Cameroon (2001) | World (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 provinces; Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Extreme-Nord, Littoral, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Ouest | 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
42.37% (male 3,385,898; female 3,310,504) 15-64 years: 54.28% (male 4,305,354; female 4,271,958) 65 years and over: 3.35% (male 244,419; female 285,087) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694) 65 years and over: 7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches; livestock; timber | - |
Airports | 49 (2000 est.) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
11 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
38 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 21 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
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Area | total:
475,440 sq km land: 469,440 sq km water: 6,000 sq km |
total:
510.072 million sq km land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than California | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
Background | 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. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the drop in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 36.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$2.1 billion expenditures: $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.) |
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Capital | Yaounde | - |
Climate | varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 402 km | 356,000 km |
Constitution | 20 May 1972 approved by referendum; 2 June 1972 formally adopted; revised January 1996 | - |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Cameroon conventional short form: Cameroon former: French Cameroon |
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Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States | - |
Death rate | 11.99 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $10.9 billion (2000 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John M. YATES embassy: Rue Nachtigal, Yaounde mailing address: P. O. Box 817, Yaounde; pouch: American Embassy, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2520 telephone: [237] 23-40-14, 22-25-89, 23-05-12, 22-17-94 FAX: [237] 23-07-53 branch office(s): Douala |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Jerome MENDOUGA chancery: 2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-8790 FAX: [1] (202) 387-3826 |
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Disputes - international | delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, is complete and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; tripartite maritime boundary and economic zone dispute with Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria is currently before the ICJ | - |
Economic aid - recipient | on 23 January 2001, the Paris Club agreed to reduce Cameroon's debt of $1.3 billion by $900 million; total debt relief now amounts to $1.26 billion | traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) |
Economy - overview | Because of its oil resources and favorable agricultural conditions, Cameroon has one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Still, it faces many of the serious problems facing other underdeveloped countries, such as a top-heavy civil service and a generally unfavorable climate for business enterprise. Since 1990, the government has embarked on various IMF and World Bank programs designed to spur business investment, increase efficiency in agriculture, improve trade, and recapitalize the nation's banks. In June 2000, the government completed an IMF-sponsored, three-year structural adjustment program; however, the IMF is pressing for more reforms, including increased budget transparency and privatization. Higher oil prices in 2000 helped to offset the country's lower cocoa export revenues. A rebound in the cocoa market should increase growth to over 5% in 2001. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 3.227 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production | 3.47 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
2.59% hydro: 97.41% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Fako 4,095 m |
lowest point:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | water-borne diseases are prevalent; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; poaching; overfishing | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94 signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban |
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Ethnic groups | Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1% | - |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro | - |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982) head of government: Prime Minister Peter Mafany MUSONGE (since 19 September 1996) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from proposals submitted by the Prime Minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 12 October 1997 (next to be held NA October 2004); prime minister appointed by the president election results: President Paul BIYA reelected; percent of vote - Paul BIYA 92.6%; note - supporters of the opposition candidates boycotted the elections, making a comparison of vote shares relatively meaningless |
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Exports | $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil and petroleum products, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee, cotton | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | Italy 24%, France 18%, Netherlands 10% (2000 est.) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | - |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), red, and yellow with a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $26 billion (2000 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
43.4% industry: 20.1% services: 36.5% (1999 est.) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 32% services: 64% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.4% (2000 est.) | 4.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 6 00 N, 12 00 E | - |
Geography - note | sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa | - |
Highways | total:
34,300 km paved: 4,288 km unpaved: 30,012 km (1995) |
total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machines and electrical equipment, transport equipment, fuel, food | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | France 29%, Germany 7%, US 6%, Japan 6% (2000 est.) | in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries |
Independence | 1 January 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 4.2% (1999 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | petroleum production and refining, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 69.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2000 est.) | all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)
note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, C, CCC, CEEAC, CEMAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-19, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 210 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); High Court of Justice (consists of nine judges and 6 substitute judges, elected by the National Assembly) | - |
Labor force | NA | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 70%, industry and commerce 13%, other 17% | agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
4,591 km border countries: Central African Republic 797 km, Chad 1,094 km, Republic of the Congo 523 km, Equatorial Guinea 189 km, Gabon 298 km, Nigeria 1,690 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land:
13% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 4% forests and woodland: 78% other: 3% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 32% other: 31% (1993 est.) |
Languages | 24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official) | - |
Legal system | based on French civil law system, with common law influence; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (180 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - the president can either lengthen or shorten the term of the legislature)
elections: last held 17 May 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RDCP 109, SDF 43, UNDP 13, UDC 5, UPC-K 1, MDR 1, MLJC 1; note - results from 7 contested seats were cancelled by the Supreme Court, further elections on 3 August 1997 gave these seats to the RDPC note: the constitution calls for an upper chamber for the legislature, to be called a Senate, but it has yet to be established |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population:
54.59 years male: 53.76 years female: 55.44 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
63.79 years male: 62.15 years female: 65.51 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 63.4% male: 75% female: 52.1% (1995 est.) |
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Location | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria | - |
Map references | Africa | World, Time Zones |
Maritime claims | territorial sea:
50 NM |
contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary exclusive economic zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary territorial sea: 12 NM claimed by most, but can vary note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Military branches | Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Presidential Guard | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $118.6 million (FY00/01) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (FY98/99) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
3,762,369 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,903,149 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
174,308 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Republic Day, 20 May (1972) | - |
Nationality | noun:
Cameroonian(s) adjective: Cameroonian |
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Natural hazards | recent volcanic activity with release of poisonous gases | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower | the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) NA migrant(s)/1,000 population | - |
Political parties and leaders | Cameroonian Democratic Union or UDC [Adamou NDAM NJOYA]; Democratic Rally of the Cameroon People or RDCP [Paul BIYA]; Movement for the Defense of the Republic or MDR [Dakole DAISSALA]; Movement for the Liberation and Development of Cameroon or MLDC [leader NA]; Movement for the Youth of Cameroon or MLJC [Marcel YONDO]; National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Maigari BELLO BOUBA, chairman]; Social Democratic Front or SDF [John FRU NDI]; Union of Cameroonian Populations has two sections UPC-N [Ndeh NTUMAZAH] and UPC-K [Augustin Frederic KODOCK] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Cameroon Anglophone Movement or CAM [Vishe FAI, secretary general]; Southern Cameroon National Council [Nfor Ngala NFOR, acting] | - |
Population | 15,803,220
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 2001 est.) |
6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 48% (2000 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 2.41% (2001 est.) | 1.25% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bonaberi, Douala, Garoua, Kribi, Tiko | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 11, FM 8, shortwave 3 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 2.27 million (1997) | NA |
Railways | total:
1,104 km narrow gauge: 1,104 km 1.000-m gauge (1995 est.) |
total:
1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20% | - |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 20 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment:
available only to business and government domestic: cable, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 75,000 (1997) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 4,200 (1997) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1998) | NA |
Terrain | diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 4.8 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 30% (1998 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 2,090 km (of decreasing importance) | - |