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Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although Cameroon is not an ECOWAS member state, it is geographically and historically in West Africa with the Southern Cameroons which now form her Northwest and Southwest Regions having a strong West African history. The country is sometimes identified as West African and other times as Central African due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa. Cameroon is home to over 250 native languages spoken by nearly 20 million people. The official languages of the country are English and French.
Seidou Njimoluh Njoya ruled the Bamum people of Cameroon from 1933 to 1992 as the Sultan of Foumban and Mfon of the Bamun. Njimoluh was the son of Ibrahim Njoya, and he was educated in French, English, and the bamum script developed by his father. In 1931, in order to break the power of the Bamun, French administrators had exiled Ibrahim Njoya to Yaoundé. The Bamum nobles had been scattered due to the French occupation, but they eventually chose Njimoluh from among Ibrahim Njoya's 177 children and reached an agreement with the French authorities. Seidou Njimoluh Njoya became the 18th mfon of the Bamum in June 1933 after the death of his father.
New Cameroon was the name of Central African territories ceded by France to Germany in 1911. Upon taking office in 1907, Theodor Seitz, governor of German Cameroon, advocated the acquisition of territories from the French Congo. Germany's only major river outlet from its Central African possessions was the Congo River, and more territories to the east of German Cameroon would allow for better access to that waterway.
Rudolf Duala Manga Bell was a Duala king and resistance leader in the German colony of Kamerun (Cameroon). After being educated in both Kamerun and Europe, he succeeded his father Manga Ndumbe Bell on 2 September 1908, styling himself after European rulers, and generally supporting the colonial German authorities. He was quite wealthy and educated, although his father left him a substantial debt.
Cameroon is home to nearly 250 languages. These include 55 Afro-Asiatic languages, two Nilo-Saharan languages, four Ubangian languages, and 169 Niger–Congo languages. This latter group comprises one Senegambian language (Fulfulde), 28 Adamawa languages, and 142 Benue–Congo languages . French and English are official languages, a heritage of Cameroon's colonial past as a colony of both France and the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1960. Eight out of the ten regions of Cameroon are primarily francophone, representing 83% of the country's population, and two are anglophone, representing 17%. The anglophone proportion of the country is in constant regression, having decreased from 21% in 1976 to 20% in 1987 and to 17% in 2005, and is estimated at 16% in 2015.
Joseph Merrick was a Jamaican Baptist missionary who, assisted by Joseph Jackson Fuller, established the first successful mission on the Cameroon coast of Africa. Merrick began preaching in 1837 in Jamaica and was ordained a full missionary in 1838. In 1842, Reverend John Clarke and Dr. G. K. Prince, members of the Baptist Missionary Society of London, were seeking Jamaican lay missionaries to join them on an expedition to the Cameroon coast. Merrick signed on. The party reached England on 8 September 1842, and arrived at Spanish-controlled Santa Isabel on the island of Fernando Po in 1843.
Planned liberalism is an economic policy followed in Cameroon since the 1960s that aims to merge the best concepts of capitalism and socialism.
The Cameroonian economic crisis was a downturn in the economy of Cameroon from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. The crisis resulted in rising prices in Cameroon, trade deficits, and loss of government revenue. The government of Cameroon acknowledged the crisis in 1987. Outside observers and critics blamed poor government stewardship of the economy. The government instead placed the blame on the fall of the prices of export commodities, particularly a steep drop in the price of petroleum. President Paul Biya announced that "all our export commodities fell at the same time."
Regional councils are, nominally, the governing bodies of the regions of Cameroon. As defined by the Constitution of Cameroon, the councils have control of cultural, economic, educational, health-related, social, and sport-related issues in the regions. The members of each council are delegates indirectly elected by the populace and traditional rulers selected by their peers. Each council is headed by a president, who is elected by the members from among their own ranks. Members serve five-year terms.
Ambasse bey or ambas-i-bay is a style of folk music and dance from Cameroon. The music is based on commonly available instruments, especially guitar, with percussion provided by sticks and bottles. The music is faster-paced than assiko.
Camfranglais, Francanglais, or Francamglais is a vernacular of Cameroon, consisting of a macaronic mixture of Cameroonian French, Cameroonian English and Cameroonian Pidgin English, in addition to lexical contributions from various indigenous languages of Cameroon.
The Constitution of Cameroon is the supreme law of the Republic of Cameroon. Adopted in 1972, it is Cameroon's third constitution. The document consists of a preamble and 13 Parts, each divided into Articles. The Constitution outlines the rights guaranteed to Cameroonian citizens, the symbols and official institutions of the country, the structure and functions of government, the procedure by which the Constitution may be amended, and the process by which the provisions of the Constitution are to be implemented.
Sports in Cameroon is practiced widely by the population and advocated by the national government. Cameroonians take pride in victories at international competitions, making sport an important source of national unity. Traditional sports in Cameroon include canoe racing, swimming, tug of war, and wrestling. Wrestling has featured in the initiation rites and other ceremonies of ethnic groups such as the Bakweri and the Duala. However, in modern times, sports such as basketball, boxing, cycling, handball, netball, and table tennis have become popular. The 40 km Mount Cameroon Race of Hope draws several hundred runners each year. Tourists hike, rock climb, and mountaineer, especially up Mount Cameroon. Yaoundé, Tiko and Kribi have golf courses. Rugby union is also played, with about 15 clubs and 3000 players nationally.
Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa is a Cameroonian film director and writer. He produced Cameroon's first full-length feature film, Muna Moto, in 1975. Dikongué Pipa's films deal with the interrelationships between elements of traditional Cameroonian culture and the wider world.
Jean-Paul Ngassa is a Cameroonian filmmaker. He made the films Adventure en France (1962) and La Grande Case Bamiléké (1965) after French Cameroun's independence in 1960.
Tsamassi is a musical style of the Bamileke of Cameroon. It was popularised by André-Marie Tala.
Fotso is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Kate Kanyi-Tometi Fotso is a Cameroonian businesswoman who founded the largest cocoa exporter in Cameroon. Fotso, according to Forbes Africa, is the richest woman in Cameroon and the 20th richest person in the African Francophonie.
Kareyce Fotso is a Cameroonian singer who performs around the world and in various styles, including Afro pop, blues and mangambeu.
Victor Fotso was a Cameroonian politician. He was the founder of the Fotso Victor Foundation, which carries out charitable works in Cameroon and other Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly in the field of education.
References
- DeLancey, Mark W., and Mark Dike DeLancey (2000): Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press.
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