nea and Nigeria

Geographic coordinates:

6 00 N, 12 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 475,440 sq km
land: 469,440 sq km
water: 6,000 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than California

Land boundaries:

total: 4,591 km
border countries: Central African Republic 797 km, Chad 1,094 km,
Republic of the Congo 523 km, Equatorial Guinea 189 km, Gabon 298
km, Nigeria 1,690 km

Coastline:

402 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm

Climate:

varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot
in north

Terrain:

diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in
center, mountains in west, plains in north

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)

Total renewable water resources:

285.5 cu km (2003)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.99 cu km/yr (18%/8%/74%)
per capita: 61 cu m/yr (2000)

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, Wetlands, Whaling
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:

18,467,692
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, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (