253 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
253 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
CAMEROON
|
||
GEOGRAPHY
|
||
Total area: 475,440 km2; land area: 469,440 km2
|
||
|
||
Comparative area: slightly larger than California
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
Coastline: 402 km
|
||
|
||
Maritime claims:
|
||
|
||
Territorial sea: 50 nm
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
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: crude oil, bauxite, iron ore, timber,
|
||
hydropower potential
|
||
|
||
Land use: arable land 13%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures
|
||
18%; forest and woodland 54%; other 13%; includes irrigated NEGL%
|
||
|
||
Environment: recent volcanic activity with release of poisonous
|
||
gases; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification
|
||
|
||
Note: sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa
|
||
|
||
PEOPLE
|
||
Population: 11,390,374 (July 1991), growth rate 2.7% (1991)
|
||
|
||
Birth rate: 41 births/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Infant mortality rate: 118 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
|
||
|
||
Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 53 years female (1991)
|
||
|
||
Total fertility rate: 5.6 children born/woman (1991)
|
||
|
||
Nationality: noun--Cameroonian(s); adjective--Cameroonian
|
||
|
||
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%
|
||
|
||
Religion: indigenous beliefs 51%, Christian 33%, Muslim 16%
|
||
|
||
Language: English and French (official), 24 major African language
|
||
groups
|
||
|
||
Literacy: 54% (male 66%, female 43%) age 15 and over can
|
||
read and write (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
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)
|
||
|
||
Organized labor: under 45% of wage labor force
|
||
|
||
GOVERNMENT
|
||
Long-form name: Republic of Cameroon
|
||
|
||
Type: unitary republic; multiparty presidential regime (opposition
|
||
parties legalized 1990)
|
||
|
||
Capital: Yaounde
|
||
|
||
Administrative divisions: 10 provinces; Adamaoua, Centre, Est,
|
||
Extreme-Nord, Littoral, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Ouest
|
||
|
||
Independence: 1 January 1960 (from UN trusteeship under
|
||
French administration; formerly French Cameroon)
|
||
|
||
Constitution: 20 May 1972
|
||
|
||
Legal system: based on French civil law system, with common law
|
||
influence; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
|
||
|
||
National holiday: National Day, 20 May (1972)
|
||
|
||
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
|
||
|
||
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
|
||
Nationale)
|
||
|
||
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
|
||
|
||
Leaders:
|
||
|
||
Chief of State President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982);
|
||
|
||
Head of Government interim Prime Minister Sadou HAYATOU (since
|
||
25 April 1991)
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
Elections:
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
Communists: no Communist party or significant number of
|
||
sympathizers
|
||
|
||
Other political or pressure groups: NA
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
ECONOMY
|
||
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.
|
||
|
||
GDP: $11.5 billion, per capita $1,040; real growth rate 0.7%
|
||
(1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.6% (FY88)
|
||
|
||
Unemployment rate: 25% (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Budget: revenues $1.7 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion,
|
||
including capital expenditures of $NA million (FY89)
|
||
|
||
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%
|
||
|
||
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%
|
||
|
||
External debt: $4.9 billion (December 1989 est.)
|
||
|
||
Industrial production: growth rate - 6.4% (FY87); accounts
|
||
for 30% of GDP
|
||
|
||
Electricity: 752,000 kW capacity; 2,940 million kWh produced,
|
||
270 kWh per capita (1989)
|
||
|
||
Industries: crude oil products, food processing, light consumer
|
||
goods industries textiles, sawmills
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
|
||
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
|
||
|
||
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)
|
||
|
||
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
|
||
|
||
COMMUNICATIONS
|
||
Railroads: 1,003 km total; 858 km 1.000-meter gauge, 145 km
|
||
0.600-meter gauge
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
Ports: Douala
|
||
|
||
Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
|
||
24,122 GRT/33,509 DWT
|
||
|
||
Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
|
||
DEFENSE FORCES
|
||
Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force; paramilitary
|
||
Gendarmerie
|
||
|
||
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,628,909; 1,324,899 fit for
|
||
military service; 125,421 reach military age (18) annually
|
||
|
||
Defense expenditures: $219 million, 1.7% of GDP (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
|