Wayzata World Factbook 1994/World Factbook - 1994 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1994).iso/pc/text/txtfiles/cameroon.bkg

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#CARD:Cameroon:Background Notes
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE BACKGROUND NOTES:  Cameroon

June 1992
Official Name: Republic of Cameroon

PROFILE
Geography
Area:  475,439 sq. km. (183,568 sq. mi.); about the size of California.
Cities:  Capital--Yaounde (pop. 850,000).  Other major cities--Douala
(1,500,000), Nkongsamba (130,000), Bafoussam (110,000), Garoua
(100,000), Bamenda (100,000).  Terrain:  Northern plains, central and
southern plateaus, western highlands and mountains, coastal plains.
Climate: Northern plains--semiarid and hot (7-month dry season).
Central plateau--cooler, shorter dry season.  Southwest--year-round
rainfall.  Coastal lowlands--warm and humid all year.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Cameroonian(s).  Population (1991
est.):  11.7 million (60% in rural areas).  Annual growth rate:  3%.
Ethnic groups:  More than 200.  Religions:  Christian, Muslim,
indigenous African.  Languages:  English and French (official), more
than 200 African.  Education:  Years compulsory--none.  Attendance--more
than 70%.  Literacy--65%.  Health:  Infant mortality rate--more than
20%.  Life expectancy--54 yrs.  Work force:  Agriculture--70%.  Industry
and commerce--13%.  Other--17%.

Government
Type:  Independent republic.  Independence:  January 1, 1960.
Constitution:  May 20, 1972.
Branches:  Executive--president (chief of state and de facto head of
government,
5-year term).  Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (180 members,
5-year terms).
Administrative subdivisions: 10 provinces.
Ruling political party:  Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM or
RPDC).  Suffrage:  Universal adult.
Central government budget (1991-92):  $1.4 billion.
Defense (1991-92):  $159 million; 8.7% of budget.
Flag: Three vertical stripes from left to right--green, red, and
yellow--with one yellow star centered in red stripe.

Economy
GDP (1990-91 est.):  $12.5 billion.  GDP declined 2.4% in 1988-89, 6.3%
in 1989-90, and an estimated 2.6% in 1990-91.  Annual growth rate: 4.3%.
 Annual inflation rate: 2%.
Natural resources:  Oil (8% of GDP), natural gas, bauxite, iron ore,
timber.
Agriculture:  27% of GDP.  Products--cocoa, coffee, cotton, fishing, and
forestry.  Arable land--12%.
Industry:  24% of GDP (13% manufacturing).
Trade (1990-91 est.):  Exports--$2.9 billion:  petroleum, cocoa, coffee,
tropical wood.  Major markets (1989)--France 28%, Netherlands 16%,
United States 13%.  Imports--$2.2 billion:  intermediate goods, capital
goods, fuel and lubricants, foodstuffs, beverages, tobacco.  Major
suppliers (1989)--France 32%, Germany 9%, Italy 6%, Japan 6%, United
States 5%.
Official exchange rate: 50 CFA to 1 French franc, which floats against
the US dollar.
Fiscal year:  July 1-June 30.

PEOPLE
 Cameroon has about 200 tribes and clans speaking at least that many
African languages and major dialects.  It is the only African nation
where both French and English have official status.  In 1961, the
government established the University of Yaounde, the first African
university to offer courses in both French and English.  Branch campuses
are in Ngaoundere, Dschang, Douala, and Buea.
 Traditional African religious beliefs influence both Muslims
(concentrated in the north) and Christians (concentrated in the south).
Four-fifths of Cameroon-ians live in the formerly French east; 20,000
Europeans and 900 US citizens reside in Cameroon.  The main seaport and
largest city is Douala; the capital, Yaounde, is second-largest.

HISTORY
 The earliest inhabitants probably were the Pygmies, who still inhabit
the southern forests.  Bantu speakers were among the first groups that
invaded Cameroon from equatorial Africa, settling in the south and later
in the west.  The Muslim Fulani from the Niger basin arrived in the 11th
and 19th centuries and settled in the north.
 Contact with Europeans began in the 1500s.  During the next 3
centuries, Spanish, Dutch, and British traders visited the area, and
there was costal slave trading.  Christian missions appeared in the
mid-1800s and still are active.
 In July 1884, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France each attempted to
annex the area.  In a treaty with local chiefs, the German Consul of
Tunis, Tunisia, extended a protectorate over Cameroon.  Germany
strengthened its claim and expanded its territory by treaties with the
United Kingdom and France, but British and French armies invaded the
German colony in 1914.
 A 1919 declaration divided Cameroon between the United Kingdom and
France, with the larger, eastern area under France.  A 1922 League of
Nations mandate sanctioned the division; in 1946, the United Nations
converted the mandates to trusteeships.  In December 1958, the French
trusteeship was ended; French Cameroon became the Republic of Cameroon
on January 1, 1960.
 In February 1961, a plebiscite under UN auspices in British (west)
Cameroon determined whether people wished union with Nigeria or with the
new Republic of Cameroon.  Northern voters chose to join Nigeria;
southern voters, Cameroon.  On July 1, 1961, the northern area was
absorbed by Nigeria.  On October 1, 1961, the southern part joined
French Cameroon, and the new Federal Republic of Cameroon was created.
 From 1961 until spring 1972, Cameroon was governed as a federation,
with east (formerly French) Cameroon and west (formerly British)
Cameroon having individual governments--each with a parliament and
ministries--in addition to the federal government structure.
 In 1972, President Ahidjo proposed abolition of the federal structure.
A May 20, 1972, referendum gave widespread endorsement to the proposal,
and a June 2 decree proclaimed the United Republic of Cameroon
retroactive to May 20.  On January 25, 1984,  a constitutional amendment
made its official name the Republic of Cameroon.

