The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroon merged in 1961 to form the present country. Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability, which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Despite movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy.

petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower

arable land: 12.81%
permanent crops: 2.58%
other: 84.61% (1998 est.)

15,746,179
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.)

Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1%

indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%

24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79%
male: 84.7%
female: 73.4% (2003 est.)

Yaounde

unitary republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition parties legalized in 1990)
note: preponderance of power remains with the president

1 January 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)

Republic Day (National Day), 20 May (1972)