a disproportionate number of teachers are stationed there,
leaving northern schools chronically understaffed.
Six state-run universities serve Cameroon's student population.
More than 60,000 students were enrolled for the 1998–1999 school
year. A council of deans, school directors, and representatives of
state ministries governs the schools under the leadership of a
vice-chancellor. State funding for universities is low, and student
registrations nominally make up 25% of the higher education budget.
However, students have fought these fees since their introduction
in 1993. Universities have resisted the urge to increase the
selectiveness of admissions in an effort to increase revenue from
student fees, and the student populations have increased well
beyond the 5,000 they were built to educate. Likewise, cuts in
faculty salaries in 1993 made it difficult to find and keep
qualified staff.
Since 1990, private institutions have sprung up in five regions.
These schools charge fees that are five to ten times those levied
by state schools. Nevertheless, they offer short
professional-training programmes in areas such as accounting,
management, journalism, and Internet technologies, so they are
popular with students. Certain schools nonetheless fall short of
government minimum standards of infrastructure and faculty and must
operate unlicensed.
The quality of
health care is generally
low. Outside the major cities, facilities are often dirty and
poorly equipped. Endemic diseases include
dengue fever,
filariasis,
leishmaniasis,
malaria,
meningitis,
schistosomiasis, and
sleeping sickness. The
HIV/
AIDS seroprevalence rate is
estimated at 5.4% for those aged 15–49, although a strong stigma
against the illness keeps the number of reported cases artificially
low.
Traditional healers remain
a popular alternative to Western medicine.
Regions and divisions

Cameroon is divided into 10
regions.
The
constitution divides
Cameroon into 10 semi-autonomous regions, each under the
administration of an elected
Regional Council. A presidential
decree of 12 November 2008 officially instigated the change from
provinces to regions. Each region is headed by a presidentially
appointed governor. These leaders are charged with implementing the
will of the president, reporting on the general mood and conditions
of the regions, administering the civil service, keeping the peace,
and overseeing the heads of the smaller administrative units.
Governors have broad powers: they may order propaganda in their
area and call in the army,
gendarmes,
and police. The regions are subdivided into 58 divisions (French ).
These are headed by presidentially appointed divisional officers (
), who perform the governors' duties on a smaller scale. The
divisions are further sub-divided into sub-divisions ( ), headed by
assistant divisional officers ( ). The districts, administered by
district heads ( ), are the smallest administrative units. These
are found in large sub-divisions and in regions that are difficult
to reach.
The three
northernmost regions are the Far North
( ), North
( ), and Adamawa (
). Directly south of them are the Centre
( ) and East
( ). The South Province
( ) lies on the Gulf of Guinea and the southern
border. Cameroon's western region is split into four
smaller regions: The Littoral
( ) and Southwest ( ) regions are on the
coast, and the Northwest
( ) and West
( ) regions are in the western grassfields.
The Northwest and Southwest were once part of British Cameroons;
the other regions were in French Cameroun.
Geography and climate
At , Cameroon is the world's 53rd-largest country.
It is comparable in
size to Papua New
Guinea
and somewhat larger than the U.S. state of California
. The country is located in Central and West
Africa on the Bight of
Bonny
, part of the Gulf of Guinea
and the Atlantic Ocean
. Tourist literature describes Cameroon as
"Africa in miniature" because it exhibits all major climates and
vegetation of the continent: coast, desert, mountains, rainforest,
and savanna.
The country's neighbours are Nigeria to the
west; Chad
to the
northeast; the Central African Republic
to the east; and Equatorial Guinea
, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo
to the south.
Cameroon is divided into five major geographic zones distinguished
by dominant physical, climatic, and vegetative features. The
coastal plain extends (10 to 90 mi) inland from the Gulf of
Guinea and has an average elevation of . Exceedingly hot and humid
with a short
dry season, this belt is
densely forested and includes some of the wettest places on earth,
part of the
Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal
forests. The
South Cameroon
Plateau rises from the coastal plain to an average elevation of
. Equatorial rainforest dominates this region, although its
alternation between
wet and dry seasons
makes it is less humid than the coast. This area is part of the
Atlantic Equatorial
coastal forests ecoregion.
An
irregular chain of mountains, hills, and plateaus known as the
Cameroon range extends from Mount
Cameroon
on the
coast—Cameroon's highest point at —almost to Lake Chad
at Cameroon's northern tip. This region has
a mild climate, particularly on the
Western High Plateau, although rainfall
is high. Its soils are among Cameroon's most fertile, especially
around volcanic Mount Cameroon. Volcanism here has created
crater lakes.
On 21 August 1986, one of these, Lake Nyos
, belched carbon dioxide and killed between 1,700
and 2,000 people. This area has been delineated by the
World Wildlife Fund as the
Cameroonian Highlands
forests ecoregion.
The
southern plateau rises northward to the grassy, rugged Adamawa
Plateau
. This feature stretches from the western
mountain area and forms a barrier between the country's north and
south. Its average elevation is , and its temperature ranges from
to with high rainfall. The
northern lowland region extends from
the edge of the Adamawa to Lake Chad with an average elevation of .
Its characteristic vegetation is savanna scrub and grass. This is
an arid region with sparse rainfall and high median
temperatures.
Cameroon has four patterns of drainage.
In the south, the
principal rivers are the Ntem, Nyong, Sanaga
, and
Wouri. These flow southwestward or westward directly into
the Gulf of Guinea.
The Dja and
Kadéï
drain southeastward into the Congo River
. In northern Cameroon, the Bénoué River
runs north and west and empties into the Niger. The
Logone flows northward into Lake Chad, which
Cameroon shares with three neighbouring countries.
Industrial zones/regions
- Douala industrial region
- Bonaberi Industrial Zone
- Dibombari industrial zone
- Bassa industrial zone
- Edea industrial region
- Tiko-Limbe Industrial region
- Yaounde industrial region
- Garoua – Figuil region
- Befoussam – Bamenda industrial region
Economy and infrastructure
Cameroon's per-capita GDP (
PPP) was estimated as
US $2,300 in 2008, one of the ten
highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Major export markets include France,
Italy, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Cameroon is part
of the
Bank of Central
African States (of which it is the dominant economy), the
Customs and
Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC) and the
Organization
for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (
OHADA). Its currency is the
CFA
franc. Red tape, high taxes, and endemic corruption have
impeded growth of the private sector.Unemployment was estimated at
30% in 2001, and about a third of the population was living below
the international
poverty
threshold of US$1.25 a day in 2009.
Since the late 1980s,
Cameroon has been following programmes advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to reduce poverty, privatise industries, and
increase economic growth. Tourism is a growing sector,
particularly in the coastal area, around Mount Cameroon, and in the
north.
Cameroon's natural resources are very well suited to agriculture
and arboriculture. An estimated 70% of the population farms, and
agriculture comprised an estimated 45.2% of GDP in 2006. Most
agriculture is done at the subsistence scale by local farmers using
simple tools. They sell their surplus produce, and some maintain
separate fields for commercial use. Urban centres are particularly
reliant on peasant agriculture for their foodstuffs. Soils and
climate on the coast encourage extensive commercial cultivation of
bananas, cocoa, oil palms, rubber, and tea. Inland on the South
Cameroon Plateau, cash crops include coffee, sugar, and tobacco.
Coffee is a major cash crop in the western highlands, and in the
north, natural conditions favour crops such as cotton, groundnuts,
and rice. Reliance on agricultural exports makes Cameroon
vulnerable to shifts in their prices.

Livestock are raised throughout the country. Fishing employs some
5,000 people and provides 20,000 tons of seafood each year.
Bushmeat, long a staple food for rural
Cameroonians, is today a delicacy in the country's urban centres.
The commercial bushmeat trade has now surpassed deforestation as
the main threat to wildlife in Cameroon.
The southern rainforest has vast timber reserves, estimated to
cover 37% of Cameroon's total land area. However, large areas of
the forest are difficult to reach. Logging, largely handled by
foreign-owned firms, provides the government US$60 million a year,
and laws mandate the safe and sustainable exploitation of timber.
Nevertheless, in practice, the industry is one of the least
regulated in Cameroon.
Factory-based industry accounted for an estimated 16.1% of GDP in
2006.
More than 75% of Cameroon's industrial
strength is located in Douala
and Bonabéri
. Cameroon possesses substantial mineral
resources, but these are not extensively
mined. Petroleum exploitation has fallen
since 1985, but this is still a substantial sector such that dips
in prices have a strong effect on the economy. Rapids and
waterfalls obstruct the southern rivers, but these sites offer
opportunities for hydroelectric development and supply most of
Cameroon's energy. The Sanaga River powers the largest
hydroelectric station, located at Edéa. The rest of Cameroon's
energy comes from oil-powered thermal engines. Much of the country
remains without reliable power supplies.
Transport in Cameroon is often
difficult. Except for the several relatively good
toll roads which connect major cities (all of them
one-lane) roads are poorly maintained and subject to inclement
weather, since only 10% of the roadways are tarred. Roadblocks
often serve little other purpose than to allow police and gendarmes
to collect bribes from travellers.
Road banditry has long hampered transport
along the eastern and western borders, and since 2005, the problem
has intensified in the east as the Central
African Republic
has further destabilised. Intercity bus
services run by multiple private companies connect all major
cities. Although intercity buses rarely depart on schedule but
rather wait until all the tickets are sold. They are the most
popular mean of transportation followed by the government-owned
rail service.
Rail service runs from Kumba
in the west
to Bélabo
in the east
and north to Ngaoundéré. International airports are located in
Douala
and Garoua
with a
smaller facility at Yaoundé
. The airport at Bamenda
is now closed. The Wouri River estuary
provides a harbour for Douala, the country's principal seaport. In
the north, the Bénoué River is seasonally navigable from Garoua
across into Nigeria.
Although press freedoms have improved since the early 2000s, the
press is corrupt and beholden to special interests and political
groups. Newspapers routinely self-censor to avoid government
reprisals. The major radio and television stations are state-run
and other
communications,
such as land-based telephones and telegraphs, are largely under
government control. However, cell phone networks and Internet
providers have increased dramatically since the early 2000s and are
largely unregulated.
Demographics
2009 UN estimates place Cameroon's population at 19,522,000. The
population is young: an estimated 40.9% are under 15, and 96.7% are
under 65. The birth rate is estimated at 34.1 births per 1,000
people, the death rate at 12.2. The life expectancy is
53.69 years (52.89 years for males and 54.52 years
for females).
Cameroon's population is almost evenly divided between urban and
rural dwellers. Population density is highest in the large urban
centres, the western highlands, and the northeastern plain.
Douala
, Yaoundé
, and Garoua
are the
largest cities. In contrast, the Adamawa Plateau,
southeastern Bénoué depression, and most of the South Cameroon
Plateau are sparsely populated. People from the overpopulated
western highlands and the underdeveloped north are moving to the
coastal plantation zone and urban centres for employment. Smaller
movements are occurring as workers seek employment in lumber mills
and plantations in the south and east. Although the national sex
ratio is relatively even, these out-migrants are primarily males,
which leads to unbalanced ratios in some regions.
Both
monogamous and
polygamous marriage are practiced, and the average
Cameroonian family is large and extended. In the north, women tend
to the home, and men herd cattle or work as farmers. In the south,
women grow the family's food, and men provide meat and grow cash
crops. Cameroonian society is male-dominated, and violence and
discrimination against women is common.
Estimates identify anywhere from 230 to 282 different ethnic and
linguistic groups in Cameroon. The Adamawa Plateau broadly bisects
these into northern and southern divisions. The northern peoples
are Sudanese ethnic groups, who live in the central highlands and
the northern lowlands, and the Fulani, who are spread throughout
northern Cameroon. A small number of
Shuwa
Arabs live near Lake Chad. Southern Cameroon is inhabited by
speakers of
Bantu and
Semi-Bantu languages. Bantu-speaking groups
inhabit the coastal and equatorial zones, while speakers of
Semi-Bantu languages live in the Western grassfields. Some 5,000
Pygmies roam the southeastern and coastal rainforests or live in
small, roadside settlements. Nigerians, especially
Igbo, make up the largest group of foreign
nationals. In 2007, Cameroon hosted a total population of refugees
and asylum seekers of approximately 97,400.
Of these, 49,300 were
from the Central
African Republic
(many driven west by war), 41,600 from Chad
, and 2,900
from Nigeria
.
Kidnappings of Cameroonian citizens by Central African bandits have
increased since 2005.
The European languages introduced during colonialism have created a
linguistic divide between the English-speaking fifth of the
population who live in the Northwest and Southwest regions and the
French-speaking remainder of the country. Both English and French
are official languages.
Cameroonian Pidgin English is the
most common lingua franca, especially in the formerly
British-administered territories. A mixture of English, French, and
Pidgin called
Camfranglais has been
gaining popularity in urban centres since the mid-1970s.
Religion
Cameroon has a high level of
religious freedom and diversity.
Christians are concentrated chiefly in
the southern and western regions, and
Muslims
reside in large numbers in every region but are concentrated in the
north. There is significant internal migration. There are currently
no active Islamic political parties. Large cities have significant
populations of both groups, with mosques and churches often located
near each other.
The two Anglophone regions of the west are largely Protestant, and
the francophone regions of the southern and western regions are
largely Catholic. Southern ethnic groups predominantly follow
Christian or animist beliefs, or a
syncretic combination of the two. People
widely believe in witchcraft, and the government outlaws such
practices. Suspected witches are often subject to mob
violence.
In the northern regions, the locally dominant Fulani (or Peuhl)
ethnic group is mostly Muslim, although some ethnic groups retain
native
animist beliefs and are called
Kirdi ("pagan") by the Fulani.
The
U.S.
Department of State
claims that some Muslims discriminate against
Christians and followers of traditional beliefs in the
north. The
Bamum ethnic group of the
West Region is largely Muslim. Traditional indigenous religious
beliefs are practiced in rural areas throughout the country but
rarely are practiced publicly in cities, in part because many
indigenous religious groups are intrinsically local in
character.
Culture
Each of Cameroon's ethnic groups has its own unique cultural forms.
Typical celebrations include births, deaths, plantings, harvests,
and religious rituals. Seven
national holidays are observed
throughout the year, and movable holidays include the Christian
holy days of
Good Friday,
Easter Sunday,
Easter
Monday, and
Ascension;
and the Muslim holy days of
'Id al-Fitr,
'Id al-Adha, and
Eid
Miladun Nabi.
Music and
dance are an integral part of Cameroonian
ceremonies, festivals, social gatherings, and storytelling.
Traditional dances are highly choreographed and separate men and
women or forbid participation by one sex altogether. The goals of
dances range from pure entertainment to religious devotion.
Traditionally, music is transmitted orally. In a typical
performance, a chorus of singers echoes a soloist. Musical
accompaniment may be as simple as clapping hands and stomping feet,
but traditional instruments include bells worn by dancers,
clappers, drums and
talking drums,
flutes, horns, rattles, scrapers, stringed instruments, whistles,
and xylophones; the exact combination varies with ethnic group and
region. Some performers sing complete songs by themselves,
accompanied by a harplike instrument.
Popular music styles include
ambasse bey
of the coast,
assiko of the Bassa,
mangambeu of the
Bangangte, and
tsamassi of
the Bamileke.
Nigerian music has
influenced Anglophone Cameroonian performers, and
Prince Nico Mbarga's
highlife hit "
Sweet
Mother" is the top-selling African record in history. The two
most popular styles are
makossa and
bikutsi. Makossa developed in Douala and mixes folk
music,
highlife,
soul, and
Congo music.
Performers such as
Manu Dibango,
Francis Bebey,
Moni Bilé, and
Petit-Pays popularised the style worldwide in the
1970s and 1980s. Bikutsi originated as war music among the Ewondo.
Artists such as
Anne-Marie Nzié
developed it into a popular dance music beginning in the 1940s, and
performers such as
Mama Ohandja and
Les Têtes Brulées
popularised it internationally during the 1960s, 1970s, and
1980s.
Cuisine varies by region, but a
large, one-course, evening meal is common throughout the country. A
typical dish is based on cocoyams, maize, manioc, millet,
plantains, potatoes, rice, or yams, often pounded into dough-like
fufu (
cous-cous). This is served with
a sauce, soup, or stew made from greens, groundnuts, palm oil, or
other ingredients. Meat and fish are popular but expensive
additions. Dishes are often quite hot, spiced with salt, red
pepper, and
Maggi. Water,
palm wine, and
millet
beer are the traditional mealtime drinks, although beer, soda,
and wine have gained popularity. Silverware is common, but food is
traditionally manipulated with the right hand. Breakfast consists
of leftovers of bread and fruit with coffee or tea. Snacks are
popular, especially in larger towns where they maybe bought from
street vendors.
Traditional arts and crafts are practiced throughout the country
for commercial, decorative, and religious purposes. Woodcarvings
and sculptures are especially common. The high-quality clay of the
western highlands is suitable for pottery and ceramics. Other
crafts include basket weaving, beadworking, brass and bronze
working, calabash carving and painting, embroidery, and leather
working. Traditional housing styles make use of locally available
materials and vary from temporary wood-and-leaf shelters of nomadic
Mbororo to the rectangular mud-and-thatch
homes of southern peoples. Dwellings made from materials such as
cement and tin are increasingly common.
Cameroonian literature and
film have concentrated on both
European and African themes. Colonial-era writers such as
Louis-Marie Pouka and
Sankie Maimo were educated by European
missionary societies and advocated
assimilation into European culture as
the means to bring Cameroon into the modern world. After World War
II, writers such as
Mongo Beti and
Ferdinand Oyono analysed and
criticised colonialism and rejected assimilation. Shortly after
independence, filmmakers such as
Jean-Paul Ngassa and
Thérèse Sita-Bella explored
similar themes. In the 1960s, Mongo Beti and other writers explored
post-colonialism, problems of African development, and the recovery
of African identity. Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s, filmmakers such
as
Jean-Pierre Dikongué
Pipa and
Daniel Kamwa dealt with
the conflicts between traditional and post-colonial society.
