Coordinates:

Cameroon (/kæməˈruːn/(listen); French: Cameroun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (French: République du Cameroun), is a country wedged in West and Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although Cameroon is not an ECOWAS member state, it geographically and historically is in West Africa with the Southern Cameroons which now form her Northwest and Southwest Regions having a strong West African history. The country is sometimes identified as West African and other times as Central African due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa.
French and English are the official languages of Cameroon. The country is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point at almost 4,100 metres (13,500ft) is Mount Cameroon in the Southwest Region of the country, and the largest cities in population-terms are Douala on the Wouri river, its economic capital and main seaport, Yaoundé, its political capital, and Garoua. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team.
Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River), which became Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun.
After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the United Kingdom as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the 1950s, leading to the Cameroonian Independence War fought between French and UPC militant forces until early 1971. In 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons federated with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The federation was abandoned in 1972. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984. Large numbers of Cameroonians live as subsistence farmers. Since 1982 Paul Biya has been President, governing with his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party. The country has experienced tensions coming from the English-speaking territories. Politicians in the English-speaking regions have advocated for greater decentralisation and even complete separation or independence (as in the Southern Cameroons National Council) from Cameroon.
History

The territory of present-day Cameroon was first settled during the Neolithic Era. The longest continuous inhabitants are groups such as the Baka (Pygmies).[10] From here, Bantu migrations into eastern, southern, and central Africa are believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago.[11] The Sao culture arose around Lake Chad, c. 500 AD, and gave way to the Kanem and its successor state, the Bornu Empire. Kingdoms, fondoms, and chiefdoms arose in the west.[12]
Portuguese sailors reached the coast in 1472. They noted an abundance of the ghost shrimp Lepidophthalmus turneranus in the Wouri River and named it Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River), which became Cameroon in English.[13] Over the following few centuries, European interests regularised trade with the coastal peoples, and Christian missionaries pushed inland.[14]
The 1800s

In the early 19th century, Modibo Adama led Fulani soldiers on a jihad in the north against non-Muslim and partially Muslim peoples and established the Adamawa Emirate. Settled peoples who fled the Fulani caused a major redistribution of population.
The Bamum tribe have a writing system, known as Bamum script or Shu Mom. The script was given to them by Sultan Ibrahim Njoya in 1896,[15][16] and is taught in Cameroon by the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project.[16] Germany began to establish roots in Cameroon in 1868 when the Woermann Company of Hamburg built a warehouse. It was built on the estuary of the Wouri River. Later Gustav Nachtigal made a treaty with one of the local kings to annex the region for the German emperor.[17] The German Empire claimed the territory as the colony of Kamerun in 1884 and began a steady push inland. The Germans ran into resistance with the native people who did not want the Germans to establish themselves on this land. Under the influence of Germany, commercial companies were left to regulate local administrations. These concessions used forced labour of the Africans to make a profit. The labour was used on banana, rubber, palm oil, and cocoa plantations.[17] They initiated projects to improve the colony's infrastructure, relying on a harsh system of forced labour, which was much criticised by the other colonial powers.[18]
The 1900s
With the defeat of Germany in World War I, Kamerun became a League of Nations mandate territory and was split into French Cameroons and British Cameroons in 1919. France integrated the economy of Cameroon with that of France[19] and improved the infrastructure with capital investments and skilled workers, modifying the system of forced labour.[18]
The British administered their territory from neighbouring Nigeria. Natives complained that this made them a neglected "colony of a colony". Nigerian migrant workers flocked to Southern Cameroons, ending forced labour altogether but angering the local natives, who felt swamped.[20] The League of Nations mandates were converted into United Nations Trusteeships in 1946, and the question of independence became a pressing issue in French Cameroun.[19]
France outlawed the most radical political party, the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), on 13 July 1955.[21] This prompted a long guerrilla war and the assassination of the party's leader, Ruben Um Nyobé. In the more peaceful British Cameroons, the question was whether to reunify with French Cameroun or join Nigeria.[22]
Independence (1960)

On 1 January 1960, French Cameroun gained independence from France under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. On 1 October 1961, the formerly British Southern Cameroons gained independence voted by vote of the UN General Assembly and joined with French Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Ahidjo used the ongoing war with the UPC to concentrate power in the presidency, continuing with this even after the suppression of the UPC in 1971.[23]
His political party, the Cameroon National Union (CNU), became the sole legal political party on 1 September 1966 and in 1972, the federal system of government was abolished in favour of a United Republic of Cameroon, headed from Yaoundé.[24] Ahidjo pursued an economic policy of planned liberalism, prioritising cash crops and petroleum development. The government used oil money to create a national cash reserve, pay farmers, and finance major development projects; however, many initiatives failed when Ahidjo appointed unqualified allies to direct them.[25]

Ahidjo stepped down on 4 November 1982 and left power to his constitutional successor, Paul Biya. However, Ahidjo remained in control of the CNU and tried to run the country from behind the scenes until Biya and his allies pressured him into resigning. Biya began his administration by moving toward a more democratic government, but a failed coup d'état nudged him toward the leadership style of his predecessor.[26]
An economic crisis took effect in the mid-1980s to late 1990s as a result of international economic conditions, drought, falling petroleum prices, and years of corruption, mismanagement, and cronyism. Cameroon turned to foreign aid, cut government spending, and privatised industries. With the reintroduction of multi-party politics in December 1990, the former British Southern Cameroons pressure groups called for greater autonomy, and the Southern Cameroons National Council advocated complete secession as the Republic of Ambazonia.[27]
21st century
In June 2006, talks concerning a territorial dispute over the Bakassi peninsula were resolved. The talks involved President Paul Biya of Cameroon, then President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and resulted in Cameroonian control of the oil-rich peninsula. The northern portion of the territory was formally handed over to the Cameroonian government in August 2006, and the remainder of the peninsula was left to Cameroon 2 years later, in 2008.[28]
In February 2008, Cameroon experienced its worst violence in 15 years when a transport union strike in Douala escalated into violent protests in 31 municipal areas.[29][30]
In May 2014, in the wake of the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping, presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon and Idriss Déby of Chad announced they are waging war on Boko Haram, and deployed troops to the Nigerian border.[31]
Since November 2016, protesters from the predominantly English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of the country have been campaigning for continued use of the English language in schools and courts. People were killed and hundreds jailed as a result of these protests.[32] In 2017, Biya's government blocked the regions' access to the Internet for three months.[33] In September, separatists started a guerilla war for the indendence of the Anglophone region as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The government responded with a military offensive, and the insurgency spread across the Northwest and Southwest regions. As of 2018, fighting between separatist guerillas and government forces continues.[34]
Politics and government

The President of Cameroon is elected and creates policy, administers government agencies, commands the armed forces, negotiates and ratifies treaties, and declares a state of emergency.[35] The president appoints government officials at all levels, from the prime minister (considered the official head of government), to the provincial governors and divisional officers.[36] The president is selected by popular vote every seven years.[1] There have been 2 presidents since the independence of Cameroon.
The National Assembly makes legislation. The body consists of 180 members who are elected for five-year terms and meet three times per year.[36] Laws are passed on a majority vote. Rarely has the assembly changed or blocked legislation proposed by the president.[1]
The 1996 constitution establishes a second house of parliament, the 100-seat Senate, was established in April 2013 and is headed by a President of the Senate who is the constitutional successor in case of untimely vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic.[1] The government recognises the authority of traditional chiefs, fons, and lamibe to govern at the local level and to resolve disputes as long as such rulings do not conflict with national law.[37][38]
Cameroon's legal system is largely based on French civil law with common law influences.[1] Although nominally independent, the judiciary falls under the authority of the executive's Ministry of Justice.[37] The president appoints judges at all levels.[36] The judiciary is officially divided into tribunals, the court of appeal, and the supreme court. The National Assembly elects the members of a nine-member High Court of Justice that judges high-ranking members of government in the event they are charged with high treason or harming national security.[39][40]
Political culture
Cameroon is viewed as rife with corruption at all levels of government. In 1997, Cameroon established anti-corruption bureaus in 29 ministries, but only 25% became operational,[41] and in 2012, Transparency International placed Cameroon at number 144 on a list of 176 countries ranked from least to most corrupt.[42] On 18 January 2006, Biya initiated an anti-corruption drive under the direction of the National Anti-Corruption Observatory.[41] There are several high corruption risk areas in Cameroon, for instance, customs, public health sector and public procurement.[43] Unfortunately, the corruption has gotten worse, regardless of the existing anti-corruption bureaus, as Transparency International ranked Cameroon 153 on a list of 180 countries in 2017.[44]

Human rights organisations accuse police and military forces of mistreating and even torturing criminal suspects, ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and political activists.[45][46][47][48] Prisons are overcrowded with little access to adequate food and medical facilities,[47][48] and prisons run by traditional rulers in the north are charged with holding political opponents at the behest of the government.[46] However, since the first decade of the 21st century, an increasing number of police and gendarmes have been prosecuted for improper conduct.[47] A video showing Cameroonian soldiers executing blindfolded women and children has emerged in 2018.[49]
President Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) was the only legal political party until December 1990. Numerous regional political groups have since formed. The primary opposition is the Social Democratic Front (SDF), based largely in the Anglophone region of the country and headed by John Fru Ndi.[50]
Biya and his party have maintained control of the presidency and the National Assembly in national elections, which rivals contend were unfair.[27] Human rights organisations allege that the government suppresses the freedoms of opposition groups by preventing demonstrations, disrupting meetings, and arresting opposition leaders and journalists.[45][46] In particular, English-speaking people are discriminated against; protests often escalate into violent clashes and killings.[51] In 2017, President Biya shut down the Internet in the English-speaking region for 94 days, at the cost of hampering five million people, including Silicon Mountain startups.[52]
Freedom House ranks Cameroon as "not free" in terms of political rights and civil liberties.[53] The last parliamentary elections were held on 30 September 2013.[54]
Foreign relations

Cameroon is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie.
Its foreign policy closely follows that of its main ally, France (one of its former colonial rulers).[55][56] Cameroon relies heavily on France for its defence,[37] although military spending is high in comparison to other sectors of government.[57]
President Biya has engaged in a decades-long clash with the government of Nigeria over possession of the oil rich Bakassi peninsula.[50] Cameroon and Nigeria share a 1,000 mile border and have disputed the sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula. In 1994 Cameroon petitioned the International Court of Justice to resolve the dispute. The two countries attempted to establish a cease-fire in 1996, however, fighting continued for years. In 2002, the ICJ ruled that the Anglo-German Agreement of 1913 gave sovereignty to Cameroon. The ruling called for a withdrawal by both countries and denied the request by Cameroon for compensation due to Nigeria's long-term occupation.[58] By 2004, Nigeria had failed to meet the deadline to handover the peninsula. A UN-mediated summit in June 2006 facilitated an agreement for Nigeria to withdraw from the region and both leaders signed the Greentree Agreement.[59] The withdrawal and handover of control was completed by August 2006.[60]
Administrative divisions

The constitution divides Cameroon into 10 semi-autonomous regions, each under the administration of an elected Regional Council. Each region is headed by a presidentially appointed governor.[35]
These leaders are charged with implementing the will of the president, reporting on the general mood and conditions of the regions, administering the civil service, keeping the peace, and overseeing the heads of the smaller administrative units. Governors have broad powers: they may order propaganda in their area and call in the army, gendarmes, and police.[35] All local government officials are employees of the central government's Ministry of Territorial Administration, from which local governments also get most of their budgets.[11]
The regions are subdivided into 58 divisions (French départements). These are headed by presidentially appointed divisional officers (préfets). The divisions are further split into sub-divisions (arrondissements), headed by assistant divisional officers (sous-prefets). The districts, administered by district heads (chefs de district), are the smallest administrative units.[61]
The three northernmost regions are the Far North (Extrême Nord), North (Nord), and Adamawa (Adamaoua). Directly south of them are the Centre (Centre) and East (Est). The South Province (Sud) lies on the Gulf of Guinea and the southern border. Cameroon's western region is split into four smaller regions: the Littoral (Littoral) and Southwest (Sud-Ouest) regions are on the coast, and the Northwest (Nord-Ouest) and West (Ouest) regions are in the western grassfields.[61]
Education and health

In 2013, the total adult literacy rate of Cameroon was estimated to be 71.3%. Among youths age 15–24 the literacy rate was 85.4% for males and 76.4% for females.[62] Most children have access to state-run schools that are cheaper than private and religious facilities.[63] The educational system is a mixture of British and French precedents[64] with most instruction in English or French.[65]
Cameroon has one of the highest school attendance rates in Africa.[63] Girls attend school less regularly than boys do because of cultural attitudes, domestic duties, early marriage, pregnancy, and sexual harassment. Although attendance rates are higher in the south,[63] a disproportionate number of teachers are stationed there, leaving northern schools chronically understaffed.[47] In 2013, the primary school enrollment rate was 93.5%.[62]
School attendance in Cameroon is also affected by child labour. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Labor Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor reported that 56% of children aged 5 to 14 were working children and that almost 53% of children aged 7 to 14 combined work and school.[66] In December 2014, a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor issued by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs mentioned Cameroon among the countries that resorted to child labor in the production of cocoa.[67]
The quality of health care is generally low.[68] Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 56 years in 2012, with 48 healthy life years expected.[69] Fertility rate remain high in Cameroon with an average of 4.8 births per woman and an average mothers' age of 19.7 years old at first birth.[69] In Cameroon, there is only one doctor for every 5,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.[70] In 2014, just 4.1% of total GDP expenditure was allocated to healthcare.[71] Due to financial cuts in the health care system, there are few professionals. Doctors and nurses who were trained in Cameroon, emigrate because in Cameroon the payment is poor while the workload is high. Nurses are unemployed even though their help is needed. Some of them help out voluntarily so they will not lose their skills.[72] Outside the major cities, facilities are often dirty and poorly equipped.[73]
In 2012, the top three deadly diseases were HIV/AIDS, Lower Respiratory Infection, and Diarrheal Diseases.[69] Endemic diseases include dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria, meningitis, schistosomiasis, and sleeping sickness.[74] The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in 2016 was estimated at 3.8% for those aged 15–49,[75] although a strong stigma against the illness keeps the number of reported cases artificially low.[68] 46,000 children under age 14 were estimated to be living with HIV in 2016. In Cameroon, 58% of those living with HIV know their status, and just 37% receive ARV treatment. In 2016, 29,000 death due to AIDS occurred in both adults and children.[75]
Breast ironing, a traditional practice that is prevalent in Cameroon, may affect girls' health.[76][77][78][79] Female genital mutilation (FGM), while not widespread, is practiced among some populations; according to a 2013 UNICEF report,[80] 1% of women in Cameroon have undergone FGM. Also impacting women and girls' health, the contraceptive prevalence rate is estimated to be just 34.4% in 2014. Traditional healers remain a popular alternative to evidence-based medicine.[81]

Geography

At 475,442 square kilometres (183,569sqmi), Cameroon is the world's 53rd-largest country.[82] It is slightly larger than the nation of Sweden and the state of California; Cameroon is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea. The country is located in Central and West Africa, known as the hinge of Africa, on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.[83] Cameroon lies between latitudes 1° and 13°N, and longitudes 8° and 17°E. Cameroon controls 12 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean.
Tourist literature describes Cameroon as "Africa in miniature" because it exhibits all major climates and vegetation of the continent: coast, desert, mountains, rainforest, and savanna.[84] The country's neighbours are Nigeria and the Atlantic Ocean to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south.[1]

Cameroon is divided into five major geographic zones distinguished by dominant physical, climatic, and vegetative features. The coastal plain extends 15 to 150 kilometres (9 to 93mi) inland from the Gulf of Guinea[85] and has an average elevation of 90 metres (295ft).[86] Exceedingly hot and humid with a short dry season, this belt is densely forested and includes some of the wettest places on earth, part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests.[87][88]
The South Cameroon Plateau rises from the coastal plain to an average elevation of 650 metres (2,133ft).[89] Equatorial rainforest dominates this region, although its alternation between wet and dry seasons makes it is less humid than the coast. This area is part of the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregion.[90]

