Cameroon

**Cameroon** (officially called the **Republic of Cameroon**) is a country in Central Africa. Its capital is Yaoundé. The largest city in Cameroon is Douala. The population of Cameroon is about 20 million. Cameroon's president is Paul Biya. They speak nearly 250 languages in Cameroon. French and English are the official languages. The German Empire ruled Cameroon from 1884 until World War I when France took the majority and Britain took the northwest and southwest.

## Geography

At , Cameroon is the world's 53rd-largest country. It is about the size of Papua New Guinea. The country is in Central and West Africa on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country's neighbours are 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.

## Regions

The constitution divides Cameroon into 10 regions. On 12 November 2008, the President changed the divisions from provinces to regions. Each region is headed by a presidentially appointed governor.

The regions are divided into 58 divisions. These are headed by presidentially appointed divisional officers.

||Region|French name|Capital|Population (1987)|Area (km²)|Population density (/km²)</tr>||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="center"||||||||
|{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;"||||||||
|1.|Adamawa|_Adamaoua_|Ngaoundéré|495,185|63,691|8||
|2.|Centre|_Centre_|Yaoundé|1,651,600|68,926|24||
|3.|East|_Est_|Bertoua|517,198|109,011|5||
|4.|Far North|_Extrême-Nord_|Maroua|1,855,695|34,246|54||
|5.|Littoral|_Littoral_|Douala|1,352,833|20,239|67||
|6.|North|_Nord_|Garoua|1,687,959|65,576|13||
|7.|Northwest|_Nord-Ouest_|Bamenda|1,237,348|17,812|69||
|8.|South|_Sud_|Ebolowa|373,798|47,110|8||
|9.|Southwest|_Sud-Ouest_|Buea|838,042|24,571|34||
|10.|West|_Ouest_|Bafoussam|1,339,791|13,872|97|}|

## Cities

Some of the largest cities in Cameroon are:
|align="center"|Ranking|align="center"|Name|align="center"|Population|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="right"|1.|Douala|align="right"|2,000,000||
|align="right"|2.|Yaoundé|align="right"|1,600,000||
|align="right"|3.|Garoua|align="right"|450,000||
|align="right"|4.|Bafoussam|align="right"|350,000||
|align="right"|5.|Maroua|align="right"|327,000||
|align="right"|6.|Bamenda|align="right"|299,600||
|align="right"|7.|Ngaoundéré|align="right"|185,700||

## Languages

The official languages of Cameroon are French and English. It is part of both the British Commonwealth and La Francophonie. Most people speak French, English is only spoken in the Northwest and Southwest regions of the country, formerly under British control.

## Related pages

- Cameroon at the Olympics
- Cameroon national football team
- List of rivers of Cameroon

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Republic of Cameroon
- **common name**: Cameroon
- **image flag**: Flag of Cameroon.svg
- **alt flag**: Vertical tricolor (green, red, yellow) with a five-pointed gold star in the center of the red.
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Cameroon.svg
- **symbol type**: Coat of arms
- **national motto**:

- **national anthem**:

- **image map**: File:Cameroon (orthographic projection).svg
- **alt map**: Location of Cameroon on the globe.
- **capital**: Yaoundé
- **largest city**: Yaoundé (city proper)
Douala (metropolitan area)
- **regional languages**: Cameroonian Pidgin English, Fula language, Fula, Ewondo language, Ewondo, Chadian Arabic, Camfranglais
- **religion year**: 2018
- **demonym**: Demographics of Cameroon, Cameroonian
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Dominant-party system, dominant-party Semi-presidential system, semi-presidential Republic, constitutional republic
- **leader title1**: President of Cameroon, President
- **leader name1**: Paul Biya
- **leader title2**: Prime Minister of Cameroon, Prime Minister
- **leader name2**: Joseph Ngute
- **legislature**: Parliament of Cameroon, Parliament
- **upper house**: Senate (Cameroon), Senate
- **lower house**: National Assembly (Cameroon), National Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: Declared
- **established date1**: 1 January 1960
- **established date2**: 1 October 1961
- **area km2**: 475,442
- **area rank**: 53rd
- **area sq mi**: 183,569
- **percent water**: 0.57
- **population estimate**: 26,545,864
- **population census**: 17,463,836
- **population estimate year**: 2020
- **population estimate rank**: 51st
- **population census year**: 2005
- **population density km2**: 39.7
- **population density sq mi**: 102,8
- **population density rank**: 167th
- **gdp ppp**: $95.068 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2018
- **gdp ppp rank**: 93rd
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $3,820
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 152nd
- **gdp nominal**: $38.445 billion
- **gdp nominal rank**: 98th
- **gdp nominal year**: 2018
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $1,544
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 152nd
- **gini**: 46.6
- **gini year**: 2014
- **hdi**: 0.563
- **hdi year**: 2019
- **hdi change**: steady
- **hdi rank**: 153rd
- **currency**: Central African CFA franc
- **currency code**: XAF
- **time zone**: West Africa Time, WAT
- **utc offset**: +1
- **drives on**: Right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in Cameroon, +237
- **cctld**: .cm
- **footnote a**: These are the titles as given in the _Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon_, Article X ( and  versions). 18 January 1996. The French version of the song is sometimes called , as in Swarovski Orchestra (2004). _National Anthems of the World_. Koch International Classics; and the English version "O Cameroon, Cradle of Our Forefathers", as in #DeLancey, DeLancey and DeLancey 61.