"text":"Powerful chiefdoms ruled much of the area of present-day Cameroon before it became a German colony known as Kamerun in 1884. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the UK as League of Nations mandates. French Cameroon became independent in 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon. The following year, the southern portion of neighboring British Cameroon voted to merge with the new country to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1972, a new constitution replaced the federation with a unitary state, the United Republic of Cameroon. The country has generally enjoyed stability, which has enabled the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Nonetheless, unrest and violence in the country's two western, English-speaking regions have persisted since 2016. Movement toward democratic reform is slow, and political power remains firmly in the hands of President Paul BIYA."
"text":"population concentrated in the west and north, with the interior of the country sparsely populated as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"<p>volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> Mt. Cameroon (4,095 m), which last erupted in 2000, is the most frequently active volcano in West Africa; lakes in Oku volcanic field have released fatal levels of gas on occasion, killing some 1,700 people in 1986</p>"
"text":"sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa because of its central location on the continent and its position at the west-south juncture of the Gulf of Guinea; throughout the country there are areas of thermal springs and indications of current or prior volcanic activity; Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Sub-Saharan west Africa, is an active volcano"
"text":"<br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. (English)<br><br>The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French)"
"text":"<p>Cameroon has a large youth population, with more than 60% of the populace under the age of 25 as of 2020. Fertility is falling but remains at a high level, especially among poor, rural, and uneducated women, in part because of inadequate access to contraception. Life expectancy remains low at about 55 years due to the prevalence of HIV and AIDs and an elevated maternal mortality rate, which has remained high since 1990. Cameroon, particularly the northern region, is vulnerable to food insecurity largely because of government mismanagement, corruption, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, and natural disasters. Despite economic growth in some regions, poverty is on the rise, and is most prevalent in rural areas, which are especially affected by a shortage of jobs, declining incomes, poor school and health care infrastructure, and a lack of clean water and sanitation. Underinvestment in social safety nets and ineffective public financial management also contribute to Cameroon’s high rate of poverty. The activities of Boko Haram, other armed groups, and counterinsurgency operations have worsened food insecurity in the Far North region.</p> <p>International migration has been driven by unemployment (including fewer government jobs), poverty, the search for educational opportunities, and corruption. The US and Europe are preferred destinations, but, with tighter immigration restrictions in these countries, young Cameroonians are increasingly turning to neighboring states, such as Gabon and Nigeria, South Africa, other parts of Africa, and the Near and Far East. Cameroon’s limited resources make it dependent on UN support to host more than 480,000 refugees and asylum seekers as of December 2022. These refugees and asylum seekers are primarily from the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Internal and external displacement have grown dramatically in recent years. Boko Haram's attacks and counterattacks by government forces in the Far North since 2014 have increased the number of internally displaced people. Armed conflict between separatists and Cameroon's military in the Northwest and Southwest since 2016 have displaced hundreds of thousands of the country's Anglophone minority.</p>"
"text":"population concentrated in the west and north, with the interior of the country sparsely populated as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"waterborne diseases are prevalent; deforestation and overgrazing result in erosion, desertification, and reduced quality of pastureland; poaching; overfishing; overhunting"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"Nuclear Test Ban"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north"
"text":"<em>due to civil insecurity and high food prices - </em>according to a March 2023 analysis, about 3 million people were estimated to be acutely food insecure between March and August 2023, as a result of conflict, sociopolitical unrest and high food prices, as well as floods that caused population displacements and damaged standing crops (2023)"
"text":"Kamerun, French Cameroon, British Cameroon, Federal Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Cameroon"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"in the 15th century, Portuguese explorers named the area near the mouth of the Wouri River the Rio dos Camaroes (River of Prawns) after the abundant shrimp in the water; over time the designation became Cameroon in English; this is the only instance where a country is named after a crustacean"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"presidential republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Yaounde"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"3 52 N, 11 31 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
"text":"10 regions (regions, singular - region); Adamaoua, Centre, East (Est), Far North (Extreme-Nord), Littoral, North (Nord), North-West (Nord-Ouest), West (Ouest), South (Sud), South-West (Sud-Ouest)"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"1 January 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"State Unification Day (National Day), 20 May (1972)"
"text":"proposed by the president of the republic or by Parliament; amendment drafts require approval of at least one third of the membership in either house of Parliament; passage requires absolute majority vote of the Parliament membership; passage of drafts requested by the president for a second reading in Parliament requires two-thirds majority vote of its membership; the president can opt to submit drafts to a referendum, in which case passage requires a simple majority; constitutional articles on Cameroon’s unity and territorial integrity and its democratic principles cannot be amended; amended 2008"
"text":"Cabinet proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 7 October 2018 (next to be held in October 2025); prime minister appointed by the president"
"text":"<em><br>2018:</em> Paul BIYA reelected president; percent of vote - Paul BIYA (CPDM) 71.3%, Maurice KAMTO (MRC) 14.2%, Cabral LIBII (Univers) 6.3%, other 8.2%<br><br><em>2011: </em>Paul BIYA reelected president; percent of vote - Paul BIYA (CPDM) 78.0%, John FRU NDI (SDF) 10.7%, Garga Haman ADJI 3.2%, other 8.1% (2018)"
"text":"Supreme Court of Cameroon (consists of 9 titular and 6 surrogate judges and organized into judicial, administrative, and audit chambers); Constitutional Council (consists of 11 members)"