Literature and films during the next two decades concentrated more
on wholly Cameroonian themes.
National policy strongly advocates sport in all forms. Traditional
sports include canoe racing and wrestling, and several hundred
runners participate in the
Mount Cameroon Race of Hope each
year. Cameroon is one of the few tropical countries to have
competed in the
Winter Olympics. However,
sport in Cameroon is dominated by
association football (soccer).
Amateur football clubs abound, organised along ethnic lines or
under corporate sponsors. The
Cameroon national football
team has been one of the most successful in the world since its
strong showing in the
1990 FIFA
World Cup. Cameroon has won four
African Cup of Nations titles and the
gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.
Industrial Zones/Regions
Notes
- DeLancey and DeLancey 2.
- Fanso 84.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 125.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 5.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 4.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 6.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 19.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 7.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 8.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 9.
- Nkemngu.
- Matthews.
- "Background Notes: Cameroon; Neba 250.
- IRIN, "New anti-corruption drive".
- "Corruption Perceptions Index".
- "Background Note: Cameroon".
- "Cameroon", Amnesty International; "Cameroon (2006)", Freedom
House; "Cameroon", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, U.S.
Department of State; "Elections to the Human Rights Council",
Amnesty International.
- "Elections to the Human Rights Council".
- "Cameroon (2006)", Freedom House.
- "Background Note: Cameroon"; Neba 252.
- West 11.
- "Cameroon", Amnesty International.
- Cameroon is ranked a six in both categories on a scale of one
to seven, with one being "most free" and seven being "least free".
"Cameroon (2006)", Freedom House.
- Kandemeh.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 126; Ngoh 328.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 30.
- MacDonald 69.
- Mbaku 15.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 105–6.
- Mbaku 16.
- Njeuma.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 21.
- West 64.
- West 58–60.
- "Cameroon", UNAIDS.
- Lantum and andre Monono 14.
- Décret N° 2008/376 du 12 novembre 2008,
President of the Republic website. Accessed 9 June 2009.
- Neba 250.
- Demographic Yearbook 1.
- "Rank Order - Area".
- DeLancey and DeLancey 16.
- Fomesky et al. 6.
- Neba 14.
- Neba 28.
- "Highest Average Annual Precipitation Extremes".
- Neba 16.
- Neba 17.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 161 report 1,700 killed; Hudgens and
Trillo 1054 say "at least 2,000"; West 10 says "more than
2,000".
- Gwanfogbe et al. 20; Neba 29.
- "CIA Factbook 2009".
- Musa, "Biya plan to keep power in Cameroon clears hurdle".
- " The
business law portal in Africa", OHADA.com. Accessed 22 March
2009.
- Human Development Indices, Table 3:
Human and income poverty, p. 35. Retrieved on 1 June 2009.
- Hudgens and Trillo 1036.
- Musa, "Gunmen kill one, kidnap 22 in Cameroon near CAR".
- "Cameroon - Annual Report 2007".
- "Cameroon", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
- Mbaku 20.
- Mbaku 20–1.
- CIA World Factbook: Cameroon
- West 3.
- Neba 109–11.
- Neba 111.
- Neba 105–6.
- Neba 106.
- Neba 103–4.
- Mbaku 139.
- Mbaku 141.
- Neba 65, 67.
- West 13.
- Neba 48.
- Neba 108.
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 28.
- Neba 94.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 131; Niba.
- CIA the World Factbook
-
http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e406?_hi=7&_pos=2
- U.S.Department of State
- Geschiere 169–70.
- Mbaku 189; West 18.
- Mbaku 204.
- West 18.
- Mbaku 189.
- Mbaku 191.
- West 18–9.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 184.
- Mbaku 200.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 51; Nkolo & Ewens 443.
- West 84–5.
- Mbaku 121–2.
- Hudgens and Trillo 1047; Mbaku 122; West 84.
- Mbaku 121; Hudgens and Trillo 1049.
- West 17.
- Mbaku 110–3.
- Mbaku 80–1
- Fitzpatrick 38; Mbaku 77, 83–4; Volet.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 119–20; West 20.
- Mbaku 85–6.
- DeLancey and DeLancey 120.
- West 127.
- West 92–3, 127.
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External links
- Government
- General information