An irregular chain of mountains, hills, and plateaus known as the Cameroon range extends from Mount Cameroon on the coast—Cameroon's highest point at 4,095 metres (13,435ft)[91]—almost to Lake Chad at Cameroon's northern border at 13°05'N. This region has a mild climate, particularly on the Western High Plateau, although rainfall is high. Its soils are among Cameroon's most fertile, especially around volcanic Mount Cameroon.[91] Volcanism here has created crater lakes. On 21 August 1986, one of these, Lake Nyos, belched carbon dioxide and killed between 1,700 and 2,000 people.[92] This area has been delineated by the World Wildlife Fund as the Cameroonian Highlands forests ecoregion.[93]
The southern plateau rises northward to the grassy, rugged Adamawa Plateau. This feature stretches from the western mountain area and forms a barrier between the country's north and south. Its average elevation is 1,100 metres (3,609ft),[89] and its average temperature ranges from 22°C (71.6°F) to 25°C (77°F) with high rainfall between April and October peaking in July and August.[94][95] The northern lowland region extends from the edge of the Adamawa to Lake Chad with an average elevation of 300 to 350 metres (984 to 1,148ft).[91] Its characteristic vegetation is savanna scrub and grass. This is an arid region with sparse rainfall and high median temperatures.[96]
Cameroon has four patterns of drainage. In the south, the principal rivers are the Ntem, Nyong, Sanaga, and Wouri. These flow southwestward or westward directly into the Gulf of Guinea. The Dja and Kadéï drain southeastward into the Congo River. In northern Cameroon, the Bénoué River runs north and west and empties into the Niger. The Logone flows northward into Lake Chad, which Cameroon shares with three neighbouring countries.[97]
Economy and infrastructure

Cameroon's per-capita GDP (Purchasing power parity) was estimated as US$2,300 in 2008,[1] one of the ten highest in sub-Saharan Africa.[98] Major export markets include France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom.[1] Cameroon is aiming to become an emerging country by 2035.
Cameroon has had a decade of strong economic performance, with GDP growing at an average of 4% per year. During the 2004–2008 period, public debt was reduced from over 60% of GDP to 10% and official reserves quadrupled to over US$3billion.[99] Cameroon is part of the Bank of Central African States (of which it is the dominant economy),[98] the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC) and the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[100] Its currency is the CFA franc.[1]
Unemployment was estimated at 4.4% in 2014,[101] and about a third of the population was living below the international poverty threshold of US$1.25 a day in 2009.[102] Since the late 1980s, Cameroon has been following programmes advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce poverty, privatise industries, and increase economic growth.[37] The government has taken measures to encourage tourism in the country.[103]
Cameroon's natural resources are very well suited to agriculture and arboriculture. An estimated 70% of the population farms, and agriculture comprised an estimated 19.8% of GDP in 2009.[1] Most agriculture is done at the subsistence scale by local farmers using simple tools. They sell their surplus produce, and some maintain separate fields for commercial use. Urban centres are particularly reliant on peasant agriculture for their foodstuffs. Soils and climate on the coast encourage extensive commercial cultivation of bananas, cocoa, oil palms, rubber, and tea. Inland on the South Cameroon Plateau, cash crops include coffee, sugar, and tobacco. Coffee is a major cash crop in the western highlands, and in the north, natural conditions favour crops such as cotton, groundnuts, and rice. Reliance on agricultural exports makes Cameroon vulnerable to shifts in their prices.[1]

Livestock are raised throughout the country.[104] Fishing employs 5,000 people and provides over 100,000 tons of seafood each year.[105][106] Bushmeat, long a staple food for rural Cameroonians, is today a delicacy in the country's urban centres. The commercial bushmeat trade has now surpassed deforestation as the main threat to wildlife in Cameroon.[107][108]
The southern rainforest has vast timber reserves, estimated to cover 37% of Cameroon's total land area.[106] However, large areas of the forest are difficult to reach. Logging, largely handled by foreign-owned firms,[106] provides the government US$60million a year in taxes (as of 1998), and laws mandate the safe and sustainable exploitation of timber. Nevertheless, in practice, the industry is one of the least regulated in Cameroon.[109]
Factory-based industry accounted for an estimated 29.7% of GDP in 2009.[1] More than 75% of Cameroon's industrial strength is located in Douala and Bonabéri. Cameroon possesses substantial mineral resources, but these are not extensively mined (see Mining in Cameroon).[37] Petroleum exploitation has fallen since 1986, but this is still a substantial sector such that dips in prices have a strong effect on the economy.[110] Rapids and waterfalls obstruct the southern rivers, but these sites offer opportunities for hydroelectric development and supply most of Cameroon's energy. The Sanaga River powers the largest hydroelectric station, located at Edéa. The rest of Cameroon's energy comes from oil-powered thermal engines. Much of the country remains without reliable power supplies.[111]
Transport in Cameroon is often difficult. Except for the several relatively good toll roads which connect major cities (all of them one-lane) roads are poorly maintained and subject to inclement weather, since only 10% of the roadways are tarred.[1] Roadblocks often serve little other purpose than to allow police and gendarmes to collect bribes from travellers.[112] Road banditry has long hampered transport along the eastern and western borders, and since 2005, the problem has intensified in the east as the Central African Republic has further destabilised.[113]
Intercity bus services run by multiple private companies connect all major cities. They are the most popular means of transportation followed by the rail service Camrail. Rail service runs from Kumba in the west to Bélabo in the east and north to Ngaoundéré.[114] International airports are located in Douala and Yaoundé, with a third under construction in Maroua.[115] Douala is the country's principal seaport.[116] In the north, the Bénoué River is seasonally navigable from Garoua across into Nigeria.[117]
Although press freedoms have improved since the first decade of the 21st century, the press is corrupt and beholden to special interests and political groups.[118] Newspapers routinely self-censor to avoid government reprisals.[47] The major radio and television stations are state-run and other communications, such as land-based telephones and telegraphs, are largely under government control.[119] However, cell phone networks and Internet providers have increased dramatically since the first decade of the 21st century[120] and are largely unregulated.[46]
Military

The Cameroon Armed Forces, (French: Forces armées camerounaises, FAC) as of 2015, consists of the country's army (French: Armée de Terre), the country's navy (French: Marine Nationale de la République (MNR), includes naval infantry), the Cameroonian Air Force (French: Armée de l'Air du Cameroun, AAC), Fire Fighter Corps, Rapid Intervention Brigade and the Gendarmerie.[121]
Males and females that are 18 years of age up to 23 years of age and have graduated high school are eligible for military service. Those that do so are obliged 4 years of service. There is no conscription in Cameroon, but the government makes periodic calls for volunteers.[121]
Demographics

The population total in Cameroon was 23,439,189 in 2016.[5] The life expectancy is 56years (55.9years for males and 58.6years for females).[1]
According to the latest census, Cameroon still has slightly more women (50.6%) than men (49.4%). Nearly 60% of the population is under age 25. People over 65 years of age account for only 3.2% of the total population.[1]
Cameroon's population is almost evenly divided between urban and rural dwellers.[123] Population density is highest in the large urban centres, the western highlands, and the northeastern plain.[124] Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua are the largest cities. In contrast, the Adamawa Plateau, southeastern Bénoué depression, and most of the South Cameroon Plateau are sparsely populated.[125]
According to the World Health Organization, the fertility rate was 4.8 in 2013 with a population growth rate of 2.56%.[69]
People from the overpopulated western highlands and the underdeveloped north are moving to the coastal plantation zone and urban centres for employment.[126] Smaller movements are occurring as workers seek employment in lumber mills and plantations in the south and east.[127] Although the national sex ratio is relatively even, these out-migrants are primarily males, which leads to unbalanced ratios in some regions.[128]

Both monogamous and polygamous marriage are practised, and the average Cameroonian family is large and extended.[129] In the north, women tend to the home, and men herd cattle or work as farmers. In the south, women grow the family's food, and men provide meat and grow cash crops. Like most societies, Cameroonian society is male-dominated, and violence and discrimination against women is common.[46][47][130]
Estimates identify anywhere from 230 to 282 different folks and linguistic groups in Cameroon.[131][132] The Adamawa Plateau broadly bisects these into northern and southern divisions. The northern peoples are Sudanese groups, who live in the central highlands and the northern lowlands, and the Fulani, who are spread throughout northern Cameroon. A small number of Shuwa Arabs live near Lake Chad. Southern Cameroon is inhabited by speakers of Bantu and Semi-Bantu languages. Bantu-speaking groups inhabit the coastal and equatorial zones, while speakers of Semi-Bantu languages live in the Western grassfields. Some 5,000 Gyele and Baka Pygmy peoples roam the southeastern and coastal rainforests or live in small, roadside settlements.[133] Nigerians make up the largest group of foreign nationals.[134]

vt Largest cities or towns in Cameroon
According to the 2005 Census[135]RankNameRegionPop.
Douala

Yaoundé1DoualaLittoral1,906,962
Bafoussam

Bamenda2YaoundéCentre1,817,5243BafoussamWest800,0004BamendaNorthwest269,5305GarouaNorth235,9966MarouaFar North201,3717NgaoundéréAdamawa152,6988KumbaSouthwest144,2689NkongsambaLittoral104,05010BueaSouthwest90,090
Refugees

In 2007, Cameroon hosted a total population of refugees and asylum seekers of approximately 97,400. Of these, 49,300 were from the Central African Republic (many driven west by war),[136] 41,600 from Chad, and 2,900 from Nigeria.[137] Kidnappings of Cameroonian citizens by Central African bandits have increased since 2005.[113]
In the first months of 2014, thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in the Central African Republic arrived in Cameroon.[138]
On 4 June 2014, AlertNet reported:

Almost 90,000 people have fled to neighbouring Cameroon since December and up to 2,000 a week, mostly women and children, are still crossing the border, the United Nations said.
"Women and children are arriving in Cameroon in a shocking state, after weeks, sometimes months, on the road, foraging for food," said Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP).[139]

Languages

Both English and French are official languages, although French is by far the most understood language (more than 80%).[140] German, the language of the original colonisers, has long since been displaced by French and English. Cameroonian Pidgin English is the lingua franca in the formerly British-administered territories.[141] A mixture of English, French, and Pidgin called Camfranglais has been gaining popularity in urban centres since the mid-1970s.[142][143] The government encourages bilingualism in English and French, and as such, official government documents, new legislation, ballots, among others, are written and provided in both languages. As part of the initiative to encourage bilingualism in Cameroon, six of the eight universities in the country are entirely bilingual.
In addition to the colonial languages, there are approximately 250 other languages spoken by nearly 20 million Cameroonians.[144] It is because of this that Cameroon is considered one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.[145]
In 2017 there were language protests by the anglophone population against perceived oppression by the francophone. The military was deployed against the protesters and people have been killed, hundreds imprisoned and thousands fled the country.[146]
Religion

Cameroon has a high level of religious freedom and diversity.[47] The predominant faith is Christianity, practised by about two-thirds of the population, while Islam is a significant minority faith, adhered to by about one-fifth. In addition, traditional faiths are practised by many. Muslims are most concentrated in the north, while Christians are concentrated primarily in the southern and western regions, but practitioners of both faiths can be found throughout the country.[148] Large cities have significant populations of both groups.[148] Muslims in Cameroon are divided into Sufis (and Salafis),[149] Shias, and non-denominational Muslims.[149][150]
People from the North-West and South-West provinces, which used to be a part of British Cameroons, have the highest proportion of Protestants. The French-speaking regions of the southern and western regions are largely Catholic.[148] Southern ethnic groups predominantly follow Christian or traditional African animist beliefs, or a syncretic combination of the two. People widely believe in witchcraft, and the government outlaws such practices.[151] Suspected witches are often subject to mob violence.[47] The Islamist jihadist group Ansar al-Islam has been reported as operating in North Cameroon.[152]
In the northern regions, the locally dominant Fulani ethnic group is mostly Muslim, but the overall population is fairly evenly divided among Muslims, Christians, and followers of indigenous religious beliefs (called Kirdi ("pagan") by the Fulani).[148] The Bamum ethnic group of the West Region is largely Muslim.[148] Native traditional religions are practised in rural areas throughout the country but rarely are practised publicly in cities, in part because many indigenous religious groups are intrinsically local in character.[148]
The Norwegian Missionary Society first established a mission in Cameroon in the early 1920s. Many of the churches still stands. At the time there were few Christians but now there are many. In cooperation with the local Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon EELC and the American ELCA the NMS built several hospitals among these the Protestant Hospital of Ngaoundéré, high schools and several other institutions. Ngaoundéré once held one of the largest Norwegian contingencies of any place in the world, with over 100 Norwegians living there in the 1980s. Some of the families have been there in several generations among these Kaldhol, Bjaanes, Stavenjord and Dankel. The neighbourhood was even dubbed "Norvège" ("Norway" in French).
Culture

Media

Music and dance

Music and dance are an integral part of Cameroonian ceremonies, festivals, social gatherings, and storytelling.[153][154] Traditional dances are highly choreographed and separate men and women or forbid participation by one sex altogether.[155] The goals of dances range from pure entertainment to religious devotion.[154] Traditionally, music is transmitted orally. In a typical performance, a chorus of singers echoes a soloist.[156]
Musical accompaniment may be as simple as clapping hands and stomping feet,[157] but traditional instruments include bells worn by dancers, clappers, drums and talking drums, flutes, horns, rattles, scrapers, stringed instruments, whistles, and xylophones; the exact combination varies with ethnic group and region. Some performers sing complete songs by themselves, accompanied by a harplike instrument.[156][158]
Popular music styles include ambasse bey of the coast, assiko of the Bassa, mangambeu of the Bangangte, and tsamassi of the Bamileke.[159] Nigerian music has influenced Anglophone Cameroonian performers, and Prince Nico Mbarga's highlife hit "Sweet Mother" is the top-selling African record in history.[160]
The two most popular styles of music are makossa and bikutsi. Makossa developed in Douala and mixes folk music, highlife, soul, and Congo music. Performers such as Manu Dibango, Francis Bebey, Moni Bilé, and Petit-Pays popularised the style worldwide in the 1970s and 1980s. Bikutsi originated as war music among the Ewondo. Artists such as Anne-Marie Nzié developed it into a popular dance music beginning in the 1940s, and performers such as Mama Ohandja and Les Têtes Brulées popularised it internationally during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.[161][162]
Cuisine

Cuisine varies by region, but a large, one-course, evening meal is common throughout the country. A typical dish is based on cocoyams, maize, cassava (manioc), millet, plantains, potatoes, rice, or yams, often pounded into dough-like fufu. This is served with a sauce, soup, or stew made from greens, groundnuts, palm oil, or other ingredients.[163] Meat and fish are popular but expensive additions, with chicken often reserved for special occasions.[164] Dishes are often quite hot, spiced with salt, red pepper sauce, and Maggi.[165][166][167]
Cutlery is common, but food is traditionally manipulated with the right hand. Breakfast consists of leftovers of bread and fruit with coffee or tea. Generally breakfast is made from wheat flour in various different foods such as puff-puff (doughnuts), accra banana made from bananas and flour, bean cakes and many more. Snacks are popular, especially in larger towns where they may be bought from street vendors.[168][169]
Water, palm wine, and millet beer are the traditional mealtime drinks, although beer, soda, and wine have gained popularity. 33 Export beer is the official drink of the national soccer team and one of the most popular brands, joining Castel, Amstel Brewery, and Guinness.
Local arts and crafts
Traditional arts and crafts are practiced throughout the country for commercial, decorative, and religious purposes. Woodcarvings and sculptures are especially common.[170] The high-quality clay of the western highlands is suitable for pottery and ceramics.[154] Other crafts include basket weaving, beadworking, brass and bronze working, calabash carving and painting, embroidery, and leather working. Traditional housing styles make use of locally available materials and vary from temporary wood-and-leaf shelters of nomadic Mbororo to the rectangular mud-and-thatch homes of southern peoples. Dwellings made from materials such as cement and tin are increasingly common.[171] Contemporary art is mainly promoted by independent cultural organizations (Doual'art, Africréa) and artist-run initiatives (Art Wash, Atelier Viking, ArtBakery).[172]
Literature

Cameroonian literature has concentrated on both European and African themes. Colonial-era writers such as Louis-Marie Pouka and Sankie Maimo were educated by European missionary societies and advocated assimilation into European culture as the means to bring Cameroon into the modern world.[173] After World War II, writers such as Mongo Beti and Ferdinand Oyono analysed and criticised colonialism and rejected assimilation.[174][175][176]
Films and Literatures

Shortly after independence, filmmakers such as Jean-Paul Ngassa and Thérèse Sita-Bella explored similar themes.[177][178] In the 1960s, Mongo Beti, Ferdinand Léopold Oyono and other writers explored post-colonialism, problems of African development, and the recovery of African identity.[179] Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s, filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa and Daniel Kamwa dealt with the conflicts between traditional and post-colonial society. Literature and films during the next two decades concentrated more on wholly Cameroonian themes.[180]
Sports

National policy strongly advocates sport in all forms. Traditional sports include canoe racing and wrestling, and several hundred runners participate in the 40km (25mi) Mount Cameroon Race of Hope each year.[181] Cameroon is one of the few tropical countries to have competed in the Winter Olympics.
Sport in Cameroon is dominated by football. Amateur football clubs abound, organised along ethnic lines or under corporate sponsors. The national team has been one of the most successful in Africa since its strong showing in the 1982 and 1990 FIFA World Cups. Cameroon has won five African Cup of Nations titles and the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.[182]
Cameroon was the host country of the Women Africa Cup of Nations in November–December 2016.[183] The women's football team is known as the "Indomitable Lionesses."

