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Cameroon |
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| Background: |
The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroon merged in 1961
to form the present country. Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability,
which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways,
as well as a petroleum industry. Despite movement toward democratic
reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy.
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| Location: |
Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea
and Nigeria |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
6 00 N, 12 00 E |
| Map
references: |
Africa
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| Area: |
total: 475,440 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km
land: 469,440 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly larger than California |
| Land
boundaries: |
total: 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: 50 NM |
| Climate: |
varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semi-arid and hot in
north |
| Terrain: |
diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center,
mountains in west, plains in north |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point:
Fako (on Cameroon Mountain) 4,095 m |
| Natural
resources: |
petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower |
| Land
use: |
arable land: 12.81%
permanent crops: 2.58%
other: 84.61% (1998 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
330 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake
Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes |
| Environment
- current issues: |
water-borne diseases are prevalent; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification;
poaching; overfishing |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified:
Nuclear Test Ban |
| 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
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| Population: |
15,746,179
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 and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 42.3% (male 3,372,129; female 3,291,295)
15-64 years: 54.5% (male 4,315,672; female 4,265,286)
65
years and over: 3.2% (male 227,444; female 274,353) (2003 est.)
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| Median
age: |
total: 18.4 years
male: 18.2 years
female:
18.5 years (2002) |
| Population
growth rate: |
2.02% (2003 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
35.49 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
15.3 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 70.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
65.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 74.2 deaths/1,000
live births |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 48.05 years
male: 47.15 years
female: 48.97 years (2003 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
4.63 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Cameroonian(s)
adjective: Cameroonian
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| 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% |
| Religions: |
indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20% |
| Languages: |
24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
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| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total
population: 79%
male: 84.7%
female: 73.4%
(2003 est.)
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| Economy
- overview: |
Because of its 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 facing
other underdeveloped countries, such as a top-heavy civil service 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. In June 2000, the government
completed an IMF-sponsored, three-year structural adjustment program;
however, the IMF is pressing for more reforms, including increased budget
transparency, privatization, and poverty reduction programs. International
oil and cocoa prices have considerable impact on the economy. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $27 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
5% (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 46%
industry: 21%
services:
33% (2001 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
48% (2000 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 36.6% (1996) |
| Distribution
of family income - Gini index: |
47.7 (1996) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
4.5% (2002 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
NA |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 70%, industry and commerce 13%, other 17% |
| Unemployment
rate: |
30% (2001 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $2.2 billion
expenditures: $2.1 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.) |
| Industries: |
petroleum production and refining, food processing, light consumer goods,
textiles, lumber |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4.2% (1999 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
3.613 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 2.7%
hydro: 97.3%
other:
0% (2001)
nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
3.36 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Oil
- production: |
76,650 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
22,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- exports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- imports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- proved reserves: |
200 million bbl (January 2002 est.) |
| Natural
gas - proved reserves: |
55.22 billion cu m (January 2002 est.) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches;
livestock; timber |
| Exports: |
$1.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
crude oil and petroleum products, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee,
cotton |
| Exports
- partners: |
Italy 21.7%, Spain 12.2%, France 10.6% (2001) |
| Imports: |
$1.7 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery, electrical equipment, transport equipment, fuel, food |
| Imports
- partners: |
France 28.8%, Nigeria 11.9%, Italy 2.7% (2001) |
| Debt
- external: |
$8.6 billion (2002 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
on 23 January 2001, the Paris Club agreed to reduce Cameroon's debt
of $1.3 billion by $900 million; total debt relief now amounts to $1.26
billion |
| Currency: |
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority
is the Bank of the Central African States |
| Currency
code: |
XAF |
| Exchange
rates: |
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 696.988
(2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999), 589.952 (1998)
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| Fiscal
year: |
1 July - 30 June
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