Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Glossary of Triple Agent, Double Cross















  

 

 

Glossary

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adamawa

The southernmost province 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 9 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

Word used by both English and French-speaking Cameroonians to express sympathy, condolence, consolation, encouragement, compassion, harmony, understanding, agreement, thankfulness, and caution.

 

Bafang

The capital of Upper Nkam Division and a Bamileké kingdom in the West Region.

 

Bafaw

The principal ethnic group in the area that 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 18 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 18 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 9 miles north of Bamenda in the Northwest Region.

 

Bambui

A Ngemba settlement and kingdom about 6 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 their native language.

 

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 mother tongue.

 

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 Nde Division, 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 dialects, found in the West and Northwest Regions. The principal ones are:

 

·       Bawok-Banganté or Banganté-Bawok is a traditional Bamileké kingdom found in the Banganté subdivision, Nde Division. Much of the kingdom is located in the city of Banganté. Following a series of strives in the early twentieth century, it lost most of its territory to the surrounding Bamileké kingdoms, with its subjects migrating to other areas in Cameroon and even founding new kingdoms.

 

·       Bawok-Bali or Bali-Bawok: An offshoot of the mother kingdom of Bawok-Banganté, founded in 1907 with the help of the friendly Bali-Nyonga kingdom. It is an enclave in the Bali kingdom (fondom or kingdom)

 

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

Diminuted 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 that fell 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 that 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 the former French Cameroun. It comprises the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon.

 

 Buea

The capital town of the Southwest Region and 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 province of Cameroon. Comprises eight divisions.

 

CNU (Cameroon National Union) called in French UNC (Union Nationale Camerounaise)

A political party that was formed in 1966 from the merger of the political parties operating in Cameroon. It was headed by the first Cameroonian president Ahmadou Ahidjo.

 

CPDM (Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement), called in French RDPC (Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais)

The CNU renamed in 1985. This is the 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)

 

Party formed by Ahmadou Ahidjo.

 

 

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 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). The SDF (Social Democratic Front) 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.

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 agriculturalist 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.

 

Foumbam

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 third of the former German Kamerun that fell 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 trust territory from 1918–1960.

 

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 air base in Cameroon,

 

Kumba

The largest city in the Southwest Region and capital of Meme Division. It is located about 70 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 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.

 

Mbo

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 peoples 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 founded by Samuel Eboua, a 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.

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. CNU renamed 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 ethnolinguistic grouping in Africa, comprises 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

 

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, a 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 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 and Bamoun 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.