Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/backgrd/cameroon.bkg

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US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

BACKGROUND NOTE:  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: [phone]; telex: 8223KN), BP 817, Yaounde.  The
US Consulate General is at 21 Avenue General de Gaulle, Douala
(tel: [phone]; telex: 5233KN), BP 4006, Douala.