Cameroon*

Overview

Cameroon*

Cameroon is a Central African country of about 30 million people on the Gulf of Guinea. Covering roughly 475,400 km2, it borders Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea. Yaoundé is the capital, and Douala is the largest city and main seaport. The territory became the German colony of Kamerun in 1884 and was divided between France and the United Kingdom after the First World War. French Cameroon gained independence in 1960, and the British Southern Cameroons joined it in 1961 to form a federal republic, which became a unitary state in 1972. Paul Biya has been president since 1982 and won an eighth term in the October 2025 election. Since 2017, an armed separatist conflict has affected the English-speaking regions, and Boko Haram attacks have affected the Far North. Forests cover about 43% of the land. French and English are the official languages, and Christianity is the predominant religion, alongside Islam.

Cameroon is a lower-middle-income country and the largest economy in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa. Its resources include oil and gas, mineral ores, timber, and agricultural products such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton. Agriculture accounts for about 17% of GDP and employs about 42% of the workforce. About 40% of the population lives below the national poverty line. In 2025, Cameroon’s GDP per capita was approximately US$1,972, and real GDP grew by 3.2%.

Source: World Bank. (2026). World Development Indicators, from https://data.worldbank.org/country/cameroon