 Everything
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The Republic of Cameroon (French: République du
Cameroun) 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
Main article: History of Cameroon
Joseph Merrick (shown here attending an Isubu
funeral in 1845) was a Jamaican Baptist missionary
who established a church among the Isubu of the
coast.
The territory of present day Cameroon was first
settled during the Neolithic. The longest continuous
inhabitants are groups such as the Baka.[3] 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 Rio dos Camarões,
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.[4]
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.[5] With the defeat of Germany in
World War I, Kamerun became a League of Nations
mandate territory and was split into French Cameroun
and British Cameroons in 1919. The French carefully
integrated the economy of Cameroun with that of
France[6] and improved the infrastructure with
capital investments, skilled workers, and continued
forced labour.[5]
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.[7] 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.[6] 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.[8] In British
Cameroons, the question was whether to reunify with
French Cameroun or join Nigeria.
Ahmadou Ahidjo arrives at Washington, D.C., in July
1982.
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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12] In February 2008,
Cameroon experienced its worst violence in 15 years
when a transport union strike in Douala escalated
into violent protests in 31 municipal areas.[13][14]
Politics and government
Main article: Politics of Cameroon
President Paul Biya of Cameroon and Ambassador R.
Niels Marquardt of the United States, 16 February
2006.
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.[15] 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,[16] and in 2007, Transparency
International placed Cameroon at number 138 on a
list of 163 countries ranked from least to most
corrupt.[17] On 18 January 2006, Biya initiated an
anti-corruption drive under the direction of the
National Anti-Corruption Observatory.[16]
A statue of a chief in Bana, West Region, shows the
prestige afforded such rulers. The Cameroonian
government recognizes the power of traditional
authorities provided their rulings do not contradict
national law.
Cameroon's legal system is largely based on French
civil law with common law influences.[1] Although
nominally independent, the judiciary falls under the
authority of the executive's Ministry of
Justice.[18] 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.[19] Prisons are overcrowded
with little access to adequate food and medical
facilities,[20][21] and prisons run by traditional
rulers in the north are charged with holding
political opponents at the behest of the
government.[22] However, since the early 2000s, an
increasing number of police and gendarmes have been
prosecuted for improper conduct.[21]
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.[18] The 1996 constitution establishes
a second house of parliament, the 100-seat Senate,
but this body has never been put into practice.[1]
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.[23]
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.[24] 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.[12]
Human rights organisations allege that the
government suppresses the freedoms of opposition
groups by preventing demonstrations, disrupting
meetings, and arresting opposition leaders and
journalists.[22][25] Freedom House ranks Cameroon as
"not free" in terms of political rights and civil
liberties.[26] The last parliamentary elections were
held on 22 July 2007.[27]
Cameroon is a member of both the Commonwealth of
Nations and La Francophonie. Its foreign policy
closely follows that of its main ally, France.[28]
The country relies heavily on France for its defence,[18]
although military spending is high in comparison to
other sectors of government.[29] 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.[24]
Nevertheless, civil war presents a more credible
threat to national security, as tensions between
Anglophones and Francophones remain high.[30]
Education and health
A traditional doctor advertises his services in
Tatum, Northwest Region. Such healers are popular
alternatives to conventionally trained doctors.
Most children have access to free, state-run schools
or subsidised, private and religious facilities.[31]
The educational system is a mixture of British and
French precedents[32] with most instruction in
English or French.[33] Cameroon has one of the
highest school attendance rates in Africa.[31] 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,[31] a
disproportionate number of teachers are stationed
there, leaving northern schools chronically
understaffed.[21]
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.[34]
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.[34]
The quality of health care is generally low.[35]
Outside the major cities, facilities are often dirty
and poorly equipped.[36] Endemic diseases include
dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria,
meningitis, schistosomiasis, and sleeping
sickness.[37] The HIV/AIDS seroprevalence rate is
estimated at 5.4% for those aged 15–49,[38] although
a strong stigma against the illness keeps the number
of reported cases artificially low.[35] Traditional
healers remain a popular alternative to Western
medicine.[39]
Territorial Administration
The Ministry of Territorial Administration is one of
Cameroon's 35 Ministries[40]. Preparation,
implementation and assessment of Government policy
on territorial administration, decentralization and
civil protection is within the framework of the
duties assigned to the MINATD[41]. It is the duty of
the MINATD to organize the territorial
administrative units and external services, to
organize national and local elections and
referendums in accordance with the constitutional
laws. By assuring the preparation and implementation
of the laws and regulations and the maintenance of
public order, the MINATD acts as a guarantor public
liberties including associations and political
organizations; religious organizations; non-profit
movements, organizations and associations.
