Cameroon

I

Introduction

Cameroon, officially Republic of Cameroon, republic in west-central Africa, bounded on the north by Lake Chad; on the east by Chad and the Central African Republic; on the south by the Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea; and on the west by the Bight of Bonny (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean) and Nigeria. The country is shaped like an elongated triangle, and forms a bridge between western Africa and central Africa.

From 1961 until 1972 the republic was a federation of East Cameroon, the former French Cameroons, and West Cameroon, part of the former British Cameroons. Following a referendum, Cameroon became a unitary republic on June 2, 1972. The country has a total area of 475,442 sq km (183,569 sq mi). The capital of Cameroon is Yaoundé.

II

Land and Resources

Cameroon has four distinct topographical regions. In the south is a coastal plain, a region of dense equatorial rainforests. In the centre is the Adamawa Plateau, a region with elevations reaching about 1,370 m (4,500 ft) above sea level. This is a transitional area where forest gives way to the savannah country of the north. In the far north the savannah gradually slopes into the marshland surrounding Lake Chad.

In the west is an area of high, forested mountains of volcanic origin, including Mount Cameroon (4,095 m/13,435 ft), the highest peak in western Africa and an active volcano that last showed signs of life in 2000. The country’s most fertile soils are found in this region.

A

Rivers and Lakes

In the western mountains, near the Nigerian border, is the volcanic Lake Nyos. The release in 1986 of a noxious mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, which had collected below the bed of the lake, killed 2,000 people. An operation began in March 1995 to clear the lake of a further build-up of gases.

Among the principal rivers, the Sanaga and Nyong flow generally west to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mbéré and Logone flow north from the central plateau into Lake Chad. A network of rivers in the Chad Basin, including the River Benue, links the country with the vast system of the River Niger to the east and north.

B

Climate

Cameroon has a tropical equatorial climate, humid in the south but increasingly dry to the north. On the coast the average annual rainfall is about 3,890 mm (153 in). On the exposed slopes of the Cameroon Mountains in the west, rainfall is almost constant and sometimes reaches 10,160 mm (400 in) a year. In the semi-arid north-west annual rainfall averages about 380 mm (15 in). A dry season in the north lasts from October to April. The average temperature in the south is 25° C (77° F), on the plateau it is 21.1° C (70° F), and in the north it is 32.2° C (90° F).