AREA: 183,569 SQ. MI.

POPULATION: 18,879,000

CAPITAL: YAOUNDÉ (POP. 1,787,000)

LITERACY: 68%

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 54

CURRENCY: CFA FRANC

GDP PER CAPITA: $2,300

ECOMOMY

IND: PETROLEUM PRODUCTION & REFINING, FOOD PROCESSING, LIGHT CONSUMER GOODS, TEXTILES.

AGR: COFFEE, CACAO, COTTON, RUBBER, LIVESTOCK, TIMBER.

EXP: CRUDE OIL & PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, LUMBER, CACAO, ALUMINUM.

The landscape of Cameroon, in West Africa, is a mixture of desert plains in the north, mountains in the central regions, and tropical rain forest in the south. Along its western border are mountains, including the volcanic Cameroon Mountain. The Republic of Cameroon is a union of two former United Nations trust territories: French Cameroun and southern British Cameroons.

While oil earnings have helped fund industrial expansion, price fluctuations of export commodities have forced austerity. After the 1990 legalization of opposition parties, the government adopted IMF and World Bank programs to increase business investment and to foster efficiency in agriculture and trade. The Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline brings new business to Cameroon's port of Kribi.