GOVERNMENT
 The May 20, 1972, constitution provides for strong executive authority.
 The president can name and dismiss cabinet members and judges,
negotiate and ratify treaties, accredit ambassadors, commute sentences,
grant pardons, lead the armed forces, and declare states of national
emergency and be invested with special powers.
 If the president dies or is permanently incapacitated, the speaker of
the National Assembly becomes acting president for up to 40 days until
elections are held.  In the National Assembly, laws are adopted by
majority vote of members present, except for cases where the president
calls for a second reading; adoption then requires approval by a
majority of the assembly's total membership.  Only the president may ask
the Supreme Court to review a law's constitutionality.
 Each of the 10 provinces has a presidentially-appointed governor and an
administrative staff, and each province's divisions and subdivisions
have presidentially-appointed chief officers.  This internal
administrative system is under the Ministry of Territorial
Administration.  Other ministries may have representatives at each
level.
 The president, the minister of justice, and the president's judicial
advisers (Supreme Court) top the judicial hierarchy.  Next come the
provincial appeals courts, chief judges for the divisions, and local
magistrates.  Traditional courts still play a major role in domestic,
property, and probate law.  Tribal laws and customs are honored in the
formal court system when not in conflict with national law.
 Traditional kingdoms and organizations also exercise other functions of
government; traditional rulers are treated as administrative adjuncts
and receive a government salary.  Formal governmental and tribal
structures are mutually reinforcing and allow for local variation.

Principal Government Officials
President--Paul Biya
Speaker of the National Assembly--Djibril Cavaye Yegue
Prime Minister--Simon Achidi Achu
Ambassador to the United States--Paul Pondi
Ambassador to the United Nations--Pascal Biloa Tang

 Cameroon maintains an embassy in the United States at 2349
Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. [phone]) and
consulates in San Francisco and Houston.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS
 From 1955 until the mid-1960s, Cameroon had known sustained terrorist
activity--begun in opposition to foreign rule and continued after
independence against moderates in Cameroon's governments--led by the
outlawed Union of Cameroon Peoples and supported by foreign communist
and radical African regimes.  Terrorism gradually was reduced to
isolated banditry.  The capture of the last important rebel leader in
1970 signaled the end of concerted rebel action and the effective
achievement of political consolidation.
 When President Ahidjo resigned in November 1982, he was
constitutionally succeeded by Prime Minister Paul Biya.  Biya received
his own mandate in 1984, renewed in a single-candidate 1988 election.
His term will expire in 1993.
 Cameroon has never had a successful military coup d'etat, but, in April
1984, elements of the Republic Guard tried to overthrow Biya.  The
revolt was put down by loyal armed forces.  Many conspirators were
executed within months of the suppression; the last of those imprisoned
were released April 1991 in a general amnesty.
 In the March 1, 1992, multi-party elections for the National Assembly,
the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement won 88 of 180 seats.  It
entered into a coalition with a small opposition party to retain a
majority and form the present government.  Two other parties also are
represented in the assembly.

