Adamawa |
The
southernmost province or region that was carved out of the former Grand North
Province. It is a plateau region.
|
Akonolinga |
A
town in the Center Region. It is also the capital of the Nyong and Nfomou
Division.
|
Akum |
A
Ngemba settlement nine miles from Bamenda along the Bafoussam-Bamenda road.
It is also a traditional Ngemba kingdom and the dialect of the people there.
|
Ambam |
A
town in the South Region. It is a sub-divisional capital in Ntem Division.
|
Ashia |
A
word used by both English-speaking and French-speaking
Cameroonians to express sympathy, condolence, consolation, encouragement,
compassion, harmony, understanding, agreement, thankfulness, and caution.
|
Bafang |
The
capital of the Upper Nkam Division and a Bamileké kingdom in the West Region.
|
Bafaw |
The
principal ethnic group in the area. It comprises the Kumba municipality. It
is part of the larger Bantu group.
|
Bafedja |
A
settlement and Bamileké kingdom in the Nde or Banganté Division, West Region.
|
Bafoussam |
The
capital of the West Region and Mifi Division. Also, a traditional Bamileké
kingdom.
|
Bafut |
A
settlement and traditional Ngemba kingdom about eighteen miles from Bamenda
in the Northwest Region.
|
Bakweri |
The
principal ethnic group in the Fako Division, which is located in the
Southwest Region. The Bakwerians are Bantu speaking of the Sawabantu
subgroup.
|
Balengou |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in the Nde Division, West Region.
|
Bali |
A
Chamba settlement and kingdom about eighteen miles north of Bamenda, in the
Northwest Region.
|
Bamena |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in the Nde Division, West Region. |
Bambili |
A
settlement and Ngemba kingdom about nine miles north of Bamenda in the
Northwest Region.
|
Bambui |
A
Ngemba settlement and kingdom about six miles north of Bamenda in the
Northwest Region.
|
Bamenda |
The capital of the Northwest Region and Mezam
Division.
|
Bamendjou |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in the Mifi Division, West Region.
|
Bami
(Bamileké) |
Diminutive
of Bamileké.
|
Bamileké
(Bami) |
The
most populous semi-Bantu ethnicity and the principal ethnic group in
Cameroon. It is also the mother tongue of the people.
|
Bamilekéland |
The
western half of the West Region, with fringes in the Northwest and Southwest
Regions. It comprises five administrative divisions, about ninety traditional
kingdoms, and eleven dialectical
groupings.
|
Bamoun |
A
semi-Bantu ethnicity and one of the principal ethnic groups in Cameroon.
Also, their native language.
|
Bamounland |
The
Eastern half of the Western province.
|
Bandekop |
A
Bamileké settlement and kingdom in Mifi Division, West Region.
|
Banganté |
The
largest Bamileké kingdom, the capital
of the Nde Division, which is also its former name. Found in the West Region.
|
Bangou |
A
Bamileké settlement and kingdom in the Upper Nkam Division, West Region.
|
Bangoua |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in Nde Division, West Region.
|
Bangoulap |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in Nde Division, West Region.
|
Bantu |
A Large group of Negroid peoples of Central,
South, and East Africa that inhabits the forests of the Southwest, Littoral,
Center, South, and East Regions of Cameroon. Also, the largest constituent of
the Negroid or Black race.
|
Bassa |
The principal ethnic group in the
Littoral Region. It is Bantu speaking. Also found in the Center Region of
Cameroon.
|
Batoufam |
Bamileké
kingdom in the Mifi Division, West Region.
|
Bawok
(Bahouok, Bahouoc) |
Bamileké
kingdoms speaking the Medumba dialect,
found in the West and Northwest Regions. The principal ones are:
|
Bayangam |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in the Mifi Division, West Region.
|
Bazou |
Bamileké
kingdom in Nde Division, West Region.
|
Beti |
Diminutive
of Beti-Pahuin. It is also a
subdivision of the Beti-Pahuin group of
languages and is broken down further
into Ewondo, Eton, Bane, Mbida-Mbane and Mvog-Nyenge.
