BRIEF HISTORY:

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a unitary republic of west Africa. We border Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Gulf of Guinea. Cameroon. We were once a German colony at the time of World War I, and was later split between the French and British after the defeat of Germany during the world war. In 1960, French Cameroun became an independent republic, merging with the southern part of British Cameroons in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. It was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972, and then the Republic of Cameroon or République du Cameroun in 1984 of which we are still officially known as today. Our official languages are English and French.

The first inhabitants of Cameroon were the Pygmy Baka people who were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations.

The first European contact was in the 16th century with the Portuguese, but they did hang around for too long. The Portuguese did however give the would-be country its name as the explorers noted an abundance of prawns in the Wouri River and named it rio dos camaroes, which is Portuguese for "river of prawns". Cameroon thus comes from camarão, the Portuguese word for prawn.

The first permanent colonial settlements were started in the late 1870s, as the German Empire emerged as a major European Power.With the defeat of Germany in World War I, Cameroon became a League of Nations Mandate territory and was split between French Cameroons (Cameroun in French) and British Cameroons in 1919. (These mandates were converted into United Nations Trusteeships in 1946). The so-called 'forced labor' which the Allies had accused the Germans of throughout The Great War continued under the Mandates, and, in addition, the French immediately introduced compulsory military service as well as drafting natives for work outside of the colony, mainly the Congo and the Ubangi.

In 1960, French Cameroon gained its independence and became The Cameroon Republic. It was joined in 1961 by the southern part of the British Cameroons. The remainder of the British Cameroons became part of Nigeria at the same time. The new coalition government was led by Ahmadou Ahidjo who was the first President of Cameroon and a great one he was. Ahidjo stepped down in 1982 and was succeeded by our current president, Paul Biya.