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the president with the advice of the Higher Judicial Council of Cameroon, a body chaired by the president and includes the minister of justice, selected magistrates, and representatives of the National Assembly; judge term NA; Constitutional Council members appointed by the president for renewable 6-year terms"
"text":"Parliamentary Court of Justice (jurisdiction limited to cases involving the president and prime minister); appellate and first instance courts; circuit and magistrates' courts"
"text":"Alliance for Democracy and Development<br>Cameroon People's Democratic Movement or CPDM<br>Cameroon People's Party or CPP<br>Cameroon Renaissance Movement or MRC<br>Cameroonian Democratic Union or UDC<br>Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation or PCRN<br>Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon or FSNC<br>Movement for the Defense of the Republic or MDR<br>Movement for the Liberation and Development of Cameroon or MLDC<br>National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP<br>Progressive Movement or MP<br>Social Democratic Front or SDF<br>Union of Peoples of Cameroon or UPC<br>Union of Socialist Movements"
"text":"three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), red, and yellow, with a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band; the vertical tricolor recalls the flag of France; red symbolizes unity, yellow the sun, happiness, and the savannahs in the north, and green hope and the forests in the south; the star is referred to as the \"star of unity\"",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1957; Cameroon's anthem, also known as \"Chant de Ralliement\" (The Rallying Song), has been used unofficially since 1948 and officially adopted in 1957; the anthem has French and English versions whose lyrics differ"
"text":"largest CEMAC economy with many natural resources; recent political instability and terrorism reducing economic output; systemic corruption; poor property rights enforcement; increasing poverty in northern regions"
"note":"<b>note:</b> central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated"
"text":"Cameroon was for many years one of the few countries in Africa with only two competing mobile operators; the investment programs among operators over the next few years aims to considerably boost mobile broadband services in rural areas of the country, many of which are under served by fixed-line infrastructure; the government has also been supportive, having launched its ‘Cameroon Digital 2020’ program, aimed at improving connectivity nationally; improved submarine and terrestrial cable connectivity has substantially increased international bandwidth, in turn leading to reductions in access prices for consumers; other projects such as Acceleration of the Digital Transformation of Cameroon are aimed at developing the digital economy (2022)"
"text":"only a little above 3 per 100 persons for fixed-line subscriptions; mobile-cellular usage has increased sharply, reaching a subscribership base of roughly 83 per 100 persons (2021)"
"text":"country code - 237; landing points for the SAT-3/WASC, SAIL, ACE, NCSCS, Ceiba-2, and WACS fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe, South America, and West Africa; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)"
"text":"government maintains tight control over broadcast media; state-owned Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), broadcasting on both a TV and radio network, was the only officially recognized and fully licensed broadcaster until August 2007, when the government issued licenses to 2 private TV broadcasters and 1 private radio broadcaster; about 70 privately owned, unlicensed radio stations operate under “administrative tolerance,” meaning the stations could be subject to closure at any time (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> railway connections generally efficient but limited; rail lines connect major cities of Douala, Yaounde, Ngaoundere, and Garoua; passenger and freight service provided by CAMRAIL"
"text":"(2010) (major rivers in the south, such as the Wouri and the Sanaga, are largely non-navigable; in the north, the Benue, which connects through Nigeria to the Niger River, is navigable in the rainy season only to the port of Garoua)"
"text":"Cameroon Armed Forces (Forces Armees Camerounaises, FAC): Army (L'Armee de Terre), Navy (Marine Nationale Republique, MNR, includes naval infantry or fusiliers marin), Air Force (Armee de l'Air du Cameroun, AAC), National Gendarmerie (Gendamerie Nationale, GN), National Firefighting Corps (Corps National de Sapeurs-Pompiers, CNSP), Presidential Guard (Garde Présidentielle du Cameroun, GP)<br><br>General Delegation for National Security (Délégation Générale à la Sûreté Nationale or DGSN): Cameroon Police (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> the Police and the National Gendarmerie are responsible for internal security; the Gendarmerie conducts administrative, criminal, and military investigative functions; other missions include customs, air and maritime surveillance, and road traffic control; in times of conflict, it participates in internal defense<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> the Army includes the Rapid Intervention Brigade (Brigade d’Intervention Rapide or BIR), which maintains its own command and control structure and reports directly to the Chief of Defense staff and the Presidency; the BIR includes airborne/airmobile, amphibious, armored reconnaissance, artillery, and counterterrorism forces, as well as support elements, such as intelligence"
"text":"the FAC inventory is comprised of weapons and equipment from a variety of countries, including China, Israel, Russia/former Soviet Union, South Africa, the US, and some Western European countries, particularly France (2024)"
"text":"18-24 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription; high school graduation required; service obligation 4 years (2024)"
"note":"<strong>note: </strong>Cameroon has committed approximately 2,000-2,500 troops to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the general area of the Lake Chad Basin and along Nigeria's northeast border; national MNJTF troop contingents are deployed within their own country territories, although cross‐border operations occur occasionally"
"text":"the FAC ground forces (Army and the Rapid Intervention Battalion) are largely focused on internal security, particularly the threat from the terrorist groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa along its frontiers with Nigeria and Chad (Far North region) and, since 2016, an insurgency from armed Anglophone separatist groups in the North-West and South-West regions; in addition, the FAC often deploys ground units to the border region with the Central African Republic to counter intrusions from armed militias and bandits; the Navy’s missions include protecting Cameroon’s oil installations, combatting crime and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and patrolling the country’s lakes and rivers; the FAC's small Air Force supports both the ground and naval forces (2024)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide"
