Much of the area of present-day Cameroon was ruled by powerful chiefdoms before becoming a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the UK as League of Nations mandates. French Cameroon became independent in 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon. The following year the southern portion of neighboring British Cameroon voted to merge with the new country to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1972, a new constitution replaced the federation with a unitary state, the United Republic of Cameroon. The country has generally enjoyed stability, which has enabled the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Nonetheless, unrest and violence in the country’s two western, English-speaking regions has persisted since 2016. Movement toward democratic reform is slow and political power remains firmly in the hands of President Paul BIYA.
land: 472,710 sq km
water: 2,730 sq km
border countries (6): Central African Republic 901 km; Chad 1,116 km; Republic of the Congo 494 km; Equatorial Guinea 183 km; Gabon 349 km; Nigeria 1975 km
contiguous zone: 24 nm
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
mean elevation: 667 m
arable land: 13.1% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 3.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 4.2% (2018 est.)
forest: 41.7% (2018 est.)
other: 37.7% (2018 est.)
30,135,732 (2023 est.)
noun: Cameroonian(s)
adjective: Cameroonian
Bamileke-Bamu 24.3%, Beti/Bassa, Mbam 21.6%, Biu-Mandara 14.6%, Arab-Choa/Hausa/Kanuri 11%, Adamawa-Ubangi, 9.8%, Grassfields 7.7%, Kako, Meka/Pygmy 3.3%, Cotier/Ngoe/Oroko 2.7%, Southwestern Bantu 0.7%, foreign/other ethnic group 4.5% (2018 est.)
24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. (English)
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d’informations de base. (French)
Roman Catholic 38.3%, Protestant 25.5%, other Christian 6.9%, Muslim 24.4%, animist 2.2%, other 0.5%, none 2.2% (2018 est.)
Cameroon has a large youth population, with more than 60% of the populace under the age of 25 as of 2020. Fertility is falling but remains at a high level, especially among poor, rural, and uneducated women, in part because of inadequate access to contraception. Life expectancy remains low at about 55 years due to the prevalence of HIV and AIDs and an elevated maternal mortality rate, which has remained high since 1990. Cameroon, particularly the northern region, is vulnerable to food insecurity largely because of government mismanagement, corruption, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, and natural disasters. Despite economic growth in some regions, poverty is on the rise, and is most prevalent in rural areas, which are especially affected by a shortage of jobs, declining incomes, poor school and health care infrastructure, and a lack of clean water and sanitation. Underinvestment in social safety nets and ineffective public financial management also contribute to Cameroon’s high rate of poverty. The activities of Boko Haram, other armed groups, and counterinsurgency operations have worsened food insecurity in the Far North region.International migration has been driven by unemployment (including fewer government jobs), poverty, the search for educational opportunities, and corruption. The US and Europe are preferred destinations, but, with tighter immigration restrictions in these countries, young Cameroonians are increasingly turning to neighboring states, such as Gabon and Nigeria, South Africa, other parts of Africa, and the Near and Far East. Cameroon’s limited resources make it dependent on UN support to host more than 480,000 refugees and asylum seekers as of December 2022. These refugees and asylum seekers are primarily from the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Internal and external displacement have grown dramatically in recent years. Boko Haram’s attacks and counterattacks by government forces in the Far North since 2014 have increased the number of internally displaced people. Armed conflict between separatists and Cameroon’s military in the Northwest and Southwest since 2016 have displaced hundreds of thousands of the country’s Anglophone minority.
0-14 years: 41.69% (male 6,337,141/female 6,226,100)
15-64 years: 55.12% (male 8,231,473/female 8,379,699)
65 years and over: 3.19% (2023 est.) (male 447,656/female 513,663)
total dependency ratio: 82.3
youth dependency ratio: 77.3
elderly dependency ratio: 4.9
potential support ratio: 20.3 (2021 est.)
total: 18.8 years (2023 est.)
male: 18.5 years
female: 19.1 years
2.73% (2023 est.)
35.1 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
7.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
population concentrated in the west and north, with the interior of the country sparsely populated as shown in this
urban population: 59.3% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.43% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
4.509 million YAOUNDE (capital), 4.063 million Douala (2023)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
20.1 years (2018 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
438 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 47.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 52.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 42.5 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 63.7 years (2023 est.)
male: 61.9 years
female: 65.6 years
4.5 children born/woman (2023 est.)
2.22 (2023 est.)
19.3% (2018)
improved: urban: 95.1% of population
rural: 56.2% of population
total: 78.6% of population
unimproved: urban: 4.9% of population
rural: 43.8% of population
total: 21.4% of population (2020 est.)
3.8% of GDP (2020)
0.13 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
1.3 beds/1,000 population
improved: urban: 83.2% of population
rural: 27.7% of population
total: 59.7% of population
unimproved: urban: 16.8% of population
rural: 72.3% of population
total: 40.3% of population (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Cameroon is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
11.4% (2016)
total: 4.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 2.36 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 1.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 7.3% (2020 est.)
male: 13.2% (2020 est.)
female: 1.4% (2020 est.)
11% (2018/19)
54.2% (2023 est.)
women married by age 15: 10.7%
women married by age 18: 29.8%
men married by age 18: 2.9% (2018 est.)