ECONOMY
 Cameroon's economy grew from independence in 1960 until 1985.  In the
mid-1970s and early 1980s, economic growth averaged 8% yearly.  The
country's petroleum production and a rich and diverse agricultural base
contributed to the growth.  Starting in 1986, prospects darkened when
the collapse of world prices for Cameroon's major export
commodities--petroleum, coffee, and cocoa--brought a trade shock.  An
African economic success story in the early 1980s, by the last half of
the decade, Cameroon was in a crisis marked by a shrinking economy and
serious money shortage.  The US Embassy and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) estimate that Cameroon had improving balance-of-payments
through the first half of the 1980s, mainly due to oil export revenues;
lower world commodity prices led to a current account deficit during the
second half of the decade.  Still, per capita income is one of the
highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, and it is a "middle-income" developing
country.
 Cameroon is implementing a stringent Structural Adjustment Program
(SAP) developed in conjunction with the World Bank and the IMF.  It
already has begun cutting its current account and budget deficits.  The
government also has moved to liberalize the economy, such as easing
bureaucratic regulation.
 The government moved quickly in 1990 to create a free trade zone.  The
zone, which is being created with the assistance of the US Agency for
Inter- national Development (USAID) and the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation, will let Cameroon develop internationally competitive
export industries.
 Cameroon's new investment code offers foreign investors a simplified,
transparent, and automatic investment approval process, including the
creation of a "one-stop shop" that will provide many investment
authorization services in one place.  Foreign and domestic investors are
given 14 guarantees, including property ownership, transfer of capital
and income, and full expropriation compensation.  Although France still
is Cameroon's primary foreign investor, the government concluded an
investment guaranty agreement with the United States in 1967, and a
bilateral investment accord with the United States was ratified in 1989.
 Petroleum is the country's single most important export, producing more
than 40% of national export earnings.  Agricultural commodities, such as
cocoa, coffee, and wood, also are important sources of export income.
Agriculture remains the economy's mainstay and employs 70% of the work
force.  The country is agriculturally self-sufficient, and plans are
underway to abolish the inefficient state-owned commodities marketing
board.
 Cameroon's manufacturing sector is small, about 13% of GDP.  Light
manufacturing predominates.  The government is privatizing many public
and para-public economic enterprises.
 The country's physical infrastructure--such as the national
transportation system--is being improved gradually, but recent austerity
budgets have given little scope to public works projects.  The country
has international airports at Douala and Garoua.  A third major airport,
at Yaounde, opened in March 1992.
 Foreign financial assistance is important to Cameroon's development.
France has been the principal aid donor; the United States also has
provided aid (see:  US-Cameroonian Relations).
 For further information on foreign economic trends, commercial
development, production, trade regulations, and tariff rates, contact
the International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce,
Washington, DC 20230 or any Commerce Department district office.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
 Like other African countries, Cameroon has espoused positions
underlining its nonalignment and adherence to Third World principles.
Its condemnation of South Africa and support for majority rule in
Namibia have been consistent and emphatic, although it also has shown
moderation.  It has moved toward relations with South Africa as
President de Klerk works to dismantle apartheid.
 The country has close ties to France and has signed a number of accords
with it in economic, military, and cultural cooperation.  Cameroon has
sought closer ties with other nations, including the United States and
Germany, and has signed economic and cultural cooperation agreements
with several countries.  It belongs to a number of multilateral
organizations.
 Diplomatic relations with communist nations were cautious in the
mid-1960s.  Although Cameroon grew less reluctant to pursue such
relations as the communist rebel cause and its foreign support dwindled,
their importance has recently declined.

DEFENSE
 The Cameroonian military generally has been a political force dominated
by civilian control.  Traditional dependence upon French defense
capability is being replaced by reliance on domestic forces.  The armed
forces number 25,000-26,000 personnel in ground, air, and naval service,
the majority in ground forces.  In FY 1990, Cameroon received $75,000 in
African Coastal Security funds and $130,000 for Military Civic Action
projects from the United States.  US military assistance to Cameroon for
FY 1991 included $275,000 in military education and training.

US-CAMEROONIAN RELATIONS
 US-Cameroonian relations are excellent, though US emphasis on human
rights improvement has caused occasional short-lived friction.  There
have been numerous visits between the countries by heads of state and
government officials over the last 2 decades.
   The United States has provided bilateral economic assistance to
Camer- oon since 1961 and has operated a Peace Corps program since 1962.

 Cameroon also receives US military assistance (see:  Defense).
 USAID has an annual budget exceeding $20 million, and its activities
have concentrated on agriculture, public health, higher education,
private sector development, human resources development, and support for
economic and institutional reform.  Major projects that have received US
economic assistance are the Trans-Cameroonian Railway, the Kumba-Mamfe
Road, the University Center at Dschang, and the free-trade zone.
 About 150 Peace Corps volunteers work in Cameroon in three principal
sectors:
 --  Agricultural extension--agro-forestry, inland fisheries, community
development, and marketing cooperatives;
 --  Education--teaching English, math/science, and primary education;
and
 --  Health--primary and maternal health care.
 Each year, the US Government invites Cameroonian Government officials,
media representatives, educators, and scholars to visit the United
States to become better acquainted with the American people and to
exchange ideas and views with their American colleagues.  About six
Cameroonian graduate students are supported by the Fulbright Program.
This cooperative effort in understanding is furthered through frequent
visits to Cameroon by representatives of US business and educational
institutions, as well as by visits of Fulbright-Hays scholars and
specialists.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--Frances D. Cook
Deputy Chief of Mission--Tibor P. Nagy, Jr.
Economic/Commercial Officer--Richard Petard
Political Officer--James Swan
USAID Director--Peter Benedict
Public Affairs Officer (USIA)--Mary Roberta Jones
Defense Attache--Lt. Col. Charles M. Vuckovic
Peace Corps Director--John Carter
Consul General, Douala--Michele Sison
 The US Embassy in Cameroon is located on Rue Nachtigal, Yaounde (tel:
237-22-25-89/23-05-12; telex: 8223KN), BP 817, Yaounde.  The US
Consulate General is at 21 Avenue General de Gaulle, Douala (tel:
237-42-53-31/42-60-03; telex: 5233KN), BP 4006, Douala.  (###)


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