Cameroon is a West African country. Located in the equatorial region of West Africa and bathed by the Gulf of Guinea, it has an area of 475,440 km2. It borders, northwest and north, with Nigeria; to the northeast, with Chad; to the east, with the Central African Republic; to the southeast, with the Republic of Congo and, to the south, with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea; to the west, it is bathed by the Gulf of Guinea. The largest cities are Douala, with 1,310,400 residents (2004), Yaoundé, the capital (1,187,100 residents) (2004), Bafoussam (260,600 residents) (2004), Garoua (409,000 residents) (2004 ) and Maroua (297 600 residents) (2004).
The climate is equatorial and humid tropical in the south and dry tropical in the north. The duration of the dry season increases from south to north, so there are marked contrasts in rainfall between South and North Cameroon. In mountainous areas, the temperature is milder.
Economy
The economy of Cameroon has undergone a significant advance with the increase in revenues from oil exploration. In this way, agriculture and forestry came to represent a smaller proportion in the total national production. Most of the population is still engaged in agriculture, with its main productions being sugar cane, cassava, bananas, corn, sweet potatoes, palm oil, peanuts, cocoa, rice, yam and heart of palm. In the extractive industry, marble, pozzolana, aluminum, limestone and tin are noteworthy. Oil, wood, coffee and cocoa are the most significant exports. The main trading partners are France, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Italy.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is 0.3.
Population
The population is 17 340 702 residents (est. 2006), which corresponds to a population density of 34.45 residents/km2. The birth and death rates are, respectively, 33.89% and 13.47% (2006). Average life expectancy is 51.16 years. The value of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.499 and the value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.488 (2001). The main ethnic groups are Fang, Bamiléké, Duala, Peul and Tikar. The most important religions are Catholic (34%), animist (26%), Muslim (22%) and Protestant (18%). The official languages are French and English, but a large part of the population speaks African dialects.
History
The Portuguese navigator Fernando Pó discovered the territory at the end of the century. XV, but Portugal never came to carry out its occupation. In the century. XVIII, Spain establishes commercial exchanges with the indigenous kingdoms. In turn, the German Empire transformed the territory into a colony, a situation that lasted from the end of the century. XIX until the First World War. During the conflict, France and England took possession of Cameroon, dividing them into two zones. In 1961, the French colony became independent and integrated part of the English Cameroon, which were already dependent on Nigeria.
Regarding the political regime, the country is a multiparty republic assisted by a legislative assembly. For Cameroon democracy and rights, please check getzipcodes.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Cameroon
Browse a collection of city, country, shaded relief and political maps of this Western Africa country, bordering the Bight of Biafra. Check out the city map of Yaounde.
