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Cameroon Flag
Photo Credit: CIA Factbook |
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Cameroon, Africa
Photo Credit: CIA Factbook |
History
Pre-colonization
The
Bakas (pygmies) were the earliest inhabitants of Cameroon and still inhabit the forests of the south and east provinces. The Portuguese arrived along the coast in the 1500s but malaria
prevented significant European settlement and conquest of the interior
until much later. In the late 1770s and early 1800s, pastoral Islamic people of the western Sahel known as the
Fulani, took over most of what is now northern Cameroon. In doing so they displacing its largely non-Muslim original inhabitants.
Colonization
In 1884, all of present-day Cameroon and parts of several of its neighbors became a German colony with a capital first at Buea (where I will be living) and later at Yaoundé. After World War 1, this colony (and many other under German rule) was divided between the UK and France under a June 28, 1919 League of Nations mandate. A strip of land bordering Nigeria from the sea to Lake
Chad was ruled by the British from Lagos (Nigeria) as British Cameroons. France gained a much larger chunk of land and ruled from Yaoundé as French Cameroons. An armed struggle for independence in French Cameroon began in 1955 by the outlawed Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), based largely among the
Bamileke and
Bassa ethnic groups. Death totals range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
Post-colonization
Finally gaining independence January 1st, 1960 the French Cameroons because The Republic of Cameroon. In 1961 the British Cameroons received their independence; both regions joined together to become the Federal Republic of Cameroon. A French-educated Fulani named Ahmadou Ahidjo was chosen President in 1961. He outlawed all political parties but his own in 1966 and suppressed the continuing UPC rebellion. The federation was replaced with a new constitution and a unitary state and the country began to set down the path towards a multi-party democracy. Ahidjo resigned as President in 1982 and was constitutionally succeeded by his Prime Minister, Paul Biya. There was a failed attempt of a coup to overthrow Biya in 1984. Biya won single-candidate elections in 1984 and 1988 and flawed multiparty elections in 1992 and 1997.
Government
Cameroon, formally known as the Republic of Cameroon, is a multiparty presidential regime headed by one chief of state (President) and one head of government (Prime Minister). The legal system is primarily that of the French civil law but also includes some English common law and their own customary law. The government also includes a Cabinet (a group of high-ranking officials who representing the executive branch). Prospective Cabinet members are submitted by the Prime Minister to the President who makes the final decision and appoints all Cabinet members.
The National Assembly has 180 seats and members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms. The president has the power to lengthen or shorten the term of the legislature. Note: the constitution calls for a Senate (an upper chamber for the legislature) but it has yet to be established. Cameroon also has a Supreme Court consisting of judges appointed by no other than the president himself. The Supreme Court highest court existing in the country and is subject to the oversight of only the High Court of Justice which consists of nine judges and six substitute judges and is elected by
the National Assembly. Note: from the most current information I could find, all members of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Justice are male.
Paul Biya has been sitting as chief of state and President of Cameroon since 1982. The president is elected by popular vote for a 7 year term. Note: in 2008 there was a constitutional amendment which eliminated term limits for the President. The last elections where in October of 2011 so the next ones wont be until October 2018. In 2009 Philemon Yang was chosen to be the Prime Minister and head of government by, surprise surprise, the President himself.
The populatoin showed
wide skepticism of the fairness and lawfulness of the election in general and many
were hopeful that a new leader would be elected in 2011. But,
evidently, Biya was able to defend his position with 78% of the vote in an election that had 'numerous irregularities'.
Economy
Cameroon is classified by the
World Bank as a lower middle income country and economically, is both a relatively poor country in terms of development and economic standing. However, Cameroon is a mineral rich country and depends a great deal on commodity exports and in a perfect world it would undoubtedly be classified as a developed country because of its wealth of resources. Note: "
The Resource Curse" as it has been called by scholars is a whole different topic and I won't get into that here.
Cameroon's largest exports are crude oil and petroleum products, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee and cotton and has a total export volume in excess of US $4.8 billions (2008). The nation's imports include machinery, transport equipment, fuel, food and
electrical equipment. Cameroon's main trading partner is the European Union, accounting for
41.1% of total imports and 55.1% of exports.