Human rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that Cameroon Government forces are responsible for killings, the excessive use of force, burning down of houses, arbitrary detentions and torture. UN figures indicate that more than 21,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, while 160,000 have been internally displaced by the violence, many reportedly hiding in forests.
On 25 July 2018, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed deep concern about reports of violations and abuses in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.[184]
See also

Index of Cameroon-related articles
Outline of Cameroon
Notes

Further reading

 Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) . Reporters without Borders. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
 Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) . Human Development Report 2006. United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
Fonge, Fuabeh P. (1997). Modernization without Development in Africa: Patterns of Change and Continuity in Post-Independence Cameroonian Public Service. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc.
MacDonald, Brian S. (1997). "Case Study 4: Cameroon", Military Spending in Developing Countries: How Much Is Too Much? McGill-Queen's University Press.
Njeuma, Dorothy L. (no date). "". The Boston College Center for International Higher Education. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
Sa'ah, Randy Joe (23 June 2006). "". BBC News. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
Wight, Susannah, ed. (2006). Cameroon. Spain: MTH Multimedia S.L.
"". World Economic Outlook Database, International Monetary Fund. September 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2007.

Government

 has reporting on anti-corruption in Cameroon

General information

 from Business Anti-Corruption Portal
 from UCB Libraries GovPubs
 at Curlie
 from the BBC News
Wikimedia Atlas of Cameroon
 from International Futures
Trade
 from World Bank


Part of a series onPeerage
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Peers of the Realm have been associated with Australia since early in its history as a British settlement. Many peers served as governors of the Australian colonies (states following Federation), and in the days when the practice of appointing British governors-general was current, the great majority were peers.
Australians themselves were previously eligible to receive British Imperial Honours. Such honours, in appropriate cases, included peerages and baronetcies. In other cases, already-extant peerages and baronetcies devolved upon persons who emigrated to Australia, or whose ancestors had emigrated to Australia.
Peerage titles bestowed included some distinctly Australian titles, such as Viscount Bruce of Melbourne.  Imperial Honours were recommended to the sovereign by the Prime Minister of Australia, an Australian state premier, or sometimes by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Some Australians have been awarded peerages in recognition of services rendered in the United Kingdom, rather than Australia.
The practice of awarding British Imperial Honours for services rendered in Australia generally came to a halt when Malcolm Fraser, the last Australian prime minister to make nominations for Imperial Honours, lost the 1983 election to Bob Hawke, who discontinued the practice in favour of nominations solely for the Australian Honours System. (There had previously been a brief hiatus in the recommendation of Imperial Honours during the premiership of Gough Whitlam, 1972–75.) Despite the discontinuance of nominations on a federal level, individual states such as Queensland and Tasmania continued to recommend Imperial Honours until 1989. Australians based in the United Kingdom and other realms which continue to make nominations for Imperial Honours (such as Papua New Guinea) continue to be eligible for nomination to Imperial Honours, including peerages, and already-extant peerages and baronetcies continue to be inherited according to the instrument of their creation.
Not all recommendations for peerages have been accepted. Malcolm Fraser's recommendation of a peerage for Sir John Kerr was not supported by the British prime minister, James Callaghan.[1]
Australians with hereditary peerages
The following hereditary peers are or were Australians by birth or residence.
Duke
Manchester: Alexander Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester, was born in Australia in 1962, making him an Australian citizen from birth; however, he has long resided in California.  He succeeded to his father's dukedom in 2002. His younger brother, Lord Kimble Montagu, is also an Australian citizen and is the heir presumptive to the dukedom.[2] Lord Kimble is an academic at Monash University.
Marquess
Sligo: Sebastian Browne, 12th Marquess of Sligo (born 1964) is a peer in the Peerage of Ireland. As Baron Monteagle he is also a peer in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He emigrated to Australia in 1997, where he is a residential real estate agent.
Earl
Dunmore: Malcolm Murray, 12th Earl of Dunmore was born in Tasmania in 1946, and has lived there all his life.
Lincoln: Robert Edward Fiennes-Clinton, 19th Earl of Lincoln is the head of a branch of the Fiennes-Clinton family, now resident in Perth, Western Australia.
Loudoun: Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun was born in Australia in 1974. In 2004, the television documentary Britain's Real Monarch presented evidence that his father was the rightful King of England. He lives in Wangaratta, and Melbourne Victoria. He succeeded his father in 2012.
Portarlington: The 7th and current Earl of Portarlington maintains an address in Sydney as well as an address in Melrose, Scotland.[3]
Portland: Timothy Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, was born in Tasmania in 1953 while his father Henry Bentinck, later the 11th Earl, was working as a jackaroo on a sheep station there.
Stradbroke: Robert Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke lives in Victoria, after having left England at the age of 19. His grandfather, the 3rd Earl, had been Governor of Victoria from 1921 to 1926.
Wilton: Francis Egerton Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton lives in Victoria and is a board member of the Victorian Opera. Like his kinsmen, many of whom assumed the surname Egerton-Warburton, he is in remainder to the Egerton baronetcy (created 1617).
Viscount
Bolingbroke and St John: Nicholas Alexander Mowbray St John, 9th Viscount Bolingbroke lives in Sydney.  He is also 10th Viscount St John and 13th Baronet of Lydiard Tregoze.
Bruce of Melbourne: Stanley Bruce became Prime Minister in 1923, holding the office for six and a half years until he lost not only the 1929 election but also his own seat of Flinders. He later became High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and served there for thirteen years. In 1947 he became Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, of Westminster Gardens in the City of Westminster. He was childless and the viscountcy became extinct at his death.
Baron
Baillieu: Sir Clive Baillieu was born in Australia and educated at Camberwell Grammar School, Melbourne Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, before moving to the UK, where he continued his studies at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was granted an hereditary peerage in 1953, as 1st Baron Baillieu, of Sefton in the Commonwealth of Australia and of Parkwood in the County of Surrey. He died in Melbourne in 1967 and was succeeded by his son William as 2nd Baron Baillieu. The current holder, James William Latham Baillieu, 3rd Baron Baillieu, maintains addresses in both London and Melbourne.
Chesham: Charles Cavendish, 7th Baron Chesham was born in Sydney and was educated at The King's School, Parramatta before moving to the United Kingdom.
Dufferin and Claneboye: John Blackwood, 11th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, resides in Orange, New South Wales.[4]
Huntingfield: William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield was born in Gatton, Queensland in 1883, and grew up there until the age of 14, when he moved to England. He inherited the barony from his uncle in 1915. He was later appointed Governor of Victoria and served in that post from 1934 to 1939.
Lindsay of Birker: James Lindsay, 3rd Baron Lindsay of Birker (born 1945) is a former Australian diplomat, serving in Chile, Laos, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Pakistan and Kenya.  He succeeded his father to the Barony of Lindsay of Birker in 1994.
Robinson: Roy Robinson, 1st Baron Robinson (1883-1952) was born in South Australia and died in Canada.  He lived mainly in the United Kingdom, where he was knighted for his services to forestry in 1931, and raised to the peerage in 1947 as 1st Baron Robinson, of Kielder Forest in the County of Northumberland and of Adelaide in the Commonwealth of Australia.  He had no surviving sons and his barony became extinct on his death.
Stratheden and Campbell: David Campbell, 7th Baron Stratheden and Campbell was born in Rockhampton in 1963 and succeeded his father in 2011. He lives at the Sunshine Coast.
Australians associated with hereditary peerages
The following Australians are not or were not the holders of peerages themselves but have or had a close connection with a hereditary peer.
Baden-Powell: The Hon Michael Baden-Powell (born 1940) is heir presumptive to the Baden-Powell barony (and the Baronetcy of Bentley), and is the son of the 2nd Baron. He lives in Camberwell, Victoria and is active in the Victorian Scouts movement.
Harewood: Patricia Lascelles, Dowager Countess of Harewood (1926-2018) was an Australian violinist and fashion model who became the second wife of George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood on their marriage in Connecticut in 1967. She had previously borne him a son, the Hon. Mark Lascelles, in 1964. She was widowed in 2011 and the 8th Earl is the 7th Earl's son by his first wife.
Tryon: Dale "Kanga" Tryon, Baroness Tryon (1948-1997), born in Melbourne, was employed in Qantas' London office following her graduation. In England she met and later married Anthony Tryon, Baron Tryon. She was a close friend of Prince Charles, and was the founder of fashion label "Kanga" and couture line "The Dale Tryon Collection".
Dartmouth: Fiona Campbell, an Australian born in Melbourne, is the current Countess of Dartmouth since her marriage in June 2009 to William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth.
Hereditary peerages with Australian associations

