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.

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

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

Geography
Note: sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa

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

Birth rate: 42 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 16 deaths/1000 population (1989)

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

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

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)

Literacy: 65%

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

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

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

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

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.

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)

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

Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June

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%

Debt external: $4.0 billion (December 1988)

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)

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

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA

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

Waterways: 2,090 km; of decreasing importance

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

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