|
Beti-Pahuin |
Diminutive or shortened to Beti, this group of
related peoples constitutes the third
principal ethnic group in Cameroon. The ethnic homeland of the Beti-Pahuin people is in the Center and South
Regions, with fringes and enclaves in the East Region. They are
Bantu-speaking and comprise the following: · Beti
(Ewondo, Bane, Mbida-Mbane,
Mvog-Nyenge, and Eton), ·
Fang
(Fang proper, Ntumu, Mvae, and Okak) ·
Bulu
(Bulu, Fong, Mvele, Zaman, Yebekanga, Yengono,
Yembama, Yelinda, Yesum, and Yekebolo.) ·
Smaller
tribes or ethnic groups Pahuinised by the Beti-Pahuins such as the Baka,
Bamvele, Manguissa, Yekaba, Evuzok,
Batchanga (Tsinga), Omvang, Yetude
peoples.
Beti-Pahuin
people are also indigenous in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and The Republic of
Congo.
|
Betiland |
The
Beti-Pahuin speaking regions of
Cameroon (stretches from the southern half of the Center Region to the
central and eastern parts of the South Region and extend as fringes into the
Eastern province), Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni), Gabon (the northern half),
The Republic of Congo (the Northwest), and São Tomé and Príncipe.
|
Biafra |
The
short-lived Ibo-dominated state that seceded from Nigeria during the
1966–1970 Nigerian Civil War.
|
Bota |
A suburb of Limbe, Fako Division, Southwest
Region.
|
British
Cameroons |
The
western third of the former German Kamerun, which came under British control
following the partition of the German colony. It comprised British Northern
Cameroons and British Southern Cameroons.
|
Boumnyebel |
A
Bassa village in Nyong and Kelle Division, Center Region.
|
British
Northern Cameroons |
The Northern half of British Cameroons,
which voted to unite with Nigeria in 1961, following the controversial United
Nations plebiscite in the territory.
|
British
Southern Cameroons |
The Southern half of British
Cameroons. Became part of the Cameroon Federation in 1961 following a
plebiscite that resulted in its reunification with former French Cameroun. It comprises the Northwest and Southwest
Regions of Cameroon.
|
Buea |
The capital town of the Southwest Region and the former
capital of German Kamerun.
|
Bulu |
One
of the peoples of the Beti-Fang ethnic group with a homeland in the South Region.
|
Cameroonian
Pidgin |
Also
called Cameroonian Creole or Kamtok, it is the Pidgin English spoken in
Cameron. It has five variants.
|
CDU
(Cameroon Democratic Union). Called UDC
(Union Démocratique du Cameroun) in French
|
A
political party in Cameroon founded by Adamou Ndam Njoya, a former minister
of the Ahmadou Ahidjo regime. |
CENER |
(Center National des Etudes et
de Recherché)—Acronym of Cameroon’s secret intelligence service (National
Center for Studies and Research)—that was changed in 1984 to Direction
Générale de la Recherché Extérieures (DGRE)—General Directorate for
External Research.
|
Center
Region |
The
central region or province of Cameroon. Comprises eight divisions.
|
CNU
(Cameroon National Union) called UNC (Union
Nationale Camerounaise) in
French |
A
political party that was formed in 1966 from the merger of the political
parties operating in Cameroon. First Cameroonian president Ahmadou Ahidjo
headed it.
|
CPDM (Cameroon
People’s Democratic Movement), called RDPC (Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais) in French |
The
CNU party that was renamed in 1985. This is the ruling party in Cameroon. Its
former name (1966-1985) was the Cameroon National Union (UNC), which itself
was formed in 1966 by the merger of political parties in Cameroon. Before
that, it was called the UC (Union
Camerounaise)---Cameroonian Union (CU), the former political party
founded by Ahmadou Ahidjo, the former President of the Republic of Cameroon.