The GDP (gross domestic product aka value of all final goods and
services produced within a nation in a given year) of Cameroon is $50.32
billion, which isn't bad for Sub-Saharan Africa. Cameroon boasts about having 'the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa' but its population has very little to show for this accomplishment. More than 48% of their population lives below the poverty line. One reason for this could be the rampant corruption throughout the country.
Transparency International ranks Cameroon 144th out of 174 countries for transparency. Note: 174 = the most corrupt state: Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan tied for that prize. As for the 70% of the population that is employed (yes that's right, the
unemployment rate is 30%) 70% of them work in agriculture, 17% in
services and 13% in industry.
Although many economists and scholars prefer to use figures such as GDP
to assess a countries development, I personally believe that the The
Human Development Index (HDI) is a much more accurate depiction of
development and progress. A major problem with looking at economic
figures is that as a countries GDP and other factors are rising - the
people in the country might not be getting the 'trickle down effect' of
the economic progress. The HDI a summary measure for assessing long-term
progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and
healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. It is
used and recognized by the
United Nations Development Program
(UNDP). Cameroon is said to have a low human development and ranks 151 out of 187 countries. Read more about
the assessments used to calculate a countries HDI and Cameroon's HDI
here.
Side note:
here
is one of the most insightful and fascinating videos I have ever seen
explaining global poverty. Please, take a look! It is a bit dated (2007)
but without a doubt still relevant and interesting.
Because of the
Chad-Cameroon pipeline and energy provider AES Sonel, the United States
is now leading investor in Cameroon. China has recently become the
number one importer of Cameroonian exports, especially unprocessed
timber. There are many reports (just a few here:
one,
two,
three,
four and
five)
of massive clear-cutting in the northern region of Cameroon leading to
major environmental degradation, deforestation and the threatened
extinction of not only animals, but also of the
pygmy tribes in Central Africa. There is more information on China's relationship with Cameroon and what it could potential lead to
here. Thank you WikiLeaks.
Military
The Cameroon Armed Forces are under the responsibility of the Chief of Staff, Nkoa Atenga. The Armed forces, consisting of between 38,000-40,000 men and women, include three branches: the Army, the Navy (including naval infantry) and the Air Force. There is no compulsory enlistment, everything is on a volunteer basis but it is a four-year obligation and both male and females must have a high school diploma.
As confirmed by a
US diplomatic cable that was made public by the beloved
WikiLeaks, "China has an ongoing military-military relationship with Cameroon, which includes training for Cameroonian military students each year in China, technical advisors to assist in repairing Cameroonian military vehicles and naval vessels, and Chinese military sales."
Because Cameroon Armed Forces does not have operational experience against other forces, it is not possible to assess its ability to respond to changing threats, opposing tactics nor its willingness and capacity to use military force. The good news is, they have
sent special forces to the North to protect against poachers entering from Chad and Central African Republic. Last year,
over 200 elephants were slaughtered by poachers - Cameroon special forces are hoping to prevent a repeat.
Culture
There are approximately 250 different ethnic groups in Cameroon. The largest groups are Western Highlanders/Grassfielders (
Bamileke,
Bamoun) found in the Northwest making up 38%; Kirdi (non-Islamic Northerners) found in the Northern Desert/Central Highlands region making up 18%; Southern Tropical Forest Peoples (Beti group:
Ewondo, Eton, Bane, etc) located in the South making up 18%;
Fulani (Islamic Northerners) found in the Sahel/Northern Desert making up 14% and Coastal Tropical Forest Peoples (
Bassa,
Duala, etc.) found in the Southwest making up 12%.
[FYI: other statistics show: Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1%]
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Cameroon Ethnic Make up and Location
Photo Credit: Stanford University |
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As reported by the
Ethnologue: Languages of the World, There are 286 individual languages listed for Cameroon. Of those, 278 are 'living languages' (meaning that there are continuously people speaking them), 3 are second languages (without mother-tongue speakers), and 5 have no known speakers (meaning it could be/probably is a dead language). Cameroon is officially a bi-lingual country with English and French as it's two official languages.
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| Jungle road from Nigeria to Cameroon |
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| Paul on the jungle road. |
There is no official religion of Cameroon and I found many reputable statistics to be conflicting. Cameroonians have a variety of religious beliefs, and many individuals combine beliefs and practices of world religions with those of their own culture groups. Between 40-50% of the population are members of Christian denominations, about 25-40% practice mainly "traditional" religions, and approximately 20% percent are Muslim. Most Christians live in the southern areas, and most Muslims in the north. This religious diversity hasn't caused violent clashes like in other neighboring countries. In many African countires, Cameroon included, Christian missions constituted an informal second layer of colonialism. They did quite a bit of brainwashing while doing their best to destroy traditional religious practices - I have witnessed people now have the mentality of "Pray and something will happen". Not saying its a good or bad thing, but after
my experience at a church in Uganda, I am not a huge fan of the legacy that I see left by the missionaries.
Cameroon hosts some 104,000 refugees and asylum-seekers according to the
United Nations Higher Commissioner of Refugees
who keeps very up to date statistics. The refugees and asylum seekers
are mainly from the Central African Republic and Chad with a handful
from Nigeria and Guinea. Although there has been some rise in the prices
of commodities, these number do not constitute a 'refugee crisis' and
there are no major conflicts or issues arising from it.
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| Photo Credit: UNHCR |
The value and moral system of Cameroonians is similar the rest of Africa - Family is number one. Extended family (grandparents, aunts, great-uncles, cousins, etc) are treated like the nuclear family. The idea of a nursing home or retirement home is a foreign concept and the young are expected to care for the elders in their family. In many family orientated cultures like Cameroon, nepotism (the practice of favoring relatives or friends) does not have the negative connotation. I'm sure you can imagine the problems that might arise from this but nevertheless that is the way of the land. It is very common to hire relatives and is actually part of the cultural because it helps provide for the family.
There are different greetings in Cameroon depending on the region. Handshakes are most common but sometimes it is more than the traditional Western handshake many of us are accustomed to. One popular method of handshaking is followed by a snap of the other persons middle finger with their thumb as they pull back their hand. You get used to it after a while; it's actually pretty fun :) Also, you might find someone greeting you by a small embrace while brushing cheeks and kissing the air (like in France). Note: ALWAYS use your right hand - left hand is considered 'dirty' and used for the bathroom and other 'dirty' things. This goes for giving/handing things to others as well - always use two hands or only your right hand. Also note: some Muslims might not shake hand of a women.
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| Cameroon Market Day |
When entering someones house, always take your shoes off outside (or follow the lead of the person who is entering in front of you). At meals, most Cameroonians eat with their hands. As a guest you might be offered silverware - its up to you if you want to use it, I personally always decline. Again: eat with RIGHT hand ONLY!
When in doubt, just observe what others are doing and try to emulate their behaviors.
Geography
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Buea (where I will be living) is to the West of Douala
Photo Credit: CIA Factbook |
The land mass size of Cameroon is just slightly larger than that of California in the US. Cameroon is considered to be in Central Africa but it is also sometimes considered West Africa. It is bordering the Bight (Bay) of Biafra/Bonny of the Atlantic Ocean and has over 400km of coastline. It borders Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the South, Central African Republic and Chad tot he East and Nigeria to the North-West.
The obvious low point is the Atlantic ocean and the highest point is
Fako (4,095 m) on Mt. Cameroon which also takes the gold for the highest
peek and the most frequently active volcano in West Africa. It last erupted in 2000. There is volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun. In 1986 lakes in Oku volcanic field released fatal levels of gas killing some 1,700 people.
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| Mount Cameroon |
Cameroon is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" because of its huge range of diversity. In addition to the ethnic and cultural variation previously mentioned, this country is also home to an assortment of different terrains and temperatures. You will find it all in Cameroon: hot, cold, wet, very very wet, dry, tropical rainforest, desert, beaches and mountains.
Other Information and resources not linked in main article:
BBC's Timeline of Cameroon
Anthropological Study of the Pygmies (<--amazing work, very interactive/interesting)
CIA World Factbook: Cameroon
Michigan State University: Global Edge
Economy Watch
