Testing, testing! Is this mic working? Testing? Nope, it's not. Alright, episode 2 with no audio, here comes Cameroon.
("Geography Now" opening jingle)
It's time to learn geography - NOW!
Hey everybody, I'm your host Barby.
When it comes to Africa, mostly, you're either on the English-speaking side or the French-speaking side.
But then you go to Cameroon and you find this strange, unusual hybrid-anomaly.
But first:
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The flag of Cameroon is pretty simple.
It's just a three-color triband with green, red, and yellow, defaced with a yellow star in the middle.
Like a lot of other flags in Africa, the flag uses the Pan-Africanist movement colors to symbolize the freedom from colonization.
The green is generally understand to symbolize the forest and the green landscapes of the southern part of the country.
The yellow standing for the savanas in the north.
And the red - say it with me -
Ah-hah! You thought I was gonna say "the blood shed of those who fought for the country!"
No! It stands for unity. Unity!
Whereas the star stands for the guidance of unity for the country.
Keep in mind that this flag is almost completely identical to the flag of Senegal,
the only difference is the color scheme and the middle.
The band is yellow with a green star.
I like to think of it like this:
When it comes to the middle band, it's Camar-RED
and Sene-GREEN.
I know that's terrible, but it works for me.
Modern day Cameroon's boundaries kind of have a strange story behind them because it kinda has to do with 3 European countries
and multiple tribal peoples in the area.
But first: Although generally classified under the region of Central Africa,
Cameroon is located in the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa.
Right at the Bight of Bonny on the gulf of Guinea.
Often referred to as "the hinge of Africa", as it borders 6 other countries.
From a whole, the shape of the country has a narrow neck quarter in the north,
with a beak that makes it look like a cockatoo.
Or a backwards unicorn-duck.
By the way backwards unicorn-duck - my sister came up with that joke.
(thump in background) Barby's Sister: OW!
Kind of like Afghanistan, the reason why the country is shaped like that kinda has to do with European history.
In the quickest way I can summarize this:
First the Germans took over, then the English, then the French,
then after independence, the English side had to decide whether they wanted to integrate with Nigeria
or the rest of Cameroon.
The north sides choose Nigeria, and the south side choose Cameroon.
This effectively carved out the northern borders of Cameroon, giving it its distinct narrow panhandle that reaches all the way up to Lake Chad.
Or, what's left of Lake Chad.
We'll talk about that in the next section.
One thing you have to understand even though this island is incredibly close
and off the coast of Cameroon, it is actually not part of Cameroon.
It's Bioko Island, home to Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea.
The only country in Africa that speaks Spanish.
(mind blown) Yeah. Wait till we get to that country.
Cameroon is split up into 10 semi-autonomous regions, and when I say semi-autonomous,
I kinda mean that in a very literal sense, because in Africa, legislation kind of fades into obscurity when you go to rural areas.
With the exception of Littoral and Adamawa, each of these regions are pretty much named after the cardinal direction that it is located in.
East, west, north, center, and at the top is the extreme north.
Or, 'far north.'
However, Cameroon has actually has a lot of accidentally-named places too, I mean the name "Cameroon"
comes from the Portugese word "camarões" which means shrimp, because they found shrimp in the rivers when they discovered the area.
The capital is Yaoundé, located in the center region
and still retains a bit of its French colonial imprint from early days, when it was part of the French empire.
However, in post-modern years, they've acually built an influx of unique africanized high rises
with unique geometric shapes and forms inspired from indigenous patterns and architecture.
I mean, just look at the CNPS building with its massive boulder.
Shh.... Just don't ask.
Let it be. It's Africa.
The largest and economically-busiest city in Cameroon, though, is Douala.
Located right on the coast of the gulf and of course hosts Cameroon's largest port and commerical industry.
Basically, the most heavily-populated areas are on the coasts, the center, the north, and everywhere else is pretty much just sparsely populated
with little hod-towns that are connected with these small dirst roads that look like a spider's web with flies caught in it.
Due to the fact that ground transportation is not really well maintained, I main, only about 10% of Cameroon's roads are paved
with tar. Many of the towns have small airplace runways that they receive mail and packages on sporadic occasions.
Entrance into the forests is difficult sometimes, and it rain can cause a lot of travel difficulties the further inland you go.
Let's talk about that terrain, shall we?
(earthquake rumbling)
(bird caws)
Cameroon's land is, without a doubt, very unique and rich, which is why
in context, you can kinda understand why the Germans, the French, the Belgians, and the English all tried to take their grab at it.
Essentially, Cameroon is like a resource goldmine.
And they have goldmines, too.
Cameroon is typically described as "Africa miniature", because it contains virtually every major climate and ecoregion found in all of Africa.
They have coasts in the west, deserts and savana in the north, mountains in the center, and jungles and rainforests inland to the east.
In one country, you basically get an entire continent.
Oxi- oh! Did you hear that?
Oh! It's the sound of ecoenthusiast budget travelers having seizures of joy.
However, you can't just waltz into Cameroon and take on any region you want.
You gotta be a little carful.
Cameroon still has some active volcanoes.
Including Mount Cameroon, the tallest mountain in Cameroon, that last erupted in 2000.
See, thing is, Cameroon lies on the Cameroon Line,
which is a geological region of volcanic activity that extends from the Gulf of Guinea,
on the chain of islands, like São Tomé and Príncipe, all the way inland through the area of the Oku Volcanic Fields
that extend all the way to Lake Chad.
Cameroon is also home to 2 of the only 3 known exploding lakes in the world.
These are lakes that have magma under them, and the lake slowly leaks carbon dioxide into the waters
and upon earthquakes or landslides or rare catastrophic phenomena, the lake emits huge puffs of carbon dioxide
that, in return, can asphyxiate and kill any living creature or person in the direct vicinity.