A number of hereditary titles have been created for Britons that are associated with places in Australia.
Barony of Birdwood (1938): Sir William Birdwood was a British military commander prominent at Gallipoli. After retirement from the army in 1930, Birdwood made a bid to become Governor-General of Australia. He had the backing of King George V. However, the Australian Prime Minister James Scullin insisted that his Australian nominee Sir Isaac Isaacs be appointed. The King ultimately felt bound to accept the advice of the Prime Minister, but he did not disguise his reluctance and displeasure.[5]
In 1938 Birdwood was raised to the peerage, taking the title Baron Birdwood, of Anzac and of Totnes in the County of Devon.  He died in 1951.  The barony became extinct in 2015 on the death of his grandson, the 3rd Baron Birdwood.
Barony of Dugan (1949): Sir Winston Dugan (1877–1951) was a British administrator. He served as Governor of South Australia from 1934 to 1939 then Governor of Victoria until 1949.  He was also the Administrator of the Commonwealth on two occasions.  He was created Baron Dugan of Victoria, of Lurgan in the County of Armagh, on 7 July 1949. The title became extinct upon his death.
Viscountcy of Slim (1960): Field Marshal Sir William Slim (1891–1970) was a British military commander who had fought alongside Australians in both world wars, at Gallipoli, the Middle East and other places.  He was Governor-General of Australia from 1952 to 1960, when he returned to England. On the initiative of the then Prime Minister Robert Menzies, Sir William and Lady Slim received Australian pensions and passports. In 1960 Slim was raised to the peerage, taking the title Viscount Slim, of Yarralumla in the Capital Territory of Australia and of Bishopston in the City and County of Bristol. He was succeeded upon his death by his son John (1927-2019). The current baron is his grandson Mark William Rawdon Slim.
Other hereditary peers who served as Governors-General
There were other Governors-General of Australia who were British hereditary peers but whose peerages pre-dated their assuming the office of Governor-General, or who were raised to the peerage after assuming or leaving office but with titles that contain no references to places in Australia:

In addition to the above, some Governors of the Australian states (colonies prior to Federation) were peers prior to their appointment.
Australian life peers
Some Australians have been made life peers (barons) or peeresses (baronesses) of the United Kingdom.  They include:
James Atkin (1867–1944) Born in Brisbane. He served as a judge of the King's Bench division of the High Court of England and Wales, and in 1928 was appointed a law lord. He took the title of Baron Atkin, of Aberdovey, in the County of Merioneth.[6]
Sir Alec Broers (born 1938), former Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, was ennobled in 2004.  His title as a life peer is Baron Broers, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridgeshire
Richard Casey (1890–1976) resigned from the Australian Federal Parliament in 1960 in order to accept a life peerage. He became Baron Casey, of Berwick in the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, and of the City of Westminster, and he took his seat in the House of Lords. In 1965 he was made Governor-General of Australia.
Robin Corbett (1933–2012), British Labour Party politician; born in Fremantle, Western Australia, but moved to England as a small child. Corbett was made a life peer in 2001, as Baron Corbett, of Castle Vale in the County of Warwickshire.
Sir Howard Florey (1898–1968) was made a life peer in 1965 as Baron Florey, of Adelaide in the State of South Australia and Commonwealth of Australia and of Marston in the County of Oxford. Both Florey and the discoverer of penicillin, Sir Alexander Fleming, were knighted in 1944. Florey's additional peerage recognised the monumental work he did in making penicillin available in sufficient quantities to save millions of lives in World War II.
Trixie Gardner (born 1927), dentist and Conservative politician, was made a life peeress as Baroness Gardner of Parkes in the State of New South Wales and Commonwealth of Australia, and of Southgate in Greater London, on 19 June 1981.[7] She is the only Australian-born life peeress, and was the last recipient of a peerage with reference to a place in Australia.
Robert Hall (1901–1988), Australian-born economic adviser to the UK government (1953–61) and a member of Britain's Economic Planning Board (1947–61), was made a life peer in 1969. He took the name Baron Roberthall, of Silverspur in the State of Queensland and Commonwealth of Australia and of Trenance in the County of Cornwall.[8][9]
Sir Robert May (born 1936), Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government, President of the Royal Society, and a Professor at Sydney, Princeton, Oxford, and Imperial College London, was made a life peer in 2001. After his initial preference for "Baron May of Woollahra" failed an objection from the Protocol Office of the Australian Prime Minister's Department, he chose the title Baron May of Oxford, of Oxford in the County of Oxfordshire.
Augustus Uthwatt (1879-1949), Australian-born judge; Judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary; Privy Counsellor; 1946 he took the title Baron Uthwatt, of Lathbury, in the County of Buckingham.
Abortive peerages
The following Australians were nominated for peerages, but the peerage was never actually bestowed.
Sir John Forrest was to have been made an hereditary peer, but died before the peerage was formally created.  He was an explorer and statesman, who became the first Premier of Western Australia (1890–1901). After Federation he entered Federal Parliament (1901–1918). On 6 February 1918, he was informed that he was to be elevated to the British peerage as Baron Forrest, of Bunbury in the Commonwealth of Australia and of Forrest in Fife, and a public announcement was made of the honour.  He died at sea off the coast of Sierra Leone while en route to England for medical treatment.  Despite the announcement, no Letters Patent were issued before his death, so the peerage was not officially created.  He is sometimes referred to as "Lord Forrest", however this is an inaccurate title. He died childless, and so the barony would have become extinct upon his death even if he had survived to receive it.
D. P. O'Connell was nominated for a life peerage in the 1979 UK Honours List but died before the peerage could be granted.[10]
In 1977, the Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser at least informally raised with the UK Prime Minister James Callaghan the prospect of the Governor-General Sir John Kerr being elevated to the peerage.  This was done at the same time as recommending Kerr's appointment as a Privy Counsellor.  Callaghan supported the latter recommendation, but felt unable to support the former.[11]
Australian baronets
The following Australians were awarded or have inherited baronetcies:
Baronetcy of Barnewall of Crickstown
The baronetcy is extant. John Aylmer Barnewall emigrated to Australia in 1840. He died at Upper Thornton, Victoria in 1890. In 1909, his son John Robert Barnewall succeeded to the baronetcy as 11th baronet. The 13th (and current) baronet, Sir Reginald Robert Barnewall, was born in 1924 and educated at Xavier College, Melbourne. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1961 and lives in Mount Tamborine, Queensland.
Baronetcy of Clarke of Rupertswood
Sir William John Clarke 1st Bt. (1882, Colony of Victoria)
The baronetcy is extant. The 4th and current Baronet, Sir Rupert Grant Alexander Clarke (born 1947), lives in Victoria.[12]
Baronetcy of Cooper of Woollahra
Sir Daniel Cooper, 1st Bt. (1863, Colony of New South Wales)
The baronetcy is extant. Currently held by Sir William Cooper, 6th Bt.
Baronetcy of Henry of Parkwood
Sir Charles Solomon Henry, 1st Bt. (1860-1919) was an Australian merchant and businessman who lived mostly in Britain and sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1906 until his death.  He had no heirs.
The baronetcy is extinct.
Baronetcy of Lauder of Fountainhall, Haddingtonshire
Sir Piers Robert Dick Lauder, 13th Baronet, born 3 October 1947 at Nicosia, Cyprus, where his father was an officer serving in the British Army. From 1974 until 2006, Lauder (who only uses the surname Lauder) was a programmer and  Computer Systems Officer in the Basser Department of Computer Science at Sydney University, New South Wales, Australia.[13][14] His main interests are in the areas of networking and operating systems. With Judy Kay he co-authored the Fair Share Scheduler, now being sold by Aurema under the name "ARMTechShareExpress". With Professor Robert (Bob) Kummerfeld he co-authored the Message Handling Systems network ("MHSnet") used, among others, by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Professor Kummerfeld and Piers Lauder were jointly elected to the Australian Internet Hall of Fame in 1998. Sir Piers Lauder is a founding member of AUUG, the Australian Unix and Open Systems User Group. He has twice been appointed Programme Chairman at AUUG Conferences in Sydney and has taken leave from the university to work overseas on three separate occasions, twice at the invitation of Bell Laboratories to work in the lab that originated UNIX, and once at the invitation of UUNET to work in the burgeoning ISP business. He is an enthusiastic proponent of the Python programming language. He has, by his partner Jane Elix, a natural child, Angus Thomas Lauder Elix (born 1996). They also have a foster-daughter, Akira Crease.  The heir presumptive to the baronetcy is Mark Andrew Dick Lauder (born 1951), second and youngest son of the 12th Baronet.  He was born in Berlin at the British Military Hospital. His heir apparent is his only son, Martin Dick-Lauder (born 1976).
Baronetcy of Matheson of Lochalsh
Sir Alexander Matheson, 3rd Baronet (6 February 1861 – 7 August 1929), born in Mayfair, London, was the son of Sir Alexander Matheson, 1st Baronet, a Scottish member of the House of Commons. In 1894 he migrated to Western Australia. In 1897, he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council for North-East Province, serving until 1901. In 1901 he was elected to the Australian Senate as a Senator for Western Australia, on a platform of absolute free trade, industrial arbitration, old-age pensions, uniform franchise and White Australia. He served until his retirement in 1906. Returning to England, he succeeded to the Matheson baronetcy in 1920, and died in 1929.
Baronetcy of Nicholson of Luddenham
Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Bt. (1859, Colony of New South Wales)
The baronetcy is extinct.
Baronetcy of O'Loghlen of Drumcanora
Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, 3rd Baronet (1828-1905), emigrated to Victoria in 1862 was appointed a Crown Prosecutor in 1863. He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his elder brother in 1877. He held a seat in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1878 to 1883, and was Premier of Victoria from 1881 until 1883. He rejoined the Legislative Assembly in 1888, holding a seat until 1900.
Sir Colman Michael O'Loghlen, 6th Baronet (1916-2014), was educated at Xavier College, Melbourne and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1951.
Michael O'Loghlen, Q.C., is the son of the 6th baronet and is the prospective 7th baronet following his father's death.
Baronetcy of Samuel of Nevern Square
Sir Saul Samuel, 1st Baronet (1820–1900)
Sir Edward Levien Samuel, 2nd Baronet (1868–1937)
Sir Edward Louis Samuel, 3rd Baronet (1896–1961)
Sir John Oliver Cecil Samuel, 4th Baronet (1916–1962)
Sir John Michael Glen Samuel, 5th Baronet (born 1944)
Baronetcy of Trollope of Casewick
Sir Gordon Clavering Trollope, 15th Baronet (29 October 1885 – 18 October 1958), was born in Sydney and attended Newington College (1898–1901). He later worked as a woolbroker in Australia.
Sir Anthony Owen Clavering Trollope, 16th Baronet (15 January 1917 – 1987), elder son of the 15th Baronet, was born in Sydney and attended North Sydney Boys High School.
Sir Anthony Simon Trollope, 17th Baronet (born 31 August 1945) was born in Sydney and attended North Sydney Boys High. He is married, with two daughters.
The heir presumptive to the baronetcy is Hugh Irwin Trollope (b. 31 March 1947), who is married with one son and two daughters. Hugh Trollope was born in Sydney and attended North Sydney Boys High School. As a result of a family illness he became a boarder at Newington College (1964-1966), which his grandfather had attended. He was a notable Rugby Union player for Newington and Gordon Club.
Baronetcy of Way of Montefiore
Sir Samuel James Way, 1st Bt. (1836-1916; baronetcy awarded 1899, Colony of South Australia)
The baronetcy is extinct.
See also
Members of the House of Lords
Canadian peers and baronets
Bunyip aristocracy
Australian honorifics

