Category: Cameroon

The Republic of Cameroon is a country in Central Africa bathed by the Bay of Biafra, in the Atlantic Ocean. The name comes from the Cameroon River, given, in the 1470s, by the Portuguese navigator Fernando Pó, to the estuary that bathes Douala, the largest city in the country, with more than two million residents. Cameroon became a German protectorate (Kamerun) in 1884. It came under French control during the First World War. But a small strip of land, to the north, became British Cameroon. Independence was achieved in 1960. The northern part of British Cameroon stayed with Nigeria. The southern part, with the current Cameroon. Cameroon has 24 million residents (2016). The capital is Yaoundé, with about one million residents.