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GEOGRAPHY
Official name: Republic of Cameroon, also Cameroon; former French Cameroon
map: UNDP |
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 regions 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)
POPULATIONPopulation: 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)
OIL, 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 are soon to be exploited.
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.
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