General geographic and economic situation

Cameroon, an independant federal republic since 1960, extends itself over a surface of 474'000 km2.

Its geographic situation allows for different types of vegetation (tropical forest in the south and subsaharian climate in the north).

Official languages are English, spoken in a major part of the south, and French, spoken in the north. However the country has a lot of ethnic groups and therefore, one can hear over 200 different dialects.

Living on picking and hunting in the south, on agriculture in the center, populations manage to meet their basic needs. This is not the case with inhabitants of the northern province because of falling cotton prices, which removed financial resources for many. The increasing price of basic foods such as meat and fish forces many families to eat nothing but starch and groundnuts.

Parallel to internal difficulties, northern Cameroon must face a flood of refugees from Chad as well as a strong immigration coming from Nigeria.