The Republic of Cameroon lies on the coast of West Central Africa, bordered on the northwest by Nigeria, the northeast by Chad, the southeast by the Central African Republic, and on the south by the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. The country has a population just over 15.9 million (2002), Yaoundé is its capital, and Douala is its largest city and main port. Cameroon is divided into 10 administrative regions: Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Littoral, Nord, Nord Extrème, Nordouest, Ouest, Sud, and Sudouest.

Cameroon has one of the most diverse populations in all of Africa with over 200 ethnic groups within its borders. Bantu-speaking peoples predominate along the southern coast and in the forested areas, the Bamiléké populate the highlands, and the northern portion includes the Fulani and the Kirdi. Due to its colonial past, the country generally consists of the former French Cameroons, which contain the bulk of the country's population and cover 4/5 of its territory, and the southern British Cameroons. Therefore, Cameroon's official languages are English and French (like Canada), but due to its tremendous diversity, 24 major African language groups coexist in the region. As for religion, approximately 40% of Cameroonians adhere to indigenous beliefs, about the same proportion follow Christianity, and the remaining 20% or so generally follow Islam, which predominates in the north.

Early History

Archaeological evidence suggests that the territory of present-day Cameroon has been inhabited for at least the last 50,000 years, and in more recent times has been the site of many important kingdoms and states. Probably the most widely-known kingdom to be established there was that of the Sao, who organized themselves around the 5th century and reached the height of their power between the 9th and 15th centuries. After this period, The Sao kingdom was then conquered by the Kotoko State, which extended over vast portions of northern Cameroon and Nigeria. The Kotoko State was then conquered by the Bornu empire in the late 19th century under the reign of Rabih az-Zubayr (Rabah), who introduced Islam to the region.

Throughout history, Cameroon witnessed many invasions and migrations by various ethnic groups, especially by the Fulani, Hausa, Fang, and Kanuri. The Fulani in particular, who entered northern Cameroon at the beginning of the 18th century, were quite successful in their conquests and and managed to expand southward until their conquest of the Tikar kingdom of Bamoum, which was one of the largest kingdoms to emerge in Cameroon over the last 300 years.

Colonial History

First contact with Europeans came in 1472, with the arrival of Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó at the mouth of the Wuori River. A large-scale slave trade then followed, supported by the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and English, making Cameroon a significant source of slaves. However, by the 19th century, the slave trade waned and was replaced by commerce in palm oil, ivory, and rubber. The British then began to dominate commercially along the coast, and established trading and missionary outposts in the 1850s. They were eventually replaced by the Germans, who signed a treaty with the Douala people in 1884 proclaiming the Wuori estuary a protectorate (Kamerun).

The Germans first built up the port of Douala before advancing into the interior, where they developed plantations and built roads. They then acquired additional territory from France in 1911 as compensation for the surrender of German rights in Morocco. Of course, after Germany's defeat in World War I, the territory previously acquired was returned to France and rejoined with French Equatorial Africa, while the remainder of Cameroon was divided into French and British League of Nations mandates: French Cameroun and British Cameroon. Little sociopolitical progress was made in either area, though both mandates remained loyal to the Allies in World War II. They became UN trust territories following the war in 1946.

As in other parts of Africa at the time, frustration with colonial rule rose sharply in the 1950s. The Union du peuple camerounais (Cameroonian People's Union) (UPC) began a guerilla warfare campaign in French Cameroun and demanded immediate independence plus union with British Cameroon. After years of civil war, French Cameroun finally received self-government in 1957 within the French Community, followed by internal autonomy in 1959. Independence was achieved on January 1, 1960.

Post-Colonial History

Former French Cameroonian prime minister Ahmadou Ahidjo became president of the independent Republic of Cameroon, but the status of the British Cameroons, divided into two zones administratively linked to Nigeria, was still undecided. A year later, in the UN-supervised plebiscite of 1961, the northern zone decided to join the Nigerian federation as the province of Sardauna, while the southern zone decided to reunify with French Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Ahidjo became president of the new federation. In 1966, the dominant political parties merged into the Union nationale camerounaise (Cameroonian National Union) (UNC) and in June 1972 the country was officially renamed the United Republic of Cameroon as the federation was replaced by a unitary state. The UNC instituted a single-party system, adopted a non-aligned foreign policy, and sought to reduce its dependence on France and the West. Although the UNC managed to retain popular support throughout most of the 1970s, broad dissatisfaction with Ahidjo's autocratic rule and the alienation of English-speaking politicians due to insufficient representation led to President Ahidjo's resignation in 1982 on grounds of "ill health". Prime Minister Paul Biya was named his successor.

Biya continued the authoritarian rule of his predecessor, who was forced into exile after being suspected of plotting a coup, and was reelected in January 1984 as the sole candidate. Biya restored the Republic of Cameroon as the country's official name and then successfully suppressed an attempted coup in the same year. In March 1985, the UNC was renamed the Rassemblement démocratique du peuple camerounais (Democratic Assembly of the Cameroonian People) (RDPC), while an increase in oil revenues allowed for a temporary surge of investment in agriculture and education. World oil prices collapsed in 1986, leading to austerity measures and social unrest. Following a long national strike in 1990 and great political pressure, Biya instituted multiparty rule and free elections in 1992. He was reelected amid charges of fraud, leading to violent protests.

In the latter half of the 1990s, English-speaking Cameroonians from the former British provinces in the north sought autonomy or a return to federalism. Tensions also increased between Cameroon and Nigeria over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula in the Gulf of Guinea, resulting in a border war in 1994 and another brief conflict in 1996. In 1997, Biya was reelected yet again in an election boycotted by the main opposition parties. In October 2002, Cameroon was awarded the disputed Bakassi peninsula by the International Court of Justice.

Cameroun is a beatiful country situated in the west coast of central Africa. I am just now there, working, too many hours in a mobile Operator(one of the best plant that I have seen) . We are in Douala, the main city for bussines (the capital is Younde). Here every one speak French and English (the first better than the second), and another natives languages.

The best way to stay here is to choose a very good hotel (also very very expensive, so ask your boss for the bill) in order rest and have all the facilities. Everybody that come here is for business, no tourists ;(. Everything looks poor but though interesant. For me is the first time in Central Africa, in a black country, and everything call my attention. I will try to go for a day to Kribi, another city at the coast with a beatiful beach, maybe fore touristic (as I have heard).

The city is not dangerous during the day, and during the night.. I dont know but i think that there is nothing to do, I mean, no place to go for a walk, you should have to cross roads without light, puddles, trash, etc and being the attention from everybody because of the whiteness of your skin. I must say that I have not lived nothing of this, still, because I travel always with a chauffeur, but it would not be pleasant to go alone walking. There are also a lot of prostitutes and they prefer the whites because they thing that they are rich (it is a good reasonig but not my case)

Anyway, I liked it, is one of the most different places thtat I have ever seen, I suppose that is similar to another countries here in the black Africa but for me is the first time and it is always special.

The weather is warm (23 - 28º always) and rainy. The north of the country is dry and more dangerous. Do not forget vacunation and malaria pills if you are planning to come!