3.2% of GDP (2020 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77.1%
male: 82.6%
female: 71.6% (2018)
total: 12 years
male: 13 years
female: 11 years (2016)
waterborne diseases are prevalent; deforestation and overgrazing result in erosion, desertification, and reduced quality of pastureland; poaching; overfishing; overhunting
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban
varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north
agricultural land: 20.6% (2018 est.)
arable land: 13.1% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 3.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 4.2% (2018 est.)
forest: 41.7% (2018 est.)
other: 37.7% (2018 est.)
urban population: 59.3% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.43% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
severe localized food insecurity: due to civil insecurity, high food prices, and floods - according to a November 2022 analysis (the latest available), about 3.6 million people were estimated to be acutely food insecure between October and December 2022, as a result of conflict, sociopolitical unrest and high food prices, as well as floods that caused people displacements, damaged standing crops and prevented access to fields (2023)
2.5% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 56.37 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 8.29 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 30.71 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 3,270,617 tons (2013 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 13,082 tons (2009 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 0.4% (2009 est.)
fresh water lake(s): Lake Chad (endorheic lake shared with Niger, Nigeria, and Chad) - 10,360-25,900 sq km
note - area varies by season and year to year
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km), Niger (2,261,741 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Lake Chad (2,497,738 sq km)
Lake Chad Basin
municipal: 250 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 740 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
283.15 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
largest CEMAC economy with many natural resources; recent political instability and terrorism reducing economic output; systemic corruption; poor property rights enforcement; increasing poverty in northern regions
$100.648 billion (2021 est.)
$97.103 billion (2020 est.)
$96.852 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
3.65% (2021 est.)
0.26% (2020 est.)
3.48% (2019 est.)
$3,700 (2021 est.)
$3,700 (2020 est.)
$3,800 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$34.99 billion (2017 est.)
2.27% (2021 est.)
2.44% (2020 est.)
2.45% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: B (2006)
Moody’s rating: B2 (2016)
Standard & Poors rating: B- (2020)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 16.7% (2017 est.)
industry: 26.5% (2017 est.)
services: 56.8% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 66.3% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 11.8% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 21.6% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: -0.3% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 21.6% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -20.9% (2017 est.)
cassava, plantains, maize, oil palm fruit, taro, sugar cane, sorghum, tomatoes, bananas, vegetables
petroleum production and refining, aluminum production, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber, ship repair
3.22% (2021 est.)
11.81 million (2021 est.)
3.87% (2021 est.)
3.84% (2020 est.)
3.64% (2019 est.)
total: 6.6% (2021 est.)
male: 6%
female: 7.3%
37.5% (2014 est.)
46.6 (2014 est.)
on food: 45.3% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 2.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 37.5%
highest 10%: 35.4% (2001)
revenues: $6.118 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $7.405 billion (2019 est.)
-3.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
36.9% of GDP (2017 est.)
32.5% of GDP (2016 est.)
10.87% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
1 July - 30 June
-$1.795 billion (2021 est.)
-$1.512 billion (2020 est.)
-$1.695 billion (2019 est.)
$7.449 billion (2021 est.)
$6.124 billion (2020 est.)
$7.731 billion (2019 est.)
note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.
China 17%, Netherlands 14%, Italy 9%, United Arab Emirates 8%, India 7%, United States 6%, Belgium 6%, Spain 5%, France 5% (2019)
crude petroleum, natural gas, cocoa beans, lumber, gold, bananas (2021)
$9.027 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$7.212 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$9.085 billion (2019 est.)
China 28%, Nigeria 15%, France 9%, Belgium 6% (2019)
crude petroleum, scrap vessels, rice, special purpose ships, packaged medicines (2019)
$3.459 billion (31 December 2018 est.)
$3.197 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$2.26 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$9.375 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$7.364 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale francs (XAF) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
554.531 (2021 est.)
575.586 (2020 est.)
585.911 (2019 est.)
555.446 (2018 est.)
580.657 (2017 est.)
population without electricity: 10 million (2020)
electrification - total population: 65.4% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 94.6% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 24.8% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 1.754 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 6,508,840,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 19 million kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 1.864 billion kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 32.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 67.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 63,200 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 37,900 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 62,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 20,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 200 million barrels (2021 est.)
39,080 bbl/day (2015 est.)
8,545 bbl/day (2015 est.)
14,090 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 2,678,486,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
consumption: 986.189 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
exports: 1,603,156,000 cubic meters (2019 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 135.071 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
7.105 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 5.171 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 1.935 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
6.187 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 1 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 3
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 265,136 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 70,000 (2018) mt-km
TJ
33 (2021)
11
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
22
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
53 km gas, 5 km liquid petroleum gas, 1,107 km oil, 35 km water (2013)
total: 987 km (2014)
narrow gauge: 987 km (2014) 1.000-m gauge
note: railway connections generally efficient but limited; rail lines connect major cities of Douala, Yaounde, Ngaoundere, and Garoua; passenger and freight service provided by CAMRAIL
total: 77,589 km (2016)
paved: 5,133 km (2016)
unpaved: 72,456 km (2016)
(2010) (major rivers in the south, such as the Wouri and the Sanaga, are largely non-navigable; in the north, the Benue, which connects through Nigeria to the Niger River, is navigable in the rainy season only to the port of Garoua)
total: 121 (2022)
by type: bulk carrier 2, general cargo 45, oil tanker 33, other 41
oil terminal(s): Limboh Terminal
river port(s): Douala (Wouri)
Garoua (Benoue)
manyapis