The CPDM/CNU/CU/UC has been the ruling party since the so-called
'independence of Cameroon in 1960. Paul Biya is the party's president.
|
CU
(Cameroonian Union) called in French UC
(Union Camerounaise)
|
The
political party allegedly formed by the French and that was headed by Ahmadou Ahidjo until 1966.
|
Douala |
The
largest city, economic capital, and capital of the Wouri Division and
Littoral Region.
|
Duala |
A
Bantu-speaking people of the Sawabantu subgroup, they are the principal
ethnic group of the Wouri Division and the Douala area.
|
East
Cameroon |
The
French-speaking federal unit of
Cameroon from 1961–72. It was formed from the
former French Cameroun.
|
East
Region |
The
Southeastern half of Cameroon. The East Region has four divisions with
Bertoua as its capital.
|
Eton |
One
of the peoples of the Beti-Fang ethnic group. Found in the Center Region.
|
Ewondo |
One
of the peoples of the Beti-Fang group. Found in the Center Region of
Cameroon.
|
Extreme
North |
A
province in the far North of Cameroon. It comprises six divisions.
|
Free
French Forces |
These
were French and Francophone fighters who continued fighting the axis powers
of Germany, Italy, and Japan, even
after France surrendered and signed an armistice agreement with Nazi Germany
in June 1940. It was formed by General Charles De Gaulle, who was a member of
the French cabinet on an official visit
to Britain at the time of the surrender. General Charles De Gaulle strongly
opposed French capitulation and the armistice signed by the new regime led by
Marshall Petain that created the Vichy regime in the South of France, thereby
allowing the North of the country to be under German occupation. He urged
resistance against German control of France and its collaborationist Vichy
puppets. The movement drew recruits mostly from the French empire, especially
from French Central Africa, of which French Cameroun was the base at the
time, under the new governorship of Jacques Philippe LeClerc. Philippe
LeClerc led the Free French Forces’ first major victory in the war with the
capture in 1941 of Kufra, a town in the then-Italian colony of Libya. It
incorporated forces of the former Vichy regime in the colonies from 1943 and saw its ranks swollen by Frenchmen
after the D-Day landing. The Free French Forces achieved their greatest glory
with the liberation of Paris in August 1944, led by the French 2nd Armored
Division because it had the least number of blacks in its ranks. By the end
of the war, The Free French Movement constituted the fourth largest military
force in Europe, fighting against the Axis powers. The right-wing political parties in France have
been dominated by its members and the ideology of its founder called
Gaullism.
|
FSD (Front
Social-Démocrate) or
SDF (Social Democratic Front) in English.
|
The
political party that is widely considered the leader of the opposition in
Cameroon. The SDF has been led since its inception on May 26, 1990, by John Fru Ndi.
|
Fulfulde
(Fula, Pulaar, Pular, Peul) |
A
Sene-Gambian language spoken by the Fulani people.
|
Fulani (Fulani, Fula, Fellata or
Peul) |
A
mixed Negro-Tuareg people inhabiting the Savannah from Sudan to Sene-Gambia,
they comprise three groups namely: The Mbororo, Bororo, Burure or Abore, who
are pastoralists.
The Fulanin
Gida, Ndoowi’en or Magida, who are fully sedentary communities.
The semi-sedentary Peul people who are
agriculturalists and ultimately resume pastoralism, but often form permanent
communities.
Foulanis,
Fulanis or Peuls are the second most populous ethnic group in Cameroon. Found
mostly in the northern provinces of Adamawa, North and Extreme North. Their
language is the lingua franca of this part of Cameroon.
|
Foumban |
The capital of the Noun Division and the
Bamounland. Found in the West Region.
|
Foumbot |
Agricultural
settlement in the Noun Division.
|
French
Cameroun |
The
Eastern two-thirds of the former German Kamerun that was put under the
control of the French following the partition of the German colony by Britain
and France. It became a French mandatory territory and later a trust
territory from 1918 to 1960.
|
Garoua |
The capital of the North Region and Benue
Division.
|
Graffi |
Pidgin
German word for a grass field. A name often applied collectively to the
semi-Bantu peoples of the Northwest and West Regions of Cameroon.
|
Graffiland |
Cameroonian
word for Western High Plateau, Western Highlands, or Bamenda Grassfields.