Performing as a guarantor of the state powers, the
MINATD oversees the activities of regional and local
authorities. The MINATD is also in charge of
preventing and managing the risks related to natural
disasters.
Regions and divisions
Main articles: Regions of Cameroon and Divisions of
Cameroon
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.[42]
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.[43] All local
government officials are employees of the central
government’s Ministry of Territorial Administration,
from which local governments also get most of their
budgets.[44]
The regions are subdivided into 58 divisions (French
départements). These are headed by presidentially
appointed divisional officers (préfets), who perform
the governors' duties on a smaller scale. The
divisions are further sub-divided into sub-divisions
(arrondissements), headed by assistant divisional
officers (sous-prefets). The districts, administered
by district heads (chefs de district), 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 (Extrême
Nord), North (Nord), and Adamawa (Adamaoua).
Directly south of them are the Centre (Centre) and
East (Est). The South Province (Sud) lies on the
Gulf of Guinea and the southern border. Cameroon's
western region is split into four smaller regions:
The Littoral (Littoral) and Southwest (Sud-Ouest)
regions are on the coast, and the Northwest (Nord-Ouest)
and West (Ouest) 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
Main article: Geography of Cameroon
Volcanic plugs dot the landscape near Rhumsiki, Far
North Region.
At 475,442 square kilometres (183,569 sq mi),
Cameroon is the world's 53rd-largest country.[45] It
is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea and
somewhat larger than the U.S. state of
California.[1][46] 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.[47] 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 15 to
150 kilometres (9 to 93 mi) (10 to 90 mi) inland
from the Gulf of Guinea[48] and has an average
elevation of 90 metres (295 ft).[49] 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.[50][51]
The South Cameroon Plateau rises from the coastal
plain to an average elevation of 650 metres (2,133
ft).[52] 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.
Countryside near Ngaoundal in Cameroon's Adamawa
Region.
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
4,095 metres (13,435 ft)[53]—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.[53] 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.[54] 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 1,100 metres (3,609 ft),[52] and its
temperature ranges from 22 °C (71.6 °F) to 25 °C (77
°F) with high rainfall.[55] The northern lowland
region extends from the edge of the Adamawa to Lake
Chad with an average elevation of 300 to 350 metres
(984 to 1,148 ft).[53] 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
o Bonaberi Industrial Zone
o Dibombari industrial zone
o Bassa industrial zone
* Edea industrial region
* Tiko-Limbe Industrial region
* Yaounde industrial region
* Garoua – Figuil region
* Befoussam – Bamenda industrial region
Economy and infrastructure
Fishing is a major industry in Cameroon.
Fifteenth-century Portuguese explorers found prawns
in such abundance that they named the area Rio dos
Camarões ("River of Prawns"), the name from which
Cameroon derives. This prawn was caught at Limbe in
2007.
Main article: Economy of Cameroon
Cameroon's per-capita GDP (PPP) was estimated as US
$2,300 in 2008,[56] one of the ten highest in
sub-Saharan Africa.[57] Major export markets include
France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and the United
Kingdom.[1] Cameroon is part of the Bank of Central
African States (of which it is the dominant
economy),[57] the Customs and Economic Union of
Central Africa (UDEAC) and the Organization for the
Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[58]
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.[59] 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.[18] 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.[1] 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.[1]
A Fulani herder drives his cattle in northern
Cameroon.
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.
A bush taxi attempts to pass a stalled logging
vehicle on the road between Abong-Mbang and Lomié,
East Region.
