The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroon merged in 1961 to form the present country. Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability, which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Despite a slow movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy headed by President Paul BIYA.
18,060,382 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)
total: 18.9 years male: 18.7 years female: 19 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.241% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:
35.07 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:
12.66 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.018 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.007 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.857 male(s)/female total population: 1.007 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 65.84 deaths/1,000 live births male: 70.73 deaths/1,000 live births female: 60.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.86 years male: 52.15 years female: 53.59 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.49 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
6.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
560,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
49,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever are high risks in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)
Nationality:
noun: Cameroonian(s) adjective: Cameroonian
Ethnic groups:
Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1%
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%
Languages:
24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 79% male: 84.7% female: 73.4% (2003 est.)
conventional long form: Republic of Cameroon conventional short form: Cameroon local long form: Republique du Cameroun/Republic of Cameroon local short form: Cameroun/Cameroon former: French Cameroon, British Cameroon, Federal Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Cameroon
Government type:
republic; multiparty presidential regime
Capital:
name: Yaounde geographic coordinates: 3 52 N, 11 31 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
10 provinces; Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Extreme-Nord, Littoral, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Ouest
Independence:
1 January 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday:
Republic Day (National Day), 20 May (1972)
Constitution:
20 May 1972 approved by referendum, adopted 2 June 1972; revised January 1996
Legal system:
based on French civil law system, with common law influence; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
20 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982) head of government: Prime Minister Ephraim INONI (since 8 December 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from proposals submitted by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 October 2004 (next to be held by October 2011); prime minister appointed by the president election results: President Paul BIYA reelected; percent of vote - Paul BIYA 70.9%, John FRU NDI 17.4%, Adamou Ndam NJOYA 4.5%, Garga Haman ADJI 3.7%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (180 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - the president can either lengthen or shorten the term of the legislature elections: last held 23 June 2002 (next to be held in June 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RDCP 133, SDF 21, UDC 5, other 21 note: the constitution calls for an upper chamber for the legislature, to be called a Senate, but it has yet to be established
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); High Court of Justice (consists of nine judges and six substitute judges, elected by the National Assembly)
Political parties and leaders:
Cameroonian Democratic Union or UDC [Adamou Ndam NJOYA]; Cameroon People's Democratic Movement or RDCP [Paul BIYA]; Movement for the Defense of the Republic or MDR [Dakole DAISSALA]; Movement for the Liberation and Development of Cameroon or MLDC [Marcel YONDO]; Movement for the Youth of Cameroon or MYC [Dieudonne TINA]; National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Maigari BELLO BOUBA]; Social Democratic Front or SDF [John FRU NDI]; Union of Peoples of Cameroon or UPC [Augustin Frederic KODOCK]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Southern Cameroon National Council [Ayamba Ette OTUN]; Human Rights Defense Group [Albert MUKONG, president]
chief of mission: Ambassador Niels MARQUARDT embassy: Rue Nachtigal, Yaounde mailing address: P. O. Box 817, Yaounde; pouch: American Embassy, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2520 telephone: [237] 220 15 00; Consular: [237] 220 16 03 FAX: [237] 220 16 20; Consular FAX: [237] 220 17 52 branch office(s): Douala
Flag description:
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), red, and yellow with a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
general assessment: available only to business and government domestic: cable, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter international: country code - 237; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia
Joint Border Commission with Nigeria reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; implementation of the ICJ ruling on the Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea is pending due to imprecisely defined coordinates and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 39,303 (Chad), 9,711 (Nigeria), 13,000 (Central African Republic); note - there are an additional 10,000 Central African refugees unregistered with UNHCR as of December 2006 (2006)
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