Cameroon , [a] officially the Republic of Cameroon , [b] is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea , Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south.
Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa , it has been categorized as being in both camps. Its nearly 27 million people speak native languages, in addition to the national tongues of English and French, or both.
Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad , and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms.
Cameroon became a German colony in known as Kamerun. The Union des Populations du Cameroun UPC political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the s, leading to the national liberation insurgency fought between French and UPC militant forces until early The southern part of British Cameroons federated with it in to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The federation was abandoned in The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in and back to the Republic of Cameroon in by a presidential decree by president Paul Biya.
Biya, the incumbent president, has led the country since following Ahidjo's resignation; he previously held office as prime minister from onward. Cameroon is governed as a unitary presidential republic. Christianity is the majority religion in Cameroon , with significant minorities practising Islam and traditional faiths. It has experienced tensions from the English-speaking territories, where politicians have advocated for greater decentralisation and even complete separation or independence as in the Southern Cameroons National Council.
