Wayne Hatton, age 14, of Bennington, Vt., for his question:
WHERE IS CAMEROON?
The United Republic of Cameroon is a country in western Africa. It is bounded on the north by Lake Chad, on the east by the country of Chad and the Central African Republic, on the south by the Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and on the West by an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
Cameroon is a country that is shaped like an elongated triangle and it forms a bridge between western Africa and central Africa.
Until 1972 the republic was divided into two states: East Cameroon, the former French Cameroons, and West Cameroon, part of the former British Cameroons. The country has a total area of 183,569 square miles which makes it only about 25,000 square miles larger than the state of California (158,693 square miles).
Cameroon has four distinct topographical regions. In the south is a coastal plain, a region of dense equatorial rain forests. In the center is the Adamawa Massif, a plateau region with elevations reaching about 4,500 feet above sea level. This is a transitional area where forest gives way to the Savanna country in the north.
In the far north the Savanna gradually slopes into the marshland surrounding Lake Chad while in the west is an area of high, forested mountains of volcanic origin. This western area has some of the country's most fertile soils. Also located here is Mount Cameroon, the highest peak in western Africa. This peak, which is still an active volcano, is 13,350 feet high.
Cameroon has a tropical climate that is humid in the south but increasingly dry in the north. On the coast the average annual rainfall is extremely heavy with about 150 inches. On the exposed slopes of the Cameroon Mountains in the west, rainfall is almost constant and sometimes reaches 400 inches a year. In the semi arid northwest, annual rainfall averages 15 inches.
The dry season in the north lasts from October to April.
Cameroon's valuable rain forests contain a number of species of trees including oil palms, bamboo palms, mahogany, teak, ebony and rubber. Timber is a valuable export item, mainly of mahogany, ebony and teak.
Wildlife is diverse and abundant and includes monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, lions, antelopes and elephants, as well as numerous species of birds and snakes.
Agricultural activities are the main occupation of the vast majority of the population of Cameroon. Agricultural products constitute almost three quarters of all exports. The principal commercial crops are coffee, cacao, tobacco, cotton and bananas.
Subsistence crops include sweet potatoes, cassava, corn and millet.
Livestock raising is important in the Adamawa Massif region. Farmers raise cattle, goats, pigs and sheep.
The 1980 United Nations estimate of population of Cameroon was 8.5 million. The capital city is Yaounde with a population of about 450,000.