Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in west-central Africa. It is surrounded by Nigeria to the west and also north; Chad to the northeast; the Main African Republic to the east; and also Equatorial Guinea, Gabon as well as the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coast pushes the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and also the Atlantic Sea. The nation is in some cases recognized as West African and also other times as Central African, due to its critical position at the crossroads between West as well as Central Africa. Its almost 25 million people talk 250 native languages.

Early occupants of the area included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad, as well as the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern jungle. Portuguese explorers reached the coastline in the 15th century as well as called the area Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River), which came to be Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers started the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and numerous ethnic groups of the west and northwest developed powerful chiefdoms as well as fondoms.

Cameroon came to be a German nest in 1884 called Kamerun. After World War I, it was split in between France and also the UK as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) political celebration promoted independence, however was outlawed by France in the 1950s, leading to the nationwide liberation insurgency dealt with between French and UPC militant forces till very early 1971. In 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent, as the Republic of Cameroun, under Head Of State Ahmadou Ahidjo.

The southerly part of British Cameroons federated with it in 1961 to create the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The federation was abandoned in 1972. The nation was relabelled the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 as well as the Republic of Cameroon in 1984. Paul Biya, the incumbent head of state, has actually led the country considering that 1982 adhering to Ahidjo’s resignation; he formerly held office as head of state from 1975 on. Cameroon is controlled as a unitary governmental republic.

The official languages of Cameroon are French as well as English, the main languages of former French Cameroons and British Cameroons. Its spiritual populace is mostly Christian, with a considerable minority exercising Islam, and also others adhering to typical beliefs. It has actually experienced stress from the English-speaking territories, where politicians have actually advocated for greater decentralisation and also even total separation or freedom (as in the Southern Cameroons National Council). In 2017, stress over the development of an Ambazonian state in the English-speaking areas escalated right into open warfare.