Bibliography


2018–19 Australian region cyclone season is the period of the year when most tropical cyclones form in the Southern Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans between 90°E and 160°E. The season officially began on 1 November 2018 and will run until 30 April 2019, however, a tropical cyclone could form at any time between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 and would count towards the season total. During the season, tropical cyclones will be officially monitored, by either the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) the National Weather Service of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby or the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics in Jakarta, Indonesia. The United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and other national meteorological services such as MetService, Météo-France and the Fiji Meteorological Service also monitored parts of the basin during the season.

Seasonal forecasts

During October, ahead of the tropical cyclone season, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a tropical cyclone outlook for the upcoming 2018-19 season, which would officially run from 1 November 2018 to 30 April 2019. Seasonal forecasts were issued for the basin as a whole, as well as the Eastern, Northern and Western regions and the North-Western sub-region.[1] The forecasts took into account various factors, including the latest neutral to weak El Niño conditions that had been observed in the tropical Pacific Ocean.[1] The outlooks showed that activity in the basin overall, as well as for each of its individual regions, would be near to below average.[1] For the Western region between 90°E and 125°E, the BOM forecast that the area would also see activity below its average of 7, with a 56% chance of a below average number of tropical cyclones occurring.[1] TCWC Perth also noted that there was a likelihood of two tropical cyclones and a significant likelihood of at least one severe tropical cyclone impacting Western Australia.[2] For the North-Western sub-region between 105°E and 130°E, it was predicted that activity would be above average, with a 41% chance of below-average tropical cyclone activity.[1] The Northern Territory, which was defined as being between as being 125°E and 142.5°E, had a 54% chance of an above-average season.[1] The Eastern region between 142.5°E and 160°E was predicted to have a below-normal tropical cyclone season, with a 60% chance of below-average tropical cyclone activity.[1]
Seasonal summary

Systems
Tropical Low Liua

During September 24, the JTWC started to monitor a tropical disturbance, that had developed about 990km (615mi) to the east-northeast of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.[3] The system moved southeastwards over the following few days, and was classified as a tropical depression by the Fiji Meteorological Service on 26 September while situated on the boundary between the Australian basin and the South Pacific basin.[4][5] The system proceeded to intensify into a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale, and was named 'Liua' by the Fiji Meteorological Service.[6] The system turned westwards and began tracking back towards the Australian region the next day,[7] but was assessed as having weakened into a tropical depression prior to exiting the South Pacific basin on 28 September.[8] After re-entering the Australian region, Ex-Tropical Cyclone Liua's weakening trend continued due to unfavourable atmospheric conditions and the cool sea surface temperatures of early spring. Dissipation of the tropical low into a remnant area of low-pressure occurred the following day over the northern Coral Sea.[9]

While in the Australian region as a tropical low on 26 September, the system caused minor impacts in the Solomon Islands. Despite only existing as a tropical system in the Australian region for a short period of time, Ex-Tropical Cyclone Liua made the 2018-19 season the third in a row in which the region's tropical cyclone activity began prior to the official start date of 1 November.[8][10][11][12]
Tropical Low Bouchra

A weak low-pressure system developed in the equatorial Indian Ocean in Météo-France's area of responsibility on 1 November and moved slowly eastwards over the following few days while showing little sign of intensification.[13] Late on 9 November, as the developing precursor depression to Severe Cyclonic Storm Gaja in the Bay of Bengal moved further away and the competing low-level airflow convergence associated with it diminished,[14] the system's structure organised sufficiently to be classified as a tropical disturbance by Météo-France.[15] Soon there-afterwards, the system crossed the 90th meridian east and entered the Australian region, where it was classified by TCWC Jakarta as a tropical depression on 10 November local time.[16] Later the same day, the JTWC assessed the developing low as having attained tropical storm status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, and assigned the system the unofficial designation 04S.[17] A few hours later, at 10:00 UTC, the system moved back westwards and returned to the South-West Indian Ocean basin,[18] where it gained the name 'Bouchra' from Météo-France and underwent a twelve-hour phase of rapid intensification to severe tropical storm status.[19]
After meandering just to the west of the South-West Indian Ocean border for a number of days, the system re-entered the Australian region late on 12 November.[20] By this stage, the system had weakened significantly from its peak intensity, and was only at tropical low strength.[21] The period of residence in the Australian basin proved to be short-lived once again, however, with Météo-France indicating that Ex-Tropical Cyclone Bouchra had returned to the far-eastern part of their area of responsibility early on 13 November.[20] The very next day, the Bureau of Meteorology noted that the system had once again returned to the Australian basin, and was located approximately 1000 km (620 mi) northwest of the Cocos Islands, marking the tropical low's third period of occupation of the Australian region in just five days.[22]

