News: Cameroon’s security forces killed 48 civilians during protests over President Paul Biya’s re-election.
Key Facts About Cameroon
- Location: It is located in Central and West Africa on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.
- Capital: Yaoundé is the capital.
- Boundary: It shares land borders with six countries: Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea;
- It has a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.
- Naming: The name comes from Rio dos Camarões (“River of Prawns”) for the Wouri estuary and nearby mountains.
- Physical features: The country is divided into five main geographic zones—the Coastal Plain, South Cameroon Plateau, Cameroon Range, Adamawa Plateau, and Northern Lowlands.
- Important rivers: The main rivers are Sanaga and Wouri (draining into the Atlantic), Bénoué (to the Niger), and Logone (to Lake Chad).
- Important mountains: The most significant mountain is Mount Cameroon (4,095 metres), the highest peak in Western Africa.
- Flora: Cameroon’s forest cover is about 43% of its land area, with tropical evergreen and mangrove forests along the coast and equatorial rainforests in the south.
- The vegetation changes northward to wooded savanna and grassland.
