1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
475,400 km2; 4% cultivated, 18% grazing, 13% fallow, 50% forest, 15% other
Coastline
402 km
Land boundaries
4,554 km WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
50 nm
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
about 200 tribes of widely differing background; 31% Cameroon Highlanders, 19% Equatorial Bantu, 11% Kirdi, 10% Fulani, 8% Northwestern Bantu, 7% Eastern Nigritic, 13% other African, less than 1% non-African
Labor force
most of population engaged in subsistence agriculture and herding; 200,000 wage earners (maximum) including 22,000 government employees, 63,000 paid agricultural workers, 49,000 in manufacturing
Language
English and French official, 24 major African language groups
Literacy
South 40%, North 10%
Nationality
noun—Cameroonian(s); adjective—Cameroonian
Organized labor
under 45% of wage labor force
Population
9,049,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.9%; this estimate does not take into account migration between Cameroon and Chad during recent years
Religion
about one-half animist, one-third Christian, one-sixth Muslim
Government
Branches
executive (President), legislative (National Assembly), and judicial (Supreme Court)
Capital
Yaoundé
Communists
no Communist Party or significant number of sympathizers
Elections
parliamentary elections held 28 May 1978; presidential elections held April 1980 Political parties and leaders: single party, Cameroon National Union (UNC), instituted in 1966, President Ahmadou Ahidjo
Government leader
President Ahmadou AHIDJO
Member of
AFBD, EAMA, ECA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, IPU, ISCON, ISO, ITU, Lake Chad Basin Commission, NAM, Niger River Commission, OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
National Day, 20 May
Official name
United Republic of Cameroon
Other political or pressure groups
Cameroon People's Union (UPC), an illegal terrorist group now reduced to scattered acts of banditry with its factional leaders in exile
Political subdivisions
7 provinces divided into 40 departments, 153 arrondissements, 31 districts Legal system: based on French civil law system, with common law influence; new unitary constitution adopted 1972; judicial review in Supreme Court, when a question of constitutionality is referred to it by the President of the Republic; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage
universal over age 21
Type
unitary republic; one-party presidential regime
Economy
Agriculture
commercial and food crops—cocoa, coffee, timber, cotton, rubber, bananas, peanuts, palm oil and palm kernels; root starches, livestock, millet, sorghum, and rice
Budget
(1980) revenues $877.3 million, current expenditures $608.6 million, development expenditures $268.7 million
Electric power
381,000 kW capacity (1980); 1.388 billion kWh produced (1980), 160 kWh per capita
Exports
$1,620 million (f.o.b., 1980); cocoa and coffee about 60%; other exports include timber, aluminum, cotton, natural rubber, bananas, peanuts, tobacco, and tea
Fiscal year
1 JuIy-30 June
Fishing
imports 7,024 metric tons, $2.2 million; exports 909 metric tons (largely shrimp), $3.5 million (1975)
GDP
$5.6 billion (1980), about $675 per capita; real annual growth rate, 4.1% (1971-81)
Imports
$1,550 million (f.o.b., 1980); consumer goods, machinery, transport equipment, alumina for refining, petroleum products, food and beverages
Major industries
small aluminum plant, food processing and light consumer goods industries, sawmills
Major trade partners
most trade with France, other EC countries, and the US
Monetary conversion rate
225.8 Communaute Financiere Africaine francs=US$1 (1980)
Communications
Airfields
60 total, 54 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 18 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
4 major transport aircraft
Highways
approximately 32,226 km total; including 2,682 km bituminous, 3,670 km gravel and earth, 11,004 km improved earth, 14,870 km unimproved
Inland waterways
2,090 km; of decreasing importance
Ports
1 major (Douala), 3 minor
Railroads
1,173 km total; 858 km meter gauge (1.00 m), 145 km 0.600-meter gauge
Telecommunications
good system of open wire and radio relay; 26,000 telephones (0.3 per 100 popl.); 10 AM, 1 FM, and no TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station
Military and Security
Military budget
for fiscal year ending 30 June 1982, $78.9 million; 7.4% of central government budget
Military manpower
males 15-49, 1,990,000; 1,001,000 fit for military service; about 85,000 reach military age (18) annually