Cameroon

Cameroon, a West African country colonized by Germany in the 1880s and ceded to France and Britain following World War I, became independent from France in 1960 and from Britain in 1961. It is the only West African country with two official languages: French and English. It is located in west-central Africa, along the Atlantic coast, bordering Nigeria on the east. The surface area is 475,440 square kilometers, and the total population is estimated at around 18 million inhabitants as of July 2007. The majority of its people are of Bantu and Sudanic origins. A culturally diverse nation, Cameroon is home to more than 200 ethnic groups.

Cameroon experienced two types of colonization: first, by the Muslim Fulani, who entered the territory from the western Lake Chad region as early as the 17th century, and, second, essentially by Christian Europeans, who came in from the Atlantic Ocean through the Gulf of Guinea during the 19th century. Both colonizations employed both violent and peaceful means to occupy positions of influence and structure and consolidate their presence. Islam benefited from the work of brotherhoods (Tijaniyya, Qadiriyya, and Mahdiyya) and the impact of trade to expand and create an African Islamic culture among the converts. The Muslim strategy consisted of occupying urban areas and converting acting rulers—sometimes through matrimonial transactions—before heading to rural areas and to the masses. The expansion of Christianity remained stronger along the coastal areas but retarded in the hinterlands due to rivalry between religious orders. To reinforce their respective congregations, Christian churches primarily targeted the rural populations surrounding urban areas with a well-elaborated, gradual three-point strategy focused on building health centers, schools, and churches before moving to towns and cities. By setting up a health center and a school in the locality of their choice, the Christian congregations engendered dependence from the host societies; this was instrumental in obtaining land for construction of their churches. The traditionalism that is indigenous to Cameroon is still active in rural areas even though it is threatened by the allure of Western culture and technology and the continued appeal of both Islam and Christianity.

Christians, who constitute about 45% of the population, are concentrated mainly in the southern regions, while Muslims (30%) are dominant in the north, and traditionalists, who constitute 25% of the population, are represented in all 10 administrative regions.

There is no established religion in Cameroon, but Catholic and Presbyterian forms of Christianity, along with Islam, compete to influence both private and public life. [Page 174]The drive toward the construction of mosques, temples, and churches in urban areas as well as in rural regions is indicative of the appropriation strategy carried out by each religion to progressively privatize public space while erecting affiliated niches and branches. The same competition is recorded in the political and social sectors. Most of the public holidays are religious holidays. Cabinet members are appointed according to their religious background, so as to proportionally reflect religious representation. This social balance, framed along religious and geographical lines, has repercussions on lower administrative structures and is regarded as an important component for maintaining social peace in Cameroon.

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