Cameroon

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 a slow movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy headed by President Paul BIYA.

• waterborne diseases are prevalent;
• deforestation;
• overgrazing;
• desertification;
• poaching;
• overfishing

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa;
• throughout the country there are areas of thermal springs and indications of current or prior volcanic activity;
• Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Sub-Saharan west Africa, is an active volcano

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.018 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.007 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.857 male(s)/female

total population:

1.007 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

noun:

Cameroonian(s)

adjective:

Cameroonian

conventional long form:

Republic of Cameroon

conventional short form:

Cameroon

local long form:

Republique du Cameroun/Republic of Cameroon

local short form:

Cameroun/Cameroon

former:

French Cameroon, British Cameroon, Federal Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Cameroon

name:

Yaounde

geographic coordinates:

3 52 N, 11 31 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982)

head of government:

Prime Minister Ephraim INONI (since 8 December 2004)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president from proposals submitted by the prime minister

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held 11 October 2004 (next to be held by October 2011);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

President Paul BIYA reelected; percent of vote - Paul BIYA 70.9%, John FRU NDI 17.4%, Adamou Ndam NJOYA 4.5%, Garga Haman ADJI 3.7%

• 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 22 July 2007 (next to be held in 2012)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - RDCP 140, SDF 14, UDC 4, UNDP 4, MP 1, vacant 17;
• note - vacant seats will be determined in a yet to be scheduled by-election after the Supreme Court nullified results in five districts

note: the constitution calls for an upper chamber for the legislature, to be called a Senate, but it has yet to be established

• Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president);
• High Court of Justice (consists of nine judges and six substitute judges, elected by the National Assembly)

• Cameroonian Democratic Union or UDC [Adamou Ndam NJOYA];
• Cameroon People's Democratic Movement or RDPC [Paul BIYA];
• Movement for the Defense of the Republic or MDR [Dakole DAISSALA];
• Movement for the Liberation and Development of Cameroon or MLDC [Marcel YONDO];
• Movement for the Youth of Cameroon or MYC [Dieudonne TINA];
• National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Maigari BELLO BOUBA];
• Progressive Movement or MP;
• Social Democratic Front or SDF [John FRU NDI];
• Union of Peoples of Cameroon or UPC [Augustin Frederic KODOCK]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jerome MENDOUGA

chancery:

2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 265-8790

FAX:

[1] (202) 387-3826

chief of mission:

Ambassador R. Niels MARQUARDT

embassy:

Avenue Rosa Parks, Yaounde

mailing address:

P. O. Box 817, Yaounde; pouch: American Embassy, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2520

telephone:

[237] 2220 15 00; Consular: [237] 2220 16 03

FAX:

[237] 2220 16 00 Ext. 4531; Consular FAX: [237] 2220 17 52

branch office(s):

Douala

• 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

agriculture:

70%

industry:

13%

services:

17% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.3%

highest 10%:

35.4% (2001)

• coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches;
• livestock;
• timber

general assessment:

• fixed-line connections stand at less than 1 per 100 persons;
• equipment is old and outdated, and connections with many parts of the country are unreliable;
• mobile-cellular usage, in part a reflection of the poor condition and general inadequacy of the fixed-line network, has been increasing steadily and currently stands at 14 per 100 persons

domestic:

cable, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter

international:

• country code - 237;
• landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)

total:

987 km

narrow gauge:

987 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

total:

50,000 km

paved:

5,000 km

unpaved:

45,000 km (2004)

total:

1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 38,613 GRT/68,820 DWT

by type:

petroleum tanker 1

foreign-owned:

1 (France 1) (2007)

• 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• the government makes periodic calls for volunteers (2006)

males age 18-49:

3,525,307

females age 18-49:

3,461,406 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

1,946,767

females age 18-49:

1,834,600 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

191,619

females age 18-49:

187,082 (2005 est.)

• Joint Border Commission with Nigeria reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues;
• implementation of the ICJ ruling on the Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea is pending due to imprecisely defined coordinates and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River;
• only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries

refugees (country of origin):

• 39,303 (Chad), 9,711 (Nigeria), 13,000 (Central African Republic);
• note - there are an additional 10,000 Central African refugees unregistered with UNHCR as of December 2006 (2006)