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Located
at the crossroads of the African continent, Cameroon blends many of its
diverse geographical and human features. Language barriers, ethnic
loyalties, religious convictions and jealousies over educational,
economic and political opportunities affect the development of a
national consciousness among the 200 ethnic groups that make up its
population.
Despite the popularity of Christianity and Islam
and the strong influence of foreign European customs, various
traditional ways of life and religious practices are evident in each of
the country's regions.
The population of Cameroon is often
categorized into three main regions. In the northern savanna, with its
adverse climatic conditions, Muslim Fulani and numerous other ethnic
groups endure as herders and subsistence cultivators in the lowest
living standards. In the West, the Bamiléké, Cameroonian's largest
ethnic group, known for their enterprising character, share the
highlands as cultivators with numerous other peoples. They reap the
fruits of better soils and more favorable ecological conditions. While
several thousand marginalized Pygmies struggle to survive in their
natural habitat of the endangered southeastern tropical rainforests,
the predominant peoples of the South are Bantu groups like the Bassa
and Pahouin. Until recently their fertile grounds have been exploited
for export products as coffee and cocoa, but the population is slowly
shifting to the cultivation of crops for its own food sovereignty.
Over
the past two decades Cameroonian society has undergone the crippling
effects of an economic crisis due to the plummeting prices of its
export commodities on the world market. The exodus of young people from
rural areas to urban centers poses a multifaceted threat to both the
rural and the urban populations. Although in urban centers income
levels are generally higher, a sharp contrast exists between the
educated economic elite who have well-paying jobs, and the migrants who
abandon their traditional existence for a better livelihood but end up
in the ranks of the unemployed within the rapidly increasing urban
population. High unemployment among the youth has resulted in a
critical increase of the crime rate in larger cities. The AIDS
epidemic, rampant on the African continent since the early 1980's,
is also affecting the caretakers of the families, the economic pillars
in society and the educators of the next generationin Cameroon .
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Facts at a Glance
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