Cameroon, officially known as the Republic of Cameroon, "Africa in miniature", is a country in Central Africa. The largest towns in Cameroon in terms of population are Douala - the economic capital and Yaounde - the political capital. Cameroon is well known for its native music styles like Bikutsi and Makossa, and for its football exploits. These are other interesting things you should know about Cameroon.
1. Cameroon became an independent
republic on January 1, 1960.
2.
Cameroon attained UN membership on September 20, 1960.
3.
Cameroon is referred to as "the hinge of Africa" and as "Africa
in miniature" because of its geographical and cultural diversity.
4.
Aside French and English which are the country's official languages, 230 other
local languages are spoken in Cameroon.
5.
Sanaga River is the longest river in Cameroon. There are two hydroelectric
power stations on the banks of River Sanaga.
6.
One of the most visited places in Cameroon is the Waza National Park. It is
also the most visited park in the country. Cameroon has a total of seven
national parks.
7.
The average life span in Cameroon, according to a report from the World Bank
(2015) is 55.93 years.
8.
Cameroon's National day is May 20th. On May 20, 1972, Cameroonians voted for a
unitary state relinquishing its federal form of government.
9. In 1990, Cameroon became the first African country to reach the quarter-final stage of
the FIFA World Cup.
10.
In 2016, as per the Council on Foreign Relations of the US State Department,
Cameroon was ranked as the second most dangerous country in the world, owing to
kidnappings and attacks orchestrated by the terrorist sect Boko Haram.
"Boko Haram's" means "Western education is
sinful." in English.
11.
Football/soccer is the most popular sport in the country. Popular Cameroonian
footballers include Samuel Eto'o, Roger Milla and Mboma Patrick.
12.
90% of the Dja Faunal Reserve is still unaltered. The reserve was named after
the Dja River which surrounds it.
The Dja Faunal Reserve was founded in 1950 and
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cameroon
are Campo Ma'an National Park, and La Cheferie de Bafut.
13.
Cameroon has more than 1,000 species of butterfly, which is more than a quarter
of all species found in Africa.
14.
Cameroon's oldest inhabitants are thought to be the Baka - a tribe of
forest-living hunter-gatherers.
15.
Cameroon shares a border with six countries, namely: Nigeria, Equatorial
Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, and Chad.
16.
The tallest mountain in West Africa is found in Cameroon, this is Mount
Cameroon. It is an active volcano that stands at 4,095 meters tall. It lastly
erupted in 2012.
17.
The goliath frog, which is the largest frog in the world, is found only in
Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The weight of the Goliath frog parallels that
of a domestic house cat. The images below show villagers in Cameroon cooking a Goliath frog. The third image shows a young boy playing with his catch.
A young boy can be seen playing with his catch (Goliath frog).
18.
Cameroon loses 850 square miles of forest annually. This huge amount of forest
is lost to deforestation and agriculture.
19.
The world's rarest ape unknown to science until the 20th century is found in
Cameroon, it is the Cross River Gorilla.
20.
The world's second longest serving president is Paul Biya, who has ruled
Cameroon since 1982.
21.
An average of 4,700 lives are claimed by road accidents on an annual basis in
Cameroon.
22.
Cameroon is home to two of only three lakes in the world known to be saturated with carbon dioxide - Lakes Nyos and Monoun. Lake Nyos can be seen in the image below, with its water turned murky brown as a result of the deadly explosion of carbon dioxide from the lake in August 1986. The explosion resulted in the death of over 1,700 people and thousands of livestock.
The third, Lake Kivu, is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
23. Samuel Eto'o, Africa's most decorated player of all time, and Konyaspor striker,
hails from Cameroon.
24.
The second wettest place in the world, Debundscha, is found in the South-west
region of Cameroon.
25.
Heifer estimates show that 48% of the Cameroonian population lives below the
poverty line.
Comments
Post a Comment