Factory-based industry accounted for an estimated
16.1% of GDP in 2006.[1] 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.[18]
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.[1] Roadblocks
often serve little other purpose than to allow
police and gendarmes to collect bribes from
travellers.[60] 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.[61]
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.[62]
Newspapers routinely self-censor to avoid government
reprisals.[21] The major radio and television
stations are state-run and other communications,
such as land-based telephones and telegraphs, are
largely under government control.[63] However, cell
phone networks and Internet providers have increased
dramatically since the early 2000s[64] and are
largely unregulated.[22]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Cameroon
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.[1] The life
expectancy is 53.69 years (52.89 years for males and
54.52 years for females).[1]
Cameroon's population is almost evenly divided
between urban and rural dwellers.[65] Population
density is highest in the large urban centres, the
western highlands, and the northeastern plain.[66]
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.[67]
People from the overpopulated western highlands and
the underdeveloped north are moving to the coastal
plantation zone and urban centres for
employment.[68] Smaller movements are occurring as
workers seek employment in lumber mills and
plantations in the south and east.[69] Although the
national sex ratio is relatively even, these
out-migrants are primarily males, which leads to
unbalanced ratios in some regions.[70]
Both monogamous and polygamous marriage are
practiced, and the average Cameroonian family is
large and extended.[71] 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.[21][22][72]
The homes of the Musgum, in the Far North Region,
are made of earth and grass.
Estimates identify anywhere from 230 to 282
different ethnic and linguistic groups in
Cameroon.[73][74] 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.[75] Nigerians, especially Igbo, make up
the largest group of foreign nationals.[76]
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),[77] 41,600 from
Chad, and 2,900 from Nigeria.[78] Kidnappings of
Cameroonian citizens by Central African bandits have
increased since 2005.[61]
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.[79] Both
English and French are official languages.
Cameroonian Pidgin English is the most common lingua
franca, especially in the formerly
British-administered territories.[80] A mixture of
English, French, and Pidgin called Camfranglais has
been gaining popularity in urban centres since the
mid-1970s.[81]
Religion
Cameroon has a high level of religious freedom and
diversity.[21] 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. [82] Large cities have
significant populations of both groups, with mosques
and churches often located near each other.[83]
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.[84] Suspected witches are often subject
to mob violence.[21]
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.[21] 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.[83]
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.[85] Traditional dances are highly
choreographed and separate men and women or forbid
participation by one sex altogether.[86] The goals
of dances range from pure entertainment to religious
devotion.[87] Traditionally, music is transmitted
orally. In a typical performance, a chorus of
singers echoes a soloist.[88]
Musical accompaniment may be as simple as clapping
hands and stomping feet,[89] 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.[88][90]
Popular music styles include ambasse bey of the
coast, assiko of the Bassa, mangambeu of the
Bangangte, and tsamassi of the Bamileke.[91]
Nigerian music has influenced Anglophone Cameroonian
performers, and Prince Nico Mbarga's highlife hit
"Sweet Mother" is the top-selling African record in
history.[92] 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.[93]
Cuisine varies by region, but a large, one-course,
evening meal is common throughout the country. A
typical dish is based on cocoyams, maize, cassava
(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.[94] Meat and fish are popular but
expensive additions.[95] Dishes are often quite hot,
spiced with salt, red pepper, and Maggi.[96] 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, generally breakfast is made from
wheat flour various different foods such as
puff-puff (doughnuts), accra banana made from
bananas and flour,bean cakes and many more. Snacks
are popular, especially in larger towns where they
maybe bought from street vendors.[97]
A woman weaves a basket near Lake Ossa, Littoral
Region. Cameroonians practice such handicrafts
throughout the country.
Traditional arts and crafts are practiced throughout
the country for commercial, decorative, and
religious purposes. Woodcarvings and sculptures are
especially common.[98] The high-quality clay of the
western highlands is suitable for pottery and
ceramics.[87] 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.[99]
Cameroon faces Germany at Zentralstadion in Leipzig,
27 April 2003.
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.[100]
After World War II, writers such as Mongo Beti and
Ferdinand Oyono analysed and criticised colonialism
and rejected assimilation.[101]
Shortly after independence, filmmakers such as
Jean-Paul Ngassa and Thérèse Sita-Bella explored
similar themes.[102] In the 1960s, Mongo Beti and
other writers explored post-colonialism, problems of
African development, and the recovery of African
identity.[103] 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.[104]
National policy strongly advocates sport in all
forms. Traditional sports include canoe racing and
wrestling, and several hundred runners participate
in the 40 km (25 mi) Mount Cameroon Race of Hope
each year.[105] 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.[106]
Industrial Zones/Regions
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