Cameroon

Where the name comes from

Cameroon comes from Portuguese Rio de Camarões, “river of prawns”, the name sailors gave the Wouri River in 1472 after seeing plenty of shellfish.

First people

Many kingdoms grew here, and Bantu languages are thought to have spread across Africa from this region.^1,2

Known for

Cameroon is often called “Africa in miniature” for its mix of rainforest, savanna, mountains and coast, with Mount Cameroon, an active volcano, rising beside the sea.³

Outside contact

Germany made it a colony in 1884; after Allied conquest in 1916, French and British mandates followed in 1922, and UN trusteeships in 1946.¹

The modern country

In 1961, British Southern Cameroons voted to join the French-run part, independent since 1960, while Northern Cameroons joined Nigeria. That reunion explains Cameroon’s English–French divide.^4,5