Geography

Official name: Republic of Cameroon, also Cameroon; former French Cameroon
Area: 475,440 sq. km
Border countries: Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria.
Terrain: very diverse with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in the West, plains in the North.
Climate: seasonal equatorial in the South ( two rainy and two dry seasons), savanna climate (one dry and one wet season), semi-arid and hot in the North. Annual rainfall from 61 cm near Lake Chad till 500 cm in the South West.
Vegetation: dense rain forest, savannahs, thorn steppe.
Natural resources: petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydro power potential.
Environmental issues: water-borne diseases are prevalent; deforestation; poaching; overgrazing; overfishing; encroachment of desert.

Government

Government type: unitary republic; multiparty presidential regime
Capital: Yaounde 800,000 (1992)
Administrative divisions: 10 provinces i.e. Adamaoua, Center, East, Far-North, Littoral, North, North-West, South, South-West, West
Independence: 1 January 1960 (from UN trusteeship under French administration)
Constitution: 20 May 1972
Chief of State: President Paul Biya (since 6 November 1982)
Head of government: Prime Minister S.E. Enoni Ephraim (since 8 December 2004)
Cabinet: appointed by the president from proposals submitted by the prime minister
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; prime minister appointed by the president.
Political parties: opposition parties legalized in 1990.
Flag description: three equal vertical bands green (hoist side), red, and yellow with a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band.

(Statistics: CIA World Fact Book, 2005)

Population

Population: est.16 million inhabitants
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42%, 15-64 years: 54.8%, 65+ years 3.2%
Population growth rate: 1.97%

Birth rate (annual per 1,000): 35.08
Death rate (annual per 1,000): 15.34
Infant mortality rate: 69.18 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: 47.95 years

Total fertility rate: 4.55 children born/woman
Ethnic groups: about 200 tribes of which 31% are Cameroon Highlanders, 19% Equatorial Bantu, 11%Kirdi, 10% Fulani, 8% Northwestern Bantu, 7% Eastern Nigritic, 13% other African, and less than 1% are non-African.
Languages: at least 266 African languages and major dialects, categorized in 24 major African language groups; English (official), French (official).

(source: CIA Worldbook 2005)

Religions: indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%                                 

(statistics vary)

Education

Cameroon has one of the highest rates of school attendance in Africa. Primary education starts at six years of age. In French-speaking Cameroon it lasts for six years and is compulsory. In the English-speaking provinces it takes seven years. Secondary education, which begins at the age of 12 or 13, consists of two cycles and lasts for seven years. The State University at Yaounde has been decentralized, and comprises five regional campuses, each with a different field of study. In the budget for 1991/92 education received 22.7% of total projected current expenditure.

Primary school enrollment: boys 81%, girls 71%) (1998-2002)
Secondary school enrollment: boys 36%, girls 29%) (1998-2002)

Transition rate from elementary school to secondary school: 43% (2001/2)

Higher Education: 81.318 students in 2002/3, of which 31.538 are girls
Literacy (age 15 and over can read and write): 77% of men, 59.8%  of women (2002/3)
Educational expenditures:  3.8% of GDP

Educational expenditures on total budget:: 17.3%

(Statistics: UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook)

Economy

Because of its offshore oil resources and favorable agricultural conditions, Cameroon has one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa. However, political instability, in conjunction with widespread corruption within the top-heavy civil service and an increasing external debt have all but contributed to the deterioration in the economy in the early 1990's. In 1994 the CFA franc was devaluated as part of IMF's structural Adjustment Program for Cameroon. Cameroon’s economy greatly depends on export crops. With its food production advancing at a higher rate than the population growth, the country is generally self-sufficient.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $27.75 billion (2003)
GDP real growth rate: 4.2% (2003)
GDP per capita: $1,800 (2003)
GDP by sector: agriculture 42.6%, industry 19.8%, services 37.6% (2003)
Inflation rate: 6% (96/97)
Economic activities -agriculture: coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches, livestock, timber; industries: petroleum production and refining, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber
External debt: $7.236 billion (2003)

(source: CIA Worldbook 2005)

Mining and Power

From 1976 till 1985 the increasing production of crude petroleum contributed to the Cameroon’s growing economy. Although collapse of world prices in 1986 caused a steep decline in the production of Cameroon’s single most important
export, petroleum produced until recently still more than 40% of national export earning.

In July 2003 a consortium led by US oil giant ExxonMobil began pumping oil from newly developed oil fields in Chad's Southern Doba region to Kribi at the coast of Cameroon. A US $3.7 billion investment, the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project is expected to generate an annual income of US $80 million for Chad and $20 million for Cameroon over the next 25 years.

The newly privatized electricity company of SONEL struggles to meet the country’s electricity demand with heavy industry as its major consumer. A network that links Yaounde, Edea, Douala and the West draws hydro electricity from the installations at Edea and Song-Loulou. The hydroelectric station at Lagdo supplies the other major network in the North. There are plans for a hydroelectric installation at the Nachtigal Falls on the Sanaga river.

Identified bauxite, iron ore and uranium reserves have remained unexploited.

Transportation and Communication

The most important element of the transportation infrastructure is the rail network, which comprises 1,008 km of track. The 885-km “Transcameroon”, from Douala to Ngaoundere is the main line. Development of the 34,300 km road network, of which 4,288 km are paved (1999 est), has been halted by the economic crisis. Nearly all port activity (95%) is handled by the estuary port at Douala-Bonaberi. There are also seaport at Kribi and Limbe-Tiko and a river port at Garoua. Internal air travel and 47 domestic airports (2003 est.) have been developed, necessitated by the poor state of the road network. Cameroon Airlines-75% owned by the government and 25% by Air France-provides domestic flights and services to Africa and Europe. There are international airports at Douala, Garoua and Yaounde. The 2,090 km of waterways has become of decreasing importance. The telephone system has greatly expended in the urban and semi-urban areas through mobile phone networks.