Mountainous grassland region of the Northwest and West Regions of Cameroon.
It comprises the Bamilekéland and Bamounland in the south, and the Ngembaland, Chambaland, and Tikarland in the north.
|
Ibo |
One
of the four principal ethnic groups of Nigeria. Found in the southeast.
|
Idenau |
A
town in Fako Division, Southwest Region.
|
Kamveu |
The local council of notables among the
different Bamileké kingdoms.
|
Koufra
(Kufra) |
An
important but isolated Oasis settlement in the southeastern Libyan desert
that was of strategic importance for the North African campaign during the
Second World War. Its capture from the Italians by the Free French Forces
marked the first major battle won by France in the war, thereby boosting
General Charles De Gaulle’s prestige and the morale of the demoralized
anti-Vichy forces.
|
Koutaba |
A
settlement in the Bamounland, Noun Division, West Region. Also, a major
military and airbase in Cameroon,
|
Kumba |
The largest city in the Southwest Region and
capital of Meme Division. It is located about seventy miles north of Limbe.
|
KNDP
(Cameroon National Democratic Party) |
Nationalist
party in British Cameroons. It led the campaign that realized the
reunification of British Southern Cameroons with former French Cameroun.
|
Limbe |
Former
Victoria. It is the capital of the Fako Division in the Southwest Region.
|
Littoral |
The
coastal province of Cameroon. It consists of four divisions.
|
Loum |
An
agricultural town in the Mungo Division, in the north of the Littoral Region.
|
Maguida
(Magida) |
Name
erroneously used for the peoples of the Moslem North that originated from the
third group of Fulanis—the Fulanin
Gida, comprising the fully sedentary Fulani communities.
|
Mamfe |
The capital of Manyu Division in the Southwest
Region.
|
Manjibo |
A
Bamoun village in the Noun Division.
|
Mankon |
Mankon
is a Ngemba kingdom and part of the city of Bamenda.
|
Maroua |
The capital of the Extreme North Region and
Diamare Division.
|
Mayo
Tsanaga |
A
division in the Extreme North Region of Cameroon.
|
Mayo
Tsava |
A
division in the Extreme North Region of Cameroon.
|
Mbengwi |
The capital of Momo Division in the Northwest
Region.
|
Mboh |
A
Bantu-speaking people of the Mungo Division in the Littoral Region, with
fringes of their homeland in the Southwest and Western provinces.
|
Mokolo |
Capital
of Mayo Tsanaga Division.
|
Molyko |
A
suburb of Buea in the Southwest Region.
|
Mora |
The capital of Mayo Tsava Division.
|
Mutengene |
A
junction town to Limbe, Buea, and Tiko,
in Fako Division, Southwest Region.
|
Nde |
Formerly
called Banganté Division. It is found in the West Region of Cameroon.
|
Ngaoundéré |
Capital
of the Vina Division and Adamawa Region.
|
Ngemba |
The
second most populous people of the semi-Bantu group. The Ngemba peoples are
found in the northern half of the Cameroon Grassland (Western Highlands),
mostly in the Mezam and Momo Divisions of the Northwest Region. The Ngemba
people related dialects.
|
Ngembaland |
The
Southwestern part of the Northwest Region that is composed of several
traditional kingdoms or fondoms
speaking closely related dialects.
|
Nkongsamba |
The capital of the Mungo Division of Cameroon. It
is also the largest city in the area.
|
Nkwen |
A
traditional Ngemba kingdom and part of the city of Bamenda.
|
North
Region |
Central
of the Grand North Regions. It comprises four divisions.
|
Northwest
Region |
A
province from the former Federal unit of West Cameroon and the former
territory of British Southern Cameroons. Peopled by semi-Bantu groups of
Tikar, Ngemba and Chamba speakers. Their compatriots in the Southwest Region
collectively call them ‘Graffis’.
