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The Country Cameroon

Cameroon is a country that lies in the central and western part of Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria on the West, Chad to the North-East, Central African Republic to the East, Gabon, Equitorial Guinea and The Republic of Congo to the South and the Gulf of Guinea to the South west.

In history, Cameroon was formerly colonized by Germany. The territory was placed under the supervision of The League of Nations at the end of the First World War. From that time, the administration of the nation was handed over to France and the United Kingdom. Due to this dual colonizing pattern, Cameroon has become a bilingual country. On 1st January, 1960 the former territory under French administration became independent under the name of Republic of Cameroon. In 1963 Cameroon is joined by the other part of the country under British administration. This led to the formation of the Federal Republic of Cameroon which on the 20th of May, 1972 was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon. Later in 1984 it became the Republic of Cameroon.

Cameroon received a high increase in growth in their economy within the first 25yrs of independence. It was rated one of the most prosperous countries in Africa at the time until around the mid-1980s when it encountered a drop. This decline was reflective in commodity prices of its principal exports such as petroleum, coffee, cocoa, timber and cotton. The drop led to about a decade-long recession in the economy. Other contributing factors to this decline were traced to overrated currency and economic mismanagement. This caused the economy to decline in the area of real per capita gross domestic product GDP by more than 60% from 1986 to 1994. The current account and fiscal deficits broadened as foreign debt grew. Nonetheless, resources like oil reserves and favorable agricultural environment make Cameroon still one of the well-endowed primary commodity economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The recovery from economic decline started from the 2008/09 financial crisis and continued in 2012, with growth estimate of 4.9% against 4.1% in 2011. Profits from high oil production, cost of living and the launch of large infrastructure projects reflected a positive performance for the years 2013 and 2014.

Background Information

Politique

Edzoa Titus

Historical Figure

Samba Martin Paul

More information

Diplomates

Nkwelle Ekaney