Cameroon

Airports

60 total, 52 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 21 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

5 major transport aircraft

Highways

about 65,000 km total; includes 2,682 km bituminous, 30,000 km unimproved earth, 32,318 km gravel, earth, and improved earth

Inland waterways

2,090 km; of decreasing importance

Merchant marine

2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 24,122 GRT/33,509 DWT

Ports

Douala

Railroads

1,003 km total; 858 km 1.000-meter gauge, 145 km 0.600-meter gauge

Telecommunications

good system of open wire, cable, troposcatter, and radio relay; 26,000 telephones; stations--10 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations

Branches

Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force; paramilitary Gendarmerie

Defense expenditures

$219 million, 1.7% of GDP (1990 est.)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 2,628,909; 1,324,899 fit for military service; 125,421 reach military age (18) annually

Agriculture

the agriculture and forestry sectors provide employment for the majority of the population, contributing nearly 25% to GDP and providing a high degree of self-sufficiency in staple foods; commercial and food crops include coffee, cocoa, timber, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, livestock, root starches

Budget

revenues $1.7 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA million (FY89)

Currency

Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $440 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $4.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $29 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $125 million

Electricity

752,000 kW capacity; 2,940 million kWh produced, 270 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Exports

$2.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.); commodities--petroleum products 56%, coffee, cocoa, timber, manufactures; partners--EC (particularly the French) about 50%, US 10%

External debt

$4.9 billion (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

GDP

$11.5 billion, per capita $1,040; real growth rate 0.7% (1990 est.)

Imports

$2.1 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.); commodities--machines and electrical equipment, transport equipment, chemical products, consumer goods; partners--France 41%, Germany 9%, US 4%

Industrial production

growth rate - 6.4% (FY87); accounts for 30% of GDP

Industries

crude oil products, food processing, light consumer goods industries textiles, sawmills

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8.6% (FY88)

Overview

Over the past decade the economy has registered a remarkable performance because of the development of an offshore oil industry. Real GDP growth annually averaged 10% from 1978 to 1985. In 1986 Cameroon had one of the highest levels of income per capita in tropical Africa, with oil revenues picking up the slack as growth in other sectors softened. Because of the sharp drop in oil prices, however, the economy experienced serious budgetary difficulties and balance-of-payments disequilibrium. Despite the recent upsurge in oil prices, Cameroon's economic outlook is troubled. Oil reserves currently being exploited will be depleted in the early 1990s, so ways must be found to boost agricultural and industrial exports in the medium term. The Sixth Cameroon Development Plan (1986-91) stresses balanced development and designates agriculture as the basis of the country's economic future.

Unemployment rate

25% (1990 est.)

Climate

varies with terrain from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north

Coastline

402 km Territorial sea: 50 nm

Comparative area

slightly larger than California

Disputes

demarcation of international boundaries in Lake Chad, the lack of which has led to border incidents in the past, is completed and awaiting ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; Nigerian proposals to reopen maritime boundary negotiations and redemarcate the entire land boundary have been rejected by Cameroon

Environment

recent volcanic activity with release of poisonous gases; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification

Land boundaries

4,591 km total; Central African Republic 797 km, Chad 1,094 km, Congo 523 km, Equatorial Guinea 189 km, Gabon 298 km, Nigeria 1,690 km

Land use

arable land 13%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures 18%; forest and woodland 54%; other 13%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Natural resources

crude oil, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower potential

Note

sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa

Terrain

diverse with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north

Total area

475,440 km2; land area: 469,440 km2

Administrative divisions

10 provinces; Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Extreme-Nord, Littoral, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Ouest

Capital

Yaounde

Communists

no Communist party or significant number of sympathizers

Constitution

20 May 1972

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Paul PONDI; Chancery at 2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 265-8790 through 8794; US--Ambassador Frances D. COOK; Embassy at Rue Nachtigal, Yaounde (mailing address is B. P. 817, Yaounde); telephone [237] 234014; there is a US Consulate General in Douala

Executive branch

president, Cabinet

Flag

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

Independence

1 January 1960 (from UN trusteeship under French administration; formerly French Cameroon)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court Chief of State President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982); Head of Government interim Prime Minister Sadou HAYATOU (since 25 April 1991)

Legal system

based on French civil law system, with common law influence; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

Long-form name

Republic of Cameroon

Member of

ACCT (associate), ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-19, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

National Day, 20 May (1972)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Political parties and leaders

Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), Paul BIYA, president, is government-controlled and was formerly the only party; 17 parties formed by 1 May 1991

Suffrage

universal at age 21 President--last held 24 April 1988 (next to be held April 1993); results--President Paul BIYA reelected without opposition; National Assembly--last held 24 April 1988 (next to be held by the end of 1992); results--RDPC was the only party; seats--(180 total) RDPC 180

Type

unitary republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition parties legalized 1990)

Birth rate

41 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

over 200 tribes of widely differing background; Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1%

Infant mortality rate

118 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

NA; agriculture 74.4%, industry and transport 11.4%, other services 14.2% (1983); 50% of population of working age (15-64 years) (1985)

Language

English and French (official), 24 major African language groups

Life expectancy at birth

49 years male, 53 years female (1991)

Literacy

54% (male 66%, female 43%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Cameroonian(s); adjective--Cameroonian

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

under 45% of wage labor force

Population

11,390,374 (July 1991), growth rate 2.7% (1991)

Religion

indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 33%, Muslim 16%

Total fertility rate

5.6 children born/woman (1991)