Conventional Long Form Name: Republic of Cameroon
Capital City: Yaounde
Type of Government: Republic; multiparty presidential regime
Date of Independence: 1 January, 1960
National Holidays: State Unification Day, May 20, 1972
Chief of State: President Paul Biya
Head of Government: Prime Minister Philemon Yang
Executive Branch/Powers Description: The cabinet is proposed by the prime minister who is appointed by the President.
The president is directly elected by a simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term with no term limits. The election last held on 9 October 2011 (next to be held in October 2018);the prime minister is appointed by the president.
Legislative Branch/Powers Description: The bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (which is 100 seats; 70 members indirectly elected by regional councils and 30 appointed by the president). The members serve 5-year terms. The National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (which is 180 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 5-year terms).
Judicial Branch/Powers Description: The highest courts are the Supreme Court of Cameroon (which consists of 9 titular and 6 surrogate judges and organized into judicial, administrative, and audit chambers) and the Constitutional Council (which consists of 11 members). The Supreme Court judges appointed are by the president with the advice of the Higher Judicial Council of Cameroon, a body chaired by the president and includes the minister of justice, selected magistrates, and representatives of the National Assembly. Constitutional Council members appointed by the president for single 9-year terms. Parliamentary Court of Justice appellate and first instance courts; circuit and magistrate's courts.
Suffrage: 20 years of age, universal
Ambassador in the United States: Joseph Foe-Atangana
Location of Embassy in the United States: 2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; current temporary address - 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
Location of Consultants in the United States: N/A
United States Ambassador in Cameroon: Ambassador Michael Stephen Hoza
Location of United States Embassy in Cameroon: Avenue Rosa Parks, Yaounde
Location of Consultants in Cameroon from the United States: N/A
Representative to the United Nations: N/A
Description of the flag: Three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), red, and yellow,. With a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band. The vertical tricolor recalls the flag of France; while red symbolizes unity, yellow the sun, happiness, and the savannahs in the north, and green represents hope and the forests in the south; the star is referred to as the "star of unity".
National Symbols: The lion is a symbol as well as the national colors: green, red, yellow
International Disputes: Joint Border Commission with Nigeria reviewed ruling on the entire boundary which resolved many differences. The Greentree Agreement that immediately ceded sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a full phase-out of Nigerian control and patriation of residents. Cameroon and Nigeria agreed on maritime delimitation. Sovereignty existed with problems between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River.
Quantity of Refugees: 254,633 in Central African Republic (2015); 69,763 in Nigeria (2016)
Quantity of Internally Displaced People: 158,000 (2016)
Quantity of Stateless Persons: N/A
Human Trafficking: N/A
Illicit Drugs: N/A
Capital City: Yaounde
Type of Government: Republic; multiparty presidential regime
Date of Independence: 1 January, 1960
National Holidays: State Unification Day, May 20, 1972
Chief of State: President Paul Biya
Head of Government: Prime Minister Philemon Yang
Executive Branch/Powers Description: The cabinet is proposed by the prime minister who is appointed by the President.
The president is directly elected by a simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term with no term limits. The election last held on 9 October 2011 (next to be held in October 2018);the prime minister is appointed by the president.
Legislative Branch/Powers Description: The bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (which is 100 seats; 70 members indirectly elected by regional councils and 30 appointed by the president). The members serve 5-year terms. The National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (which is 180 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 5-year terms).
Judicial Branch/Powers Description: The highest courts are the Supreme Court of Cameroon (which consists of 9 titular and 6 surrogate judges and organized into judicial, administrative, and audit chambers) and the Constitutional Council (which consists of 11 members). The Supreme Court judges appointed are by the president with the advice of the Higher Judicial Council of Cameroon, a body chaired by the president and includes the minister of justice, selected magistrates, and representatives of the National Assembly. Constitutional Council members appointed by the president for single 9-year terms. Parliamentary Court of Justice appellate and first instance courts; circuit and magistrate's courts.
Suffrage: 20 years of age, universal
Ambassador in the United States: Joseph Foe-Atangana
Location of Embassy in the United States: 2349 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; current temporary address - 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008
Location of Consultants in the United States: N/A
United States Ambassador in Cameroon: Ambassador Michael Stephen Hoza
Location of United States Embassy in Cameroon: Avenue Rosa Parks, Yaounde
Location of Consultants in Cameroon from the United States: N/A
Representative to the United Nations: N/A
Description of the flag: Three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), red, and yellow,. With a yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band. The vertical tricolor recalls the flag of France; while red symbolizes unity, yellow the sun, happiness, and the savannahs in the north, and green represents hope and the forests in the south; the star is referred to as the "star of unity".
National Symbols: The lion is a symbol as well as the national colors: green, red, yellow
International Disputes: Joint Border Commission with Nigeria reviewed ruling on the entire boundary which resolved many differences. The Greentree Agreement that immediately ceded sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a full phase-out of Nigerian control and patriation of residents. Cameroon and Nigeria agreed on maritime delimitation. Sovereignty existed with problems between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River.
Quantity of Refugees: 254,633 in Central African Republic (2015); 69,763 in Nigeria (2016)
Quantity of Internally Displaced People: 158,000 (2016)
Quantity of Stateless Persons: N/A
Human Trafficking: N/A
Illicit Drugs: N/A
Chief of State: Head of Government:
National flag of Cameroon
Audio of the National Anthem of Cameroon