Countries
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Disputes - international: Joint Border Commission with Nigeria reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately ceded sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a full phase-out of Nigerian control and patriation of residents in 2008; Cameroon and Nigeria agreed on maritime delimitation in March 2008; 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): 8,492 (Chad); 89,927 (Central African Republic)
Military branches: Cameroon Armed Forces (Forces Armees Camerounaises, FAC): Army (L'Armee de Terre), Navy (includes naval infantry), Air Force (Armee de l'Air du Cameroun, AAC), Fire Fighter Corps, Gendarmerie
Military service age and obligation: 18-23 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription; high school graduation required; service obligation 4 years; the government periodically calls for volunteers
Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 4,667,251, females age 16-49: 4,548,909
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: male: 215,248, female: 211,636
Military expenditures: 1.3% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 115
Airports: 34
country comparison to the world: 112
Pipelines: oil 886 km
Railways: 987 km
country comparison to the world: 88
Roadways: 51,000 km
country comparison to the world: 80
Waterways: (major rivers in the south, such as the Wouri and the Sanaga, are largely non-navigable; in the north, the Benue, which connects through Nigeria to the Niger River, is navigable in the rainy season only to the port of Garoua)
Ports and terminals: Douala, Garoua, Limboh Terminal
Telephones - main lines in use: 496,500
country comparison to the world: 98
Telephones - mobile cellular: 10.409 million
country comparison to the world: 69
Telephone system: general assessment: system includes cable, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter; Camtel, the monopoly provider of fixed-line service, provides connections for only about 2 per 100 persons; equipment is old and outdated, and connections with many parts of the country are unreliable
domestic: mobile-cellular usage, in part a reflection of the poor condition and general inadequacy of the fixed-line network, has increased sharply, reaching a subscribership base of 40 per 100 persons
Broadcast media: government maintains tight control over broadcast media; state-owned Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), broadcasting on both a TV and radio network, was the only officially recognized and fully licensed broadcaster until August 2007 when the government finally issued licenses to 2 private TV broadcasters and 1 private radio broadcaster; about 70 privately-owned, unlicensed radio stations operating but are subject to closure at any time; foreign news services required to partner with state-owned national station
Internet country code: .cm
Internet hosts: 9,553
country comparison to the world: 135
Internet users: 749,600
country comparison to the world: 106
Because of its modest oil resources and favorable agricultural conditions, Cameroon has one of the best-endowed primary commodity economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Still, it faces many of the serious problems confronting other underdeveloped countries, such as stagnant per capita income, a relatively inequitable distribution of income, a top-heavy civil service, endemic corruption, and a generally unfavorable climate for business enterprise. Since 1990, the government has embarked on various IMF and World Bank programs designed to spur business investment, increase efficiency in agriculture, improve trade, and recapitalize the nation's banks. The IMF is pressing for more reforms, including increased budget transparency, privatization, and poverty reduction programs. Subsidies for electricity, food, and fuel have strained the budget. New mining projects - in diamonds, for example - have attracted foreign investment, but large ventures will take time to develop. Cameroon's business environment - one of the world's worst - is a deterrent to foreign investment.
Government type: republic; multiparty presidential regime
Administrative divisions: 10 regions (regions, singular - region); Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Extreme-Nord, Littoral, Nord, North-West (Nord-Ouest), Ouest, Sud, South-West (Sud-Ouest)
Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law, French civil law, and customary law
Suffrage: 20 years of age; universal
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%
Languages: 24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
Religions: indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%
Population: 20,129,878
country comparison to the world: 58
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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Median age: 19.6 years
male: 19.5 years
female: 19.7 years
Population growth rate: 2.082%
country comparison to the world: 43
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
country comparison to the world: 81
Urbanization population: 58% of total population
rate of urbanization: 3.3% annual rate of change
Major cities - population: Douala 2.053 million; YAOUNDE (capital) 1.739 million
Life expectancy at birth: 54.71 years
country comparison to the world: 200
male: 53.82 years
female: 55.63 years
Total fertility rate: 4.09 children born/woman
country comparison to the world: 38
Health expenditures: 5.6% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 125
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies
Education expenditures: 3.7% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 113
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 75.9%
male: 84%
female: 67.8%
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 10 years
male: 11 years
female: 9 years (2009)
Location: Central Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria
Land boundaries: 4,591 km
border countries: Central African Republic 797 km, Chad 1,094 km, Republic of the Congo 523 km, Equatorial Guinea 189 km, Gabon 298 km, Nigeria 1,690 km
Coastline: 402 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
Climate: varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north
Terrain: diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north
Natural resources: petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 12.6%, permanent crops: 2.52%, other: 84.86%
Irrigated land: 290 sq km
Total renewable water resources: 273 cu km
Natural hazards: volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes
volcanism: Mt. Cameroon (elev. 4,095 m), which last erupted in 2000, is the most frequently active volcano in West Africa; lakes in Oku volcanic field have released fatal levels of gas on occasion, killing some 1,700 people in 1986
Environment - current issues: waterborne diseases are prevalent; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; poaching; overfishing
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa; throughout the country there are areas of thermal springs and indications of current or prior volcanic activity; Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Sub-Saharan west Africa, is an active volcano
French Cameroon became independent in 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon. The following year the southern portion of neighboring British Cameroon voted to merge with the new country to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1972, a new constitution replaced the federation with a unitary state, the United Republic of Cameroon. The country has generally enjoyed stability, which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. Despite slow movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of President Paul BIYA.
Cameroon
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