Cameroon

Quick Facts

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Capital

Yaoundé

Government

Unitary republic

Nationality

Cameroonian

Population

17 000 000^[1]

Languages

English, French

Religions

Indigenous beliefs, Islam, Christianity

Currency

Central African CFA Franc (XAF)

Calling Code

+237

Time Zone

WAT (UTC+1)

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Introduction

Boy Selling Goliath Frog - for food

© All Rights Reserved canadamatt

Despite occupying the somewhat disconcerting area of coastline known as "The Armpit of Africa", Cameroon is a land of exquisite natural beauty, cultural vigour and culinary delight. Rainforests flourish throughout the southern and eastern areas of Cameroon; if you're starting to get withdrawal symptoms from the usual dry savannah landscape characteristic of the African continent, head over to Cameroon's northern reaches, where the national park at Waza capitalizes on the region's abundant wildlife. Mt Cameroon, near the western border with Nigeria, is an excellent hiking opportunity, with the 3000 metre tall summit offering some splendid scenery.

French and British colonialism had pronounced effects on Cameroon's culture, though the country prides itself on its heritage. Cameroon's musical stylings are extremely popular, whether they're pumping from a club in Yaoundé or the stands at a soccer match.

Brief History

Geography

Cameroon is located in West Africa and shares borders with Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Regions/Provinces

• Adamawa
• Centre
• East
• Far North
• Littoral
• North
• Northwest
• South
• Southwest
• West

Cities

• Douala
• Yaoundé
• Garoua
• Kousséri
• Bamenda
• Maroua
• Ngaoundéré

Sights and Activities

Waza National Park

Waza National Park is located in northern Cameroon and with a total area of around 1700 square kilometres it is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1979. Unfortunately, both numbers of wildlife and park rangers have declined in recent years and poachers have become active again, hunting for bushmeat for both local use and trade, as is the case with many parks in Central Africa. Still, it probably is one of the better parks to enjoy a safari. Recently several more park rangers were added to guard the park. Wildlife includes elephant and giraffe, species of antelopen, several predators and numerous birds.

Korup National Park

The Korup National Park is located in the west of the country close to the Nigerian border and is most famous for its dense tropical rainforest and high biodiversity with dozens of mammals and birds living here. This is one of the oldest rainforest in this part of Africa and has even stayed rainforest throughout the Ice Age.

Dja Faunal Reserve

The Dja Faunal Reserve in the central part of Cameroon is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the country. It is one of the best examples in Cameroon and in Africa for that matter to preserve tropical rainforest and it has an extremely rich biological diversity with over 100 species of mammal, several of which are endangered. It also has high numbers or divers primates, birds and flora. The park is almost totally surrounded by the Dja River.

Mount Cameroon

• Kribi beaches
• Sultan and King palaces in places like Bafut and Bafoussam

Events and Festivals

Weather

Getting There

By Plane

The Douala International Airport (DLA), located 10 km outside Douala, is the main gateway to the country. It is also the base of the flag carrier, Cameroon Airlines. Destinations from here include Abidjan, Bamako, Bangui, Brazzaville, Cotonou, Dakar, Dubai, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Malabo, N'Djamena, Paris and Pointe-Noire. Brussels, Casablanca and Istanbul, Tripoli, Zürich are other destinations are served by their respecitve national airlines.

Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport (NSI) near the capital Yaoundé has connections to Brussels, Casablanca, Nairobi, Paris and Zürich.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Plane

Garoua, Maroua, Ngaoundéré, Yaoundé and Douala are all served by Cameroon Airlines. National Airways Cameroon does approximately the same.

By Train

There are trains between the capital Yaoundé and Ngaoundéré in the north and between Yaoundé and the coastal city of Douala. Travelling to the north is best done by train which is more comfortable than buses. However, buses are faster on the Yaoundé - Douala route.

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Red Tape

Money

See also Money matters

Cameroon uses the CFA Franc as a currency. The CFA Franc is divided into 100 centimes. Coins come in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 francs while banknotes come in denominations of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000 francs
The exchange range is fixed at aproximately 656 CFA Francs for one Euro.

In Cameroon the Central African CFA Franc (XAF) is used which has the same vallue as the West African CFA Franc (XOF), but it's not possible to use both currencies in the same country.

Fourteen countries in Africa use this currency, eight in West Africa and six in Central Africa. The West African CFA Franc can only be used in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, while the Central African CFA Franc can only be used in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

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