Bertoua

Bertoua is the capital of the East Province of Cameroon and has a population of 173,000 (2001 estimate). It is home to an airport.

The Paris Club

The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of the world’s richest countries, which provides financial services such as debt restructuring, debt relief, and debt cancellation to indebted countries and their creditors. Debtors are often recommended by the International Monetary Fund after alternative solutions have failed. It meets every six weeks at the French Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and Industry in Paris. It is chaired by a senior official of the French Treasury, currently the Director General of the Treasury and Economic Policy Department Xavier Musca.

Geography and climate

At 475,442 square kilometres (183,569 sq mi), Cameroon is the world’s 53rd-largest country.[41] It is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea and somewhat larger than the U.S. state of California. The country is located in Central and West Africa on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Tourist literature describes Cameroon as “Africa in miniature” because it exhibits all major climates and vegetation of the continent: coast, desert, mountains, rainforest, and savanna. The country’s neighbours are 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.

Islands

The life on the Falklands there are between Living in the Stanley or the life of the “camp” differ. The two main islands are West Falkland and Ostfalkland. In addition, there are numerous other smaller islands. The most important are:

* Sea Lion Iceland
* Pebble Iceland
* Saunders Iceland
* Carcass Iceland
* New Iceland
* West Point Iceland

Economy and infrastructure

Cameroon’s per-capita GDP (PPP) was estimated as US$2,421 in 2005,one of the ten highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Major export markets include France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Cameroon is part of the Bank of Central African States (of which it is the dominant economy)and the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC). Its currency is the CFA franc. Red tape, high taxes, and endemic corruption have impeded growth of the private sector.^[54] Unemployment was estimated at 30% in 2001, and about 48% of the population was living below the poverty threshold in 2000.Since the late 1980s, Cameroon has been following programmes advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce poverty, privatise industries, and increase economic growth.Tourism is a growing sector, particularly in the coastal area, around Mount Cameroon, and in the north.

Waza National Park

Waza National Park is Cameroon’s most accessible and rewarding wildlife-viewing experience. Visitors can reasonably expect to see large numbers of elephants, giraffes, hippos, antelopes, monkeys and abundant birdlife. There are lions in the park, but seeing them requires some luck and a very early start.

Late March to April is the best time for viewing, as the animals congregate at water holes before the rains.

When to Go

The best time to visit Cameroon is during the cooler, drier months of November to February. The caveat is the harmattan – the winds that blow sand south from the Sahara and turn skies sandy grey from December to February. On bad days, visibility can be reduced to 1km or even less, delaying or cancelling flights and spoiling views. As bad as this sounds, the May to November rainy season turns Cameroon into a sea of mud and makes travel even more difficult than the harmattan .

Yaoundé

Yaoundé, (IPA: /jɑːuːnˈdeɪ/), is the capital city of Cameroon and second largest city in the country after Douala. It lies in the centre of the nation at about 750 metres (2,500 ft) above sea level.

The Republic of Cameroon

The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It borders 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. Cameroon’s coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called “Africa in miniature” for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua. Cameroon is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. English and French are the official languages.

Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões (”River of Prawns”), the name from which Cameroon derives. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and Britain as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun political party advocated independence but was outlawed in the 1950s. It waged war on French and Cameroonian forces until 1971. In 1960, French Cameroun became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons merged with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984.

Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president, Paul Biya, and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, and corruption is widespread. The Anglophone community has grown increasingly alienated from the government, and Anglophone politicians have called for greater decentralisation and even the secession of the former British-governed territories.