In 1986, the lake exploded and killed about 1,700 people and 3,000 animals and livestock.
They were effectively suffocated to death and this was the first known and recorded incident of such a natural event.
The mountainous area inland has humid rainforests and jungles that can be found, including some of the wettest places on Earth.
And an abundance of wildlife, many of which are actually indemic to the area, including the incredibly rare cross river gorilla.
Further inland to the east, the land slopes into a plateau with even sparcer populated regions
where flocks of primates, birds, repitles, and amphibians call home.
Now, here's where things get interesting.
When you head north, and specifically, to the furthest north regions,
everything gets dry and earthy.
And that's the cool thing about Cameroon.
It's the only country in Africa that claims sovereignty over regions that strech all the way from the dense jungles
of the central African region to the north dried area Sahel.
Now in this area, specifically at the northernmost tip of the country, you reach Lake Chad.
Which is kind of drying up.
Now, just like the Aral Sea, which we will talk about and discuss in about 87,926 years when we do the episode on Uzbekistan,
In the past 50 years, Lake Chad has dramatically shrunk due to the growing demand for water by peoples in the area.
Today, it's only at about 5% the size it originally was decades ago.
Cameroon actually owns one of the largest portions of the lake that actually still has a substantial amount of water in it.
The strange thing, though, is that though the lake has dried,
the land that the water once filled became loaded with plants and grasses, creating a strange green blot in middle of what seems like a vast, empty arid desert.
In a weird way, this actually allowed people to move into the land that was once underwater and cultivate it.
Funny how people function that way.
Now let's talk about these people.
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Again, when it comes to Cameroon,
it really is like an Africa in miniature.
And that even applies to the people.
Now, Cameroon doesn't really have a specfic Cameroonian demographic, the country is made up of over 250 people groups and tribes
that have relatively lived alongside each other peacefully.
The country has about 20 million people and is almost evenly divided between urban and rural populace.
Now it's really hard to get an exact ethnic ratio makeup, but the most generalized format:
Cameroonian highlander tribes make up about 40% of the population.
And coastal inland Bantu tribes make up about 30%.
Then you have the Fulani and the Kirdi, that also have large populations at about 10% each.
The rest of the population is kind of just like an other African people group, not affiliated with either of these groups.
As well as a very small group of non-Africans, making up less than 1%.
Although each of these people groups speaks their own dialect,
all the dialects kinda filter down into 24 language groups, which are then cateogorized into a few language families
like the Bantu and the Vantu languages.
Basically, if you live in the same general area, your neighbor, although from a different tribe, will still be able to communicate with you.
Nonetheless, English and French are the official languages, however, French is more widely-spoken
only about 20% of the people speak English fluently, mostly in the northwest regions that used to be operated by the British.
However, about roughly 40% can actually understand English enough.
This also means that the country has an incredibly diverse culture of traditions, rituals, celebrations,
customs, and even dance styles.
That's the thing about Cameroon. Every trible brings something to the table.
For example, Cameroon is the only place where you can find the bee-hive-shaped Musgum mud huts built by the Musgum people.
The Bamun people, for a short while invented one of the only few native African scripts in the early 1900's, the Bamun syllabary alphabet.
It was especially cast into type in 1918, but then fell out of use in 1931.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We didn't even talk about the Fanonet people and their cool masks.
So as you can see, Cameroon is like a smörgåsbord of culture, however, one thing that it does kind of lack is...
...in its political stability.
Ugh! I knew there was a catch. I knew this place seemed too perfect.
Yeah, Cameroon does kinda rank a little low in Transperancy International's rankings.
They are typically in the upper 140's out of 176 countries listed.
That partially has to do with the fact that country has really only been under the leadership of one of 2 men since its independence.
The first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo and the second, Paul Biya.
Who has been president since 1982.
Biya has been criticized, not really for what for what he institutes, but rather for what he doesn't do.
He makes very few public appearances and has an aloof reign over his country.
Sometimes he'll be out of office for months hanging out in France, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on hotels and luxury items as riots break out in his own country.
He's been accused of holding phony elections to justify his position in office
and persecuting any oponents that try to step in the polls.
Nonetheless, Biya does still kinda maintain national ties with other countries and kinda acts as like a national spokesperson.
Now let's talk about whom he rubs shoulders with.
Now, Cameroon wouldn't be shaped and molded into the Cameroon that it is today if it wasn't for the various investments and interactions that they've engaged with over the years.
For starters, Cameroon has a few desputes with Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea over maritime borders and exclusive economic zones.
Some will tell you that these issues have been mostly solved, but most will also tell you "eh...."
Canada and the US have great relations with Cameroon.
Cameroon is ahuge hub for US Peace Corps volunteers that help out with aid and HIV/AIDS treatment centers, as well as agricultural development projects.
Canada not only started relations with Cameroon early, but in a funny way, is very similar to Cameroon in that both countries share a history of English and French division and influence.
Now, as a former colony, Cameroon clicks very well with France.
Both countries have numerous militaristic, economic, cultural, and construction agreements.
The president is a frequent visitor to Paris, almost a little too frequent.
And I guess one thing that he can be credited for is having successfully secured France's love for Cameroon.
As for their best friends, however, Cameroonians would probably say their neighbors in the east, Chad, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
These countries understand each other pretty well on both a cultural and diplomatic level.
Peoples of the north resonante well with Chad, whereas people in the east and south gel well with the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
All 4 countries speak French and have centuries of historical ties that go beyond brotherhood.
In conclusion, you have this amazing, lush, diverse country
with some legislative issues and gorillas and lakes that can suffocate you.
Like - either one.
Stay tuned. Canada is coming up next!
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