AREA: 475,440 sq KM
COASTLINE: 402 km

BORDERING COUNTRIES: Central African Republic 901 km; Chad 1,116 km; Republic of the Congo 494 km; Equatorial Guinea 183 km; Gabon 349 km; Nigeria 1975 km

POPULATION: 30,135,732 (2023 est.)
POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LINE: 37.5% (2014 est)

URBANIZATION: 59.3% of total population (2023)

ETHNIC GROUPS: Bamileke-Bamu 24.3%, Beti/Bassa, Mbam 21.6%, Biu-Mandara 14.6%, Arab-Choa/Hausa/Kanuri 11%, Adamawa-Ubangi, 9.8%, Grassfields 7.7%, Kako, Meka/Pygmy 3.3%, Cotier/Ngoe/Oroko 2.7%, Southwestern Bantu 0.7%, foreign/other ethnic group 4.5% (2018 est.)

RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic 38.3%, Protestant 25.5%, other Christian 6.9%, Muslim 24.4%, animist 2.2%, other 0.5%, none 2.2% (2018 est.)

AGES:
0-14 years: 41.69% (male 6,337,141/female 6,226,100)

15-64 years: 55.12% (male 8,231,473/female 8,379,699)

65 years and over: 3.19% (2023 est.) (male 447,656/female 513,663)

GOVERNMENT TYPE:
Presidential Republic

INDEPENDENCE:
January 1, 1960 (from French administered UN trusteeship)

CHIEF OF STATE: chief of state: President Paul BIYA (since 6 November 1982)

HEAD OF GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Joseph Dion NGUTE (since 4 January 2019); Deputy Prime Minister Amadou ALI (since 2014)

MILITARY STRENGTH:
information varies; approximately 35-40,000 active-duty troops; (20-25,000 ground forces, including the Rapid Intervention Battalion/BIR and Presidential Guard; 2,000 Navy; 1,000 Air Force; 12,000 Gendarmerie) (2022)

note: the BIR has approximately 5,000 personnel

Known Terrorism Groups: Boko Haram/ISIS

REFUGEES: refugees (country of origin): 350,780 (Central African Republic), 115,847 (Nigeria) (2023)

IDPs: 1.01 million (2023) (includes far north, northwest, and southwest)

SOURCE: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cameroon/