|
NUDP
(National Union for Democracy and Progress). Called UNDP (Union
Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Progrès) in French
|
A
political party in Cameroon that was founded by Samuel Eboua, a former
minister of the regime Ahmadou Ahidjo. Bello Bouba Maigari, a former prime
minister of the Biya regime, usurped the leadership of the party and has been
its president since 1992. |
Nzui-Mantor |
Banganté-Bamileké
word for the panther or leopard.
|
OK
(One Cameroon) |
An offshoot of the UPC after it was also banned
in British Cameroons.
|
Peul |
A
French term for Fulani borrowed from the Wolof language.
|
RDPC (Rassemblement
Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais),Called CPDM (Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement) in
English
|
The
party in power in Cameroon, which came about following the renaming of the CNU
in 1985. |
SDF (Social Democratic Front)or FSD (Front Social-Démocrate) in French
|
The political party that is
described as the opposition leader in Cameroon. The SDF is led since its
inception on May 26, 1990, by John Fru
Ndi. |
Semi-Bantu |
The
unique and unrelated peoples in Africa. Semi-Bantus comprise the Bamileké,
Bamoun, Tikar, Ngemba and Chamba peoples.
|
Sokolo |
A
suburb in Limbe, Southwest Region.
|
South
Region |
Cameroon’s
southern coastal province. It comprises the three divisions of Ntem, Ocean
and Dja and Lobo.
|
Southwest
Region |
Southwestern
coastal province of Cameroon. It has four divisions. Formerly a part of
British Southern Cameroons and the federal unit of West Cameroon.
|
Tcholliré |
The capital of Rey Bouba Division in the North
Region. |
Tiko |
A
coastal town in Fako Division in the Southwest Region.
|
Tonga |
Bamileké
settlement and kingdom in the Nde Division, West Region.
|
Tuareg |
A
Berber-speaking people of the Tamazight group inhabiting the central Sahara
from Southern Algeria and Tripolitania in Libya,
to the middle Niger and the northern borders of Nigeria. They moved to the
interior of the Sahara Desert to escape the Arab invasion of North Africa in
the 7th and 8th centuries.
|
UDC (Union Démocratique du Cameroun) or CDU (Cameroon Democratic Union) in English
|
A
political party in Cameroon founded by Adamou Ndam Njoya, former minister of
the Ahmadou Ahidjo regime. |
UNC (Union Nationale du
Cameroun).Called
CNU (Cameroon National Union) in
English
|
A
political party formed in 1966 from the merger of political parties operating
in Cameroon. It was headed by the first Cameroonian president Ahmadou Ahidjo. |
UNDP (Union Nationale pour la
Démocratie et le Progrès) or National Union for Democracy and
Progress (NUDP) in English
|
A
political party in Cameroon founded by Samuel Eboua, former minister of the
regime of Ahmadou Ahidjo. Bello Bouba Maigari, a former prime minister of the
Biya regime, usurped the leadership of the party and has been its president
since 1992.
|
UPC
(Union of the Populations of the Cameroons) |
First
national and nationalistic party in Cameroon. The historic UPC was formed in
1948. Banned in 1955, it resorted to an armed
struggle that continued well into the late 1960s.
|
Victoria |
The
former name of Limbe. Was founded in 1857 by British missionaries for the
settlement of rescued or freed slaves.
|
West
Region |
The
southern half of the Western Highlands of Cameroon. It is populated by the
Bamileké, Bamoun and
Mbo peoples. It is also Cameroon’s cultural and agricultural heartland and is remembered for its historic
role as the center of the country’s nationalism and liberation struggle
against the French Army in the land. It comprises the six divisions of Bamboutous, Menoua, Mifi, Nde, Noun, and
Upper Nkam.
|
Wolowose |
Cameroonian
word for a whore.
|
Wum |
The capital of Menchum Division in the Northwest
Region.
|
Yaoundé |
Cameroon’s
second-largest city and national capital. Also, the capital of the Center
Region and Nfoundi Division. |
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