| Republic of Cameroon République du Cameroun (French) | ||||||
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| Motto: Paix – Travail – Patrie" (French) "Peace – Work – Fatherland" |
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| Anthem: "Chant de Ralliement" (French) ("The Rallying Song") |
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| Capital | Yaoundé | |||||
| Largest city | Douala | |||||
| Official languages | English • French | |||||
| Religion | 66.3% Christianity 30.6% Islam 1.3% traditional faiths 1.1% no religion 0.7% others |
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| Demonym | Cameroonian | |||||
| Government | Unitary dominant-party presidential republic | |||||
| - | President | Emmanuel Olivier | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Joseph Ngute | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower house | National Assembly | ||||
| Formation | ||||||
| - | German Kamerun | 17 August 1884 | ||||
| - | Partition | 20 July 1916 | ||||
| - | Independence of French Cameroon from France | 1 January 1960 | ||||
| - | Independence of Southern Cameroons from the United Kingdom, establishment of federal republic | 1 October 1961 | ||||
| - | Unitary state | May 1972 | ||||
| - | Current Constitution | 20 July 2022 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 475,442 km2 183,569 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | estimate | 30,966,105 | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $141.930 billion | ||||
| - | Per capita | $4,840 | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $53.210 billion | ||||
| - | Per capita | $1,810 | ||||
| Gini (2024) | 42.2 | |||||
| HDI (2024) | 0.588 | |||||
| Currency | Central African CFA franc (XAF) |
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| Time zone | UTC+1 (WAT) | |||||
| Drives on the | Right | |||||
| Internet TLD | .cm | |||||
| Calling code | +237 | |||||
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both camps. Cameroon's population of nearly 31 million people speak 250 native languages, in addition to the national tongues of English and French, or both. 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 (Shrimp River), which became Cameroon in English. 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.
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