Departments of Cameroon

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Ten regions of Cameroon Provinces of Cameroon EN.svg
Ten regions of Cameroon
Departments of Cameroon CM-Departements par region.png
Departments of Cameroon

The regions of Cameroon are divided into 58 divisions or departments. The divisions are further subdivided into subdivisions ( arrondissements ) and districts. The divisions are listed below, by Macro-Region and region.

Contents

The constitution divides Cameroon into ten semi-autonomous regions, each under the administration of an elected Regional Council. A presidential decree of 12 November 2008 officially instigated the change from provinces to regions. [1] Each region is headed by a presidentially appointed governor. These leaders are charged with implementing the will of the president, reporting on the general mood and conditions of the regions, administering the civil service, keeping the peace, and overseeing the heads of the smaller administrative units. Governors have broad powers: they may order propaganda in their area and call in the army, gendarmes, and police. [2] All local government officials are employees of the central government's Ministry of Territorial Administration, from which local governments also get most of their budgets. [3]

The regions are subdivided into 58 divisions (departments). These are headed by presidentially appointed divisional officers ( préfets ), who perform the governors' duties on a smaller scale. The divisions are further sub-divided into sub-divisions (arrondissements), headed by assistant divisional officers (sous-prefets). The districts, administered by district heads (chefs de district), are the smallest administrative units. These are found in large sub-divisions and in regions that are difficult to reach.

The three northernmost regions are the Far North (Extrême Nord), North (Nord), and Adamawa (Adamaoua). Directly south of them are the Centre (Centre) and East (Est). The South Province (Sud) lies on the Gulf of Guinea and the southern border. Cameroon's western region is split into four smaller regions: The Littoral (Littoral) and Southwest (Sud-Ouest) regions are on the coast, and the Northwest (Nord-Ouest) and West (Ouest) regions are in the western grassfields. The Northwest and Southwest were once part of British Cameroons; the other regions were in French Cameroun.

See summary of administrative history in Zeitlyn 2018. [4]

North Cameroon Macro-Region

Adamawa (Adamaoua)

Divisions of Adamawa province Adamawa divisions.png
Divisions of Adamawa province

The Adamawa province of Cameroon contains the following five departments:

  1. Djérem
  2. Faro-et-Déo
  3. Mayo-Banyo
  4. Mbéré
  5. Vina

Far North (Extrême-Nord)

Divisions of Far North province Far North Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of Far North province

The Far North province of Cameroon contains the following six departments:

  1. Diamaré
  2. Logone-et-Chari
  3. Mayo-Danay
  4. Mayo-Kani
  5. Mayo-Sava
  6. Mayo-Tsanaga

North (Nord)

Divisions of North province North Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of North province

The North province of Cameroon contains the following four departments:

  1. Bénoué
  2. Faro
  3. Mayo-Louti
  4. Mayo-Rey

South Cameroon Macro-Region

Centre

Divisions of Centre province Centre divisions.png
Divisions of Centre province

The Centre province of Cameroon contains the following ten departments:

  1. Haute-Sanaga
  2. Lekié
  3. Mbam-et-Inoubou
  4. Mbam-et-Kim
  5. Méfou-et-Afamba
  6. Méfou-et-Akono
  7. Mfoundi
  8. Nyong-et-Kéllé
  9. Nyong-et-Mfoumou
  10. Nyong-et-So'o

East (Est)

Divisions of East province East Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of East province

The East province of Cameroon contains the following four departments:

  1. Boumba-et-Ngoko
  2. Haut-Nyong
  3. Kadey
  4. Lom-et-Djerem

South (Sud)

Divisions of South province South Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of South province

The South province of Cameroon contains the following four departments:

  1. Dja-et-Lobo
  2. Mvila
  3. Océan
  4. Vallée-du-Ntem

West Cameroon Macro-Region

Littoral

Divisions of Littoral province Littoral Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of Littoral province

The Littoral province of Cameroon contains the following four departments:

  1. Moungo
  2. Nkam
  3. Sanaga-Maritime
  4. Wouri

Northwest (Nord-Ouest)

Divisions of Northwest province Northwest Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of Northwest province

The Northwest province of Cameroon contains the following seven departments:

  1. Boyo
  2. Bui
  3. Donga-Mantung
  4. Menchum
  5. Mezam
  6. Momo
  7. Ngo-ketunjia

Southwest (Sud-Ouest)

Divisions of Southwest province Southwest Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of Southwest province

The Southwest province of Cameroon contains the following six departments:

  1. Fako
  2. Koupé-Manengouba
  3. Lebialem
  4. Manyu
  5. Meme
  6. Ndian

West (Ouest)

Divisions of West province West Cameroon divisions.png
Divisions of West province

The West province of Cameroon contains the following eight departments:

  1. Bamboutos
  2. Haut-Nkam
  3. Hauts-Plateaux
  4. Koung-Khi
  5. Menoua
  6. Mifi
  7. Ndé
  8. Noun

See also

Related Research Articles

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The East Region occupies the southeastern portion of the Republic of Cameroon. It is bordered to the east by the Central African Republic, to the south by Congo, to the north by the Adamawa Region, and to the west by the Centre and South Regions. With 109,002 km2 of territory, it is the largest region in the nation as well as the most sparsely populated. Historically, the peoples of the East have been settled in Cameroonian territory for longer than any other of the country's many ethnic groups, the first inhabitants being the Baka pygmies.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Region (Cameroon)</span> Region of Cameroon

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Mbum Proper is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of Central Africa. It is spoken by about 50,000 people in Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

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Njomgang Isaac was a Cameroonian politician and administrator. He was the First black local Cameroonian Administrator appointed in Dschang Post Colonial Administration. He was born in 1931 at Tsep, Batoufam, West Region, Cameroon, and died in 2008.

Makaa (Maka), or South Makaa, is a Bantu language of Cameroon. It is not intelligible with the other language spoken by the Makaa people, North Makaa.

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References

  1. Décret N° 2008/376 du 12 novembre 2008, President of the Republic website. Accessed 9 June 2009.
  2. Neba 250.
  3. United States Department of State
  4. Zeitlyn, David (2018-08-03). "A summary of Cameroonian Administrative history". Vestiges: Traces of Record. 4 (1): 1–13.