page_title: Demographics of Cameroon
hierarchical_section_title: Demographics of Cameroon
context_page_description: The demographic profile of Cameroon is complex for a country of its population. Cameroon comprises an estimated 250 distinct ethnic groups, which may be formed into five large regional-cultural divisions:
  western highlanders, including the Bamileke, Bamum, and many smaller Tikar groups in the Northwest;
  coastal tropical forest peoples, including the Bassa, Duala, and many smaller groups in the Southwest;
  southern tropical forest peoples, including the Beti-Pahuin, Bulu, Fang, Maka, Njem, and Baka pygmies;
  predominantly Islamic peoples of the northern semi-arid regions and central highlands, including the Fulani; and
  the "Kirdi", non-Islamic or recently Islamic peoples of the northern desert and central highlands.
  113,000 Igbo people live in Cameroon. The Cameroon government held two national censuses during the country's first 44 years as an independent country, in 1976 and again in 1987. Results from the second head count were never published. A third census, expected to take years to produce results, began on November 11, 2005, with a three-week interviewing phase.
context_section_description: The demographic profile of Cameroon is complex for a country of its population.  Cameroon comprises an estimated 250 distinct ethnic groups, which may be formed into five large regional-cultural divisions:
  western highlanders (Semi-Bantu or grassfielders), including the Bamileke, Bamum (or Bamoun), and many smaller Tikar groups in the Northwest (est. 38% of total population);
  coastal tropical forest peoples, including the Bassa, Duala (or Douala), and many smaller groups in the Southwest (12%);
  southern tropical forest peoples, including the Beti-Pahuin, Bulu (a subgroup of Beti-Pahuin), Fang (subgroup of Beti-Pahuin), Maka, Njem, and Baka pygmies (18%);
  predominantly Islamic peoples of the northern semi-arid regions (the Sahel) and central highlands, including the Fulani (French: Peul or Peuhl; Fula: Fulɓe) (14%); and
  the "Kirdi", non-Islamic or recently Islamic peoples of the northern desert and central highlands (18%).
  113,000 Igbo people live in Cameroon. The Cameroon government held two national censuses during the country's first 44 years as an independent country, in 1976 and again in 1987.  Results from the second head count were never published.  A third census, expected to take years to produce results, began on November 11, 2005, with a three-week interviewing phase.  It is one of a series of projects and reforms required by the International Monetary Fund as prerequisites for foreign debt relief. The first results were published in 2010.
caption: A Tikar family in the Northwest Province
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