Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Fako 4,095 m (on Mt. Cameroon)
Natural resources:
petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 12.54% permanent crops: 2.52% other: 84.94% (2005)
Irrigated land:
260 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from
Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes
Environment - current issues:
waterborne diseases are prevalent; deforestation; overgrazing;
desertification; poaching; overfishing
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa; throughout the
country there are areas of thermal springs and indications of
current or prior volcanic activity; Mount Cameroon, the highest
mountain in Sub-Saharan west Africa, is an active volcano
People Cameroon
Population:
17,340,702
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2006 est.)