Tropical Low 03U

On the morning of 14 November, the Bureau of Meteorology noted the development of a tropical low in an area of thunderstorms situated about 490km (305mi) to northwest of Christmas Island.[22] Located over the warm waters of the tropical Indian Ocean off the coast of Java, the system was forecast to track southeastwards over the following days, and was assessed as having a moderate chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.[22] The tropical low tracked in a generally south-southwesterly direction over the following few days, but remained below tropical cyclone intensity due to atmospheric conditions that were unconducive to cyclogenesis.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Owen

The Bureau of Meteorology noted on 29 November that a low-pressure system located over the Solomon Islands had developed into a tropical low.[23] The following day, as the system approached Tagula Island on a south-westwards track, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued a tropical cyclone formation alert as the system improved in organisation.[24] Fuelled by the warm sea surface temperatures of the Coral Sea, and aided by excellent upper outflow channels, the tropical low continued to strengthen.[25] At 06:00 UTC on 2 December, the Bureau of Meteorology upgraded the system to a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale, and gave it the name 'Owen', making it the first tropical cyclone to form in the basin during the season. Owen weakened rapidly on 4 December and was downgraded to a tropical low.[26]
Owen continued travelling westwards over the Coral Sea as a tropical low and made landfall well north of Cardwell, Queensland early on 10 December. After entering the Gulf of Carpentaria and reorganizing, Owen reattained Category 1 intensity on 11 December. The storm then completed an anti-cyclonic loop and turned back to the east. Owen gradually began to intensify, peaking as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone with maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 150km/h (90mph). Owen made landfall near Kowanyama early on 15 December as a low-end Category 3 severe tropical cyclone and gradually weakened thereafter due to land interaction.[27] That afternoon, Owen was downgraded to a tropical low once more.
During the storm's passage over northern Queensland, Owen killed a person and produced steady rainfall throughout the region, with the highest totals predicted for the eastern coast compared to the southwestern portions of the state.[28] Innisfail recorded a daily total of 149 millimetres (5.9in) of rain on 15 December, with Cowley Beach recording 135 millimetres (5.3in), Copperlode Falls Dam west of Cairns recording 130 millimetres (5.1in) and Mission Beach recording 98 millimetres (3.9in).[29]

Tropical Cyclone Kenanga
On 14 December, a tropical low formed well southwest of Sumatra. After a period of strengthening, it received the name Kenanga as it tracked roughly southwestward. Continuing on this course, it exited the basin on 16 December and subsequently strengthened into an intense tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean basin.

Tropical Cyclone Penny

In an active late December in terms of tropical low formation, the Bureau of Meteorology noted the development of a third weak tropical low[30] in the monsoon trough extending from the tropical waters of the Coral Sea in the east, to the Timor Sea in the west.[31] The revival of monsoonal and related convective activity in the region was associated with a moderate-strength pulse of the Madden-Julian Oscillation moving eastwards across the Maritime Continent.[32] The tropical low, officially designated 07U, was located near the eastern coastline of Cape York Peninsula, and was assessed by the Bureau of Meteorology as having a high chance of intensifying to tropical cyclone strength within the next three days, owing to a favourable atmospheric environment.[30]
Tropical Low 07U tracked slowly westwards, and passed over the east coast of Cape York Peninsula on 30 December, south of the town of Lockhart River. At this point, the Bureau of Meteorology issued its first tropical cyclone advice and forecast track map relating to the system.[33] Maintaining its westward motion, the system emerged over the Gulf of Carpentaria very early in the morning of 31 December, crossing the Queensland coast between Aurukun and Weipa, where generally favourable conditions fuelled intensification.[34] Tropical Low 07U turned eastwards at about midday on 31 December, and proceeded to strengthen into a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale a few hours later, being named ‘Penny’ by the Bureau of Meteorology.[34]
Tropical Cyclone Penny made landfall on the western Cape York Peninsula coastline just south of Weipa at approximately 15:30 local time on 1 January,[35] generating maximum ten-minute sustained winds of 75 km/h (45 mph) near the centre. The system began to weaken as it tracked over land, and was downgraded to a gale-force tropical low a few hours later, with sustained tropical cyclone-strength winds persisting in the system’s western semicircle.[35] Thursday Island in the Torres Strait recorded ten-minute sustained winds of at least 41 km/h (25 mph) for a period of more than 17 hours while the system moved eastwards across Cape York Peninsula, including sustained winds of up to 65 km/h (40 mph) and gusts to 91 km/h (56 mph).[36] Ex-Tropical Cyclone Penny crossed the east coast of Far North Queensland at Lockhart River in the early hours of the next morning, bringing the system over the warm waters of the Coral Sea for a second time.[37]
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Penny tracked quickly eastwards across the Coral Sea while regaining the organisation and convective structure that had been eroded due to land interaction over Cape York Peninsula. At 06:00 UTC on 2 January, the Bureau of Meteorology assessed the system as having regained tropical cyclone structure and intensity, and upgraded it to a category 1 tropical cyclone.

Tropical Low Mona

A weak tropical low developed in a monsoon trough stretching across the northern Coral Sea on 28 December, situated in the far northeast of the Eastern Region, near the southern Solomon Islands.[30] The system meandered for a few days without any notable intensification, before moving slowly eastwards out of the Australian region late on 31 December.[38] Upon entering the South Pacific basin, the system was classified as Tropical Disturbance 04F by the Fiji Meteorological Service. The system later intensified into Tropical Cyclone Mona on 2 January.

Tropical Low 11U

Tropical Cyclone Riley

Tropical Low 13U

Other systems
On 9 December, the Bureau of Meteorology announced the development of a weak tropical low from a low-pressure system moving westwards through the mid-eastern Coral Sea, located approximately 1100 km (680 mi) east-northeast of Townsville.[39] On 27 December, the Bureau of Meteorology indicated that a weak tropical low had developed over the Timor Sea, approximately 490 km (305 mi) northwest of Darwin.[40] In accordance with official forecasts, the tropical low did not strengthen, and dissipated on 28 December. On 30 December, a weak tropical low developed over the Indian Ocean, south of the main Indonesian island of Java.[41] Atmospheric conditions were unfavourable for significant development of the system, however, and as such, the tropical low did not intensify. The system meandered south of Indonesia before dissipating on 2 January.[42]

Storm names

Bureau of Meteorology
Since the start of the 2008–09 season, there has only been one list from which the Bureau of Meteorology has assigned names to tropical cyclones, despite still operating three separate tropical cyclone warning centres (TCWCs) in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane.[43] These warning centres monitor all tropical cyclones that form within the Australian region, including any within the areas of responsibility of TCWC Jakarta or TCWC Port Moresby. The next 12 names on the naming list are listed below:

Owen
Penny
Riley
Savannah(unused)
Trevor(unused)
Veronica(unused)
Wallace(unused)
Ann(unused)
Blake(unused)
Claudia(unused)
Damien(unused)
Esther(unused)
TCWC Jakarta
The tropical cyclone warning centre in Jakarta monitors tropical cyclones from the Equator to 11°S and between the longitudes 90°E and 145°E. Should a tropical depression reach tropical cyclone strength within TCWC Jakarta's area of responsibility, it will be assigned the next name from the following list:[43]
Kenanga
Lili(unused)
Mangga(unused)
Seroja(unused)
Teratai(unused)
TCWC Port Moresby
Tropical cyclones that develop between the Equator and 11°S, between 151°E and 160°E, are assigned names by the tropical cyclone warning centre in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Tropical cyclone formation in this area is rare, with no cyclones being named in it since 2007.[44] As names are assigned in a random order the whole list is shown below:

Alu(unused)
Buri(unused)
Dodo(unused)
Emau(unused)
Fere(unused)
Hibu(unused)
Ila(unused)
Kama(unused)
Lobu(unused)
Maila(unused)
Season effects

See also

Tropical cyclones in 2018 and 2019
List of Southern Hemisphere cyclone seasons
Atlantic hurricane seasons: 2018, 2019
Pacific hurricane seasons: 2018, 2019
Pacific typhoon seasons: 2018, 2019
North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 2018, 2019
2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
2018–19 South Pacific cyclone season

 (in Indonesian)