Everything about Cameroon totally explained
The
Republic of Cameroon is a
unitary republic of central and western
Africa. It borders
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 with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys 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 the
Pygmy 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 League of Nations mandates were converted into
United Nations Trusteeships in 1946, and the question of independence became a pressing issue in French Cameroun. 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. 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. 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're 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.
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. 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, 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.
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.
Since 1990, private institutions have sprung up in five provinces. 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're popular with students. Many of these schools fall short of government minimum standards of infrastructure and faculty and must operate unlicensed. 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.
Provinces and divisions
The
constitution divides Cameroon into 10 semi-autonomous regions, each under the administration of an elected
Regional Council. In practice, Cameroon still follows the system that was in place prior to the adoption of a new constitution in 1996. The country is divided into 10 provinces, each 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 provinces, 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 provinces 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 provinces 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 provinces: The
Littoral and
Southwest provinces are on the coast, and the
Northwest and
West provinces are in the western grassfields. The Northwest and Southwest were once part of British Cameroons; the other provinces 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'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 (10 to 90 mi) inland from the Gulf of Guinea and has an average elevation of 90 metres (295 ft). Exceedingly hot and humid with a short
dry season, this belt is densely forested and includes some of the wettest places on earth. The
South Cameroon Plateau rises from the coastal plain to an average elevation of 650 metres (2,130 ft). Equatorial rainforest dominates this region, although its alternation between
wet and dry seasons makes it's less humid than the coast.
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)—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.
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 (3,600 ft), The northern lowland region extends from the edge of the Adamawa to Lake Chad with an average elevation of 300 to 350 metres (980 to 1,150 ft). one of the ten highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Major export markets include France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Unemployment was estimated at 30% in 2001, and about 48% of the population was living below the poverty threshold in 2000.
Cameroon's natural resources are better suited to agriculture and forestry than to industry. An estimated 70% of the population farms, and agriculture comprised an estimated 45.2% of GDP in 2006. 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.
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. Cameroon possesses substantial mineral resources, but these are not extensively
mined. 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. Roads are poorly maintained and subject to inclement weather, since only 10% of the roadways are tarred. 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. 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 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. This population is young: an estimated 41.2% are under 15, and 96.7% are under 65. The birth rate is estimated at 33.89 births per 1,000 people, the death rate at 13.47. The life expectancy is 51.16 years (50.98 years for males and 51.34 years for females). 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. Female
genital mutilation is practiced in portions of the Far North and Southwest provinces. 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. War in the Central African Republic has driven more than 20,000 refugees to Cameroon's Adamawa and East provinces since 2002, and kidnappings of Cameroonian citizens by Central African bandits have increased since 2005.
Cameroon has a high level of
religious freedom and diversity. Suspected witches are often subject to mob violence. 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.
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 Milad Nnabi.
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 or bread and fruit with coffee or tea. Snacks are popular, especially in larger towns where they may be 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.
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 40 km (24.8 mi)
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 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cameroon'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://cameroon.totallyexplained.com">Cameroon Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
