Map of Cameroon | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroon merged in 1961 to form the present country. Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability which has permitted the development of agriculture roads and railways as well as a petroleum industry. Despite movement toward democratic reform political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 402 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: not specific
Territorial sea: 50 nm

Climate: varies with terrain from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north

Terrain: diverse with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north

Elevation

Natural resources: crude oil, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower potential

Land use: 13% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 18% meadows and pastures; 54% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa


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Population: 10,816,514 (July 1989), growth rate 2.7% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Cameroonian(s; adjective - Cameroonian

Ethnic groups: over 200 tribes of widely differing background; 31% Cameroon Highlanders, 19% Equatorial Bantu, 11% Kirdi, 10% Fulani, 8% Northwestern Bantu, 7% Eastern Nigritic, 13% other African, less than 1% non-African

Languages: English and French (official), 24 major African language groups

Religions: 51% indigenous beliefs, 33% Christian, 16% Muslim

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 42 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 16 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: recent volcanic activity with release of poisonous gases; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 123 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 52 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 5.8 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 65%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Cameroon

Government type: unitary republic; one-party presidential regime

Capital: Yaounde

Administrative divisions: 10 provinces; Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Extreme-Nord, Littoral, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Ouest

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 January 1960 (from UN trusteeship under French administration; formerly French Cameroon)

National holiday: National Day, 20 May (1972)

Constitution: 20 May 1972; judicial review by Supreme Court when a question of constitutionality is referred to it by the president

Legal system: based on French civil law system, with common law influence; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal over age 21

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force; paramilitary Gendarmerie

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfBD, CCC, EAMA, ECA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB - Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITU, Lake Chad Basin Commission, NAM, Niger River Commission, OAU, OIC, UDEAC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WI PO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Paul PONDI; Chancery at 2,349 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 265-8,790 through 8,794; US - Ambassador Mark L. EDELMAN; Embassy at Rue Nachtigal, Yaounde (mailing address is B. P. 817, Yaounde; telephone Õ237å 234,014; there is a US Consulate General in Douala

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), red, and yellow with a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Over the past decade the economy has registered a remarkable performance because of the development of an offshore oil industry. Real GDP growth annually averaged 10% from 1978 to 1985. In 1986 Cameroon had one of the highest levels of income per capita in tropical Africa, with oil revenues picking up the slack as growth in other sectors softened. Because of the sharp drop in oil prices, however, the economy is now experiencing serious budgetary difficulties and balance-of-payments disequalibrium. Oil reserves currently being exploited will be depleted in the early 1990s, so ways must be found to boost agricultural and industrial exports in the medium term. The Sixth Cameroon Development Plan (1986-91) stresses balanced development and designates agriculture as the basis of the country's economic future.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: the agriculture and forestry sectors provide employment for the majority of the population, contributing nearly 25% to GDP and providing a high degree of self-sufficiency in staple foods; commercial and food crops include coffee, cocoa, timber, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, livestock, root starches

Industries: crude oil products, small aluminum plant, food processing, light consumer goods industries, sawmills

Industrial production growth rate: - 6.4% (FY87)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 7% (1985)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $2.17 billion; expenditures $2.2 17 billion, including capital expenditures of $833 million (FY88)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1987)
Commodities: petroleum products 56%, coffee, cocoa, timber, manufactures
Partners: EC (particularly the Netherlands) about 50%, US 3%

Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1987)
Commodities: machines and electrical equipment, transport equipment, chemical products, consumer goods
Partners: France 42%, Japan 7%, US 4%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $4.0 billion (December 1988)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 312.52 (January 1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)


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Electricity
Capacity: 752,000 kW capacity; 2,581 million kWh produced, 250 kWh per capita (1988)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 63 total, 57 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 25 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 2,090 km; of decreasing importance

Merchant marine: 4 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 48,270 GRT/66,907 DWT

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: exact locations of the Chad-Niger-Nigeria and Cameroon-Chad-Nigeria tripoints in Lake Chad have not been determined, so the boundary has not been demarcated and border incidents have resulted; Nigerian proposals to reopen maritime boundary negotiations and redemarcate the entire land boundary have been rejected by Cameroon

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs