KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1995
Population: 21,700,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: –0.2% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 150
Official languages: French, English
Time: GMT plus 1hr
Currency: CFA franc (CFAfr)
Geography
Area: 475,442 sq km
Coastline: 402 km
Capital: Yaoundé (constitutional);
Douala (economic)
Cameroon is called Cameroun in French, Kamerun in German, Camarões in Portuguese, and Cameroon in English. The country’s name derives from camarões, meaning ‘shrimps’, so called by the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Fernando Po who named the River Wouri Rio dos Camarões (‘shrimp river’), after the many shrimps. Cameroon in central Africa is bounded clockwise (from the west) by the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guin The country comprises ten regions: Adamaoua, Centre, Coastal,East, Far North, North, North-West, South, South-West and West.
Main towns:
Yaoundé (capital, in Centre Region, pop. 1.81m in 2010), Douala (principal port, in Coastal Region, 2.13m), Garoua (North Region, 573,700), Bamenda (North-West, 546,400), Maroua (Far North, 436,700), Bafoussam (West, 383,200), Ngaoundéré (Adamaoua, 314,100), Bertoua (East, 297,200), Loum (Coastal, 249,100), Kumbo (North-West, 222,600), Edéa (Coastal, 209,600), Mbouda (West, 188,200), Kumba (South-West, 180,000), Foumban (West, 171,600), Dschang (West, 149,300), Nkongsamba (Coastal, 131,100), Ebolowa (South, 129,600), Kousséri (contiguous with Ndjamena in Chad, Far North, 95,100) and Buea (South-West, 59,700).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 46
Life expectancy: 55 years
Net primary enrolment: 92%
Population:
21,700,000 (2012); 53 per cent of people live in urban areas and 20 per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 2.7 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 38 per 1,000 people (45 in 1970); life expectancy 55 years (44 in 1970). The population is ethnically diverse. In the north, the people are mostly Hausa, Fulbé (Fulani), Sudanese and Choa Arab. In the west, the Bamiléké are the biggest ethnic group, followed by Tiker and Bamoun. South of the River Sanaga, there are Bantu groups: Fang, Ewondo, Boulou, Eton, Bassa, Bakoko, Douala. Some pygmies (including Baka) live in the south-eastern forested country.
Language:
French and English are both official languages; French is spoken by about 80 per cent of the population, English by about 20 per cent. There are about 240 indigenous languages including 24 major language groups.
Education:
Public spending on education was three per cent of GDP in 2011. There are six years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises six years and secondary seven, with a first cycle of four years. School attendance is lower in the Far North Region, where the population is partly nomadic. Some 57 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2010). The school year starts in September. Many secondary schools are bilingual, with instruction in both French and English. Faith schools play an important role in the education system and are partly subsidised by the government. The public universities are the University of Yaoundé (founded in 1962); University of Douala (1977, Coastal Region); University of Ngaoundéré (1982, Adamaoua Region); University of Buea (1992, South-West Region, English medium); University of Dschang (1993, West Region); and the University of Maroua (2008, Far North Region). The most prominent is the University of Yaoundé, which now comprises two separate universities on several campuses (University of Yaoundé I and University of Yaoundé II). The École Normale Supérieure of University of Yaoundé I is the leading school for teacher education. The many private institutions offering tertiary education include the Catholic University of Central Africa (1989, Yaoundé); Bamenda University of Science and Technology (1995, North-West Region); and Université des Montagnes (2000,Bangangté, West Region). The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 0.70:1 (2011). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 83 per cent (2007).
