Cameroon

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National name: République du Cameroun

Languages: French, English (both official); 24 major African language groups

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

National Holiday: Republic Day (National Day), May 20

Religions: indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Islam 20%

Literacy rate: 75.9% (2011 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $47.12 billion; per capita $2,300. Real growth rate: —3.8%. Inflation: 3.4%. Unemployment: 30% (2011 est.). Arable land: 13%. Agriculture: coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches; livestock; timber. Labor force: 8.083 million; agriculture 70%, industry and commerce 13%, other 17%. Industries: petroleum production and refining, aluminum production, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber, ship repair. Natural resources: petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower. Exports: $5.361 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.): crude oil and petroleum products, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee, cotton. Imports: $5.901 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.): machinery, electrical equipment, transport equipment, fuel, food. Major trading partners: Spain, Italy, UK, France, U.S., South Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Belgium, China, Germany (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 496,500 (2011); mobile cellular: 10.409 million (2011). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 3 (2002). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2002). Internet hosts: 9,553 (2011). Internet users: 749,600 (2011); note: Cameroon also had more than 100 cyber-cafes in 2001.

Transportation: Railways: total: 987 km (2011). Highways: total: 51,000 km; (2011 est.). Waterways: navigation mainly on Benue River; limited during rainy season (2004). Ports and harbors: Douala, Limboh Terminal. Airports: 34 (2011 est.).

International disputes: ICJ ruled in 2002 on the entire Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime boundary but the parties formed a Joint Border Commission, which continues to meet regularly to resolve differences bilaterally and have commenced with demarcation in less-contested sections of the boundary, starting in Lake Chad in the north; implementation of the ICJ ruling on the Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea is impeded by imprecisely defined coordinates, the unresolved Bakassi allocation, and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River; Nigeria initially rejected cession of the Bakasi Peninsula, then agreed, but has yet to withdraw its forces while much of the indigenous population opposes cession; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes Chad and Niger.

Major sources and definitions