<text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">CAMEROON</span><span class="style42"></span><span class="style14"></span><span class="style42">Official name:</span><span class="style13"> La République unie du Cameroun (The United Republic of Cameroon)</span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, OAU</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">475442 km2 (183569 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">13100000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Yaoundé 712000 (1987 est)</span><span class="style42">Other major cities: </span><span class="style13">Douala 1117000, Nkongsamba 112000 (1987 est)</span><span class="style42">Languages: </span><span class="style13">French and English (both official)</span><span class="style42">Religions: </span><span class="style13">Animist (40%), Sunni Islam (20%), Roman Catholic (20%)</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">The 180 members of the National Assembly are elected for a five-year term by universal adult suffrage. The President – who is also directly elected for a five-year term – appoints a Prime Minister and a Council of Ministers.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">In the west, a chain of highlands rises to the volcanic Mount Cameroon at 4069 m (13 353 ft). In the north, savannah plains dip towards Lake Chad. The coastal plains and plateau in the south and the center are covered with tropical forest. </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">Cameroon is tropical, with hot, rainy conditions on the coast, but drier inland.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Cameroon is a major producer of cocoa, and other export crops include bananas, coffee, cotton, rubber and palm oil. The diversity of Cameroon’s agriculture, and the rapid development of the petroleum industry, have given Cameroon one of the highest living standards in tropical Africa. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">CFA franc.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">The area fell victim to Portuguese slave traders in the late 15th century. Germany declared a protectorate over Kamerun in 1884. After World War I, Cameroon was divided between the UK and France. The French Cameroons became independent in 1960. Following a plebiscite (1961), the north of the British Cameroons merged with Nigeria; the south federated with the former French territory. A single-party state was established in 1966 and a unitary system replaced the federation in 1972. Political pluralism returned in 1992, but multi-party elections in 1993 were alleged to be fraudulent by the opposition.</span></text>