Cameroon is a country located at the crossroads of western and central Africa. Its ethnically mixed population is among Western Africa’s most urban. Yaoundé, the country’s capital, is located in the country’s south-central region. The name of the country is derived from Rio dos Camares (“River of Prawns”), the name given by Portuguese explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries to the Wouri River estuary. Camares was also used to refer to the mountains that bordered the river.
Cameroon is home to at least 250 languages, with other reports claiming 600. 55 Afro-Asian languages, two Nilo-Saharan languages, four Ubangian languages, and 169 Niger-Congo languages are among them. This latter category includes one Senegalese language (Fulfulde), 28 Adamawa languages, and 142 Benue-Congo languages (130 of which are Bantu). Official languages are French and English, a legacy of Cameroon’s colonial past as a colony of both France and the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1961. Eight of Cameroon’s ten regions are largely francophone, accounting for 83% of the country’s population, while two are anglophone, accounting for 17%. According to the Cameroonian Presidency, the official percentages of French and English speakers are 70% and 30%, respectively.
Historically, most trade was with European countries, but trading with other markets, particularly Asia, has expanded in the twenty-first century. France remains a key trading partner, albeit with a decreasing significance. Cameroonian goods are heavily consumed in Spain and Portugal, and Nigeria is an important source of import commerce. China is one of the country’s most important trading partners, both for imports and exports. Crude oil, lumber, cocoa, aluminium, cotton, bananas, and coffee are all major exports. Oil palm products, tea, rubber, peanuts (groundnuts), and fresh vegetables are among the others, as are factory products such as textiles, plastics, drinks, and confectionary. Machinery and transportation equipment and spare parts, fertilisers, cereals, petroleum, and food goods are among the most important imports.
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