Cameroon

The Republic of Cameroon FrenchRépublique du Cameroun is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by 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 miniaturefor 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 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 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 century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in.

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. It waged war on French and Cameroonian forces until. In French Cameroun independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons merged with it in to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in and the Republic of Cameroon in.

Compared to other African countries, Cameroon enjoys relatively high 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.