Cameroon: A Land of Rich History and Cultural Diversity

Cameroon is a country located in Central Africa, bordered by Nigeria to the west, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. The territory of what is now Cameroon has seen human habitation since some time in the Middle Paleolithic, likely no later than 130,000 years ago. The earliest discovered archaeological evidence of humans dates from around 30,000 years ago at Shum Laka.

See Population, Official Language And More…

The Bamenda highlands in western Cameroon near the border with Nigeria are the most likely origin for the Bantu peoples, whose language and culture came to dominate most of central and southern Africa between 1000 BCE and 1000 CE. While the northern part of Cameroon was subject to influence from the Islamic kingdoms in the Chad basin and the Sahel, the south was largely ruled by small kings, chieftains, and fons.

Cameroon as a political entity emerged from the colonization of Africa by Europeans. From 1884, Cameroon was a German colony, German Kamerun, with its borders drawn through negotiations between the Germans, British, and French. After World War I, Cameroon became a League of Nations mandate territory divided between France and Britain. In 1960, French Cameroon gained independence followed by British Cameroon in 1961. The two countries were united in 1961 as the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

Cameroon has had only two presidents since independence and while opposition parties were legalized in 1990 only one party has ever governed. Cameroon has maintained close relations with France and allied itself largely with Western political and economic interests throughout the Cold War and into the twenty-first century. This consistency gave Cameroon a reputation as one of the most stable countries in the region.

In recent times, tensions between Anglophone Cameroonians in former British territory and Francophone-dominated government led to an ongoing civil war known as the Anglophone Crisis in the west of the country. Islamist insurgents Boko Haram continue to carry out military and terror attacks in the north of Cameroon.