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Cameroon has 10 regions, and nearly all of them are named after a compass point, which makes the map easy to say and surprisingly easy to get wrong: the North is not the northernmost region, the West is not the westernmost, and the South is not the whole south. The country is officially bilingual, so every region has an English and a French name. This page is all ten in both languages, the four groups they fall into, and what tells you which one you are in.
The region is the top tier of Cameroon's administration. Each is run by a governor appointed by the president and divided into departments, of which the country has 58. The regions were called provinces until 2008, when they were renamed without a single line on the map moving, so a map or a book that says "province" is describing the same ten shapes.
Most of the names are directions, and the directions are relative. The North is in the middle of the northern half, with the Far North above it. The West is a small highland region inland, and the Southwest reaches a good deal further west than it does. The South is the strip along the borders with Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and the East takes the whole south east corner. Only three regions have a name that is not a direction: Adamawa, after the plateau it sits on, Centre, which holds the capital, and Littoral, the coast.
English or French on the signs is a clue in itself. Cameroon's two official languages are not spread evenly: the Northwest and Southwest were British until independence and are English speaking; the other eight were French and are French speaking. A shop sign, a church notice or a school board in English puts you in one of two regions out of ten.
A Cameroonian plate names a region. Plates open with a two-letter code for the region the vehicle was registered in: CE for Centre, LT for Littoral, OU for West, NW for Northwest, and so on for all ten. Since most vehicles stay close to home, the code at the front of the plate is one of the most direct clues the country offers.
The traps are the directions themselves.
The North is not at the top. The Far North is, and it is the narrow tail of the country running up to Lake Chad. The North is the wide region below it, around Garoua.
The West is not the westernmost. It is the small, densely populated highland region around Bafoussam, inland of the two anglophone regions, and the Southwest reaches more than a degree further west.
The East is huge and the South is not. The East is the largest region by a long way, all forest, and reaches down to the borders with Congo and the Central African Republic. The South is the band along the Gabonese and Equatorial Guinean borders, from the sea at Kribi across to the East.
Two of those groups are Cameroon's own. The Grand Nord is what the whole country calls the three northern regions, and they were a single province, the Nord, until it was split into Adamawa, North and Far North in 1983. The anglophone regions are the old West Cameroon, the British half of the federation the country was from 1961 to 1972. The other two follow the map: Centre, South and East are the forest plateau, and the Centre and the South were a single province, Centre-Sud, until the same 1983 split; West and Littoral are the French speaking highlands and the coast below them, from Bafoussam down to Douala.
East: the whole south east of the country, from the Adamawa plateau down to the borders with the Central African Republic and Congo, with its capital at Bertoua. It is the largest region, close to a quarter of the country, and one of the least populated: almost all of it is rainforest, crossed by long red logging roads. If you are in deep forest and far from any city, this is the likeliest answer.
West: the highlands around Bafoussam, Dschang and Foumban, and the smallest region on the map. It is one of the most densely populated, all hills, small farms and eucalyptus, and it looks very like the Northwest next door. The difference is the language on the signs: French here, English there.
Southwest: the coast from the Nigerian border to the estuary opposite Douala, with Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in the country, standing over its capital, Buea, and the beach town of Limbe at its foot. It holds the Bakassi peninsula, handed over by Nigeria in 2008. Wet, green and volcanic, with tea and rubber plantations, and signs in English.
10. Cameroon had seven provinces until 1983, when the Nord was split into Adamawa, North and Far North and Centre-Sud into Centre and South. The ten provinces were renamed regions in 2008, with no change to their borders.
Adamawa: Ngaoundéré. Centre: Yaoundé, which is also the national capital. East: Bertoua. Far North: Maroua. Littoral: Douala, the main port and the economic capital. North: Garoua. Northwest: Bamenda. South: Ebolowa. Southwest: Buea. West: Bafoussam.
The Northwest and the Southwest. They were the British administered Southern Cameroons until 1961, when they joined the former French Cameroon in a federation, and they remain the English speaking part of the country. The other eight regions are French speaking.
Yes. A Cameroonian plate opens with a two-letter code for the region the vehicle was registered in, such as CE for Centre, LT for Littoral and NW for Northwest, followed by a number and letters.
The East is the largest by area, close to a quarter of the country. The West is the smallest, and one of the most densely populated.
Adamaoua, Centre, Est, Extrême-Nord, Littoral, Nord, Nord-Ouest, Sud, Sud-Ouest and Ouest. Turn on the local name in the game's start dialog to play with the French names.
The ones named for directions. The North is below the Far North rather than at the top of the country, and the West is inland of the Southwest rather than the westernmost region. The West and the Northwest also look alike, both being green, hilly and densely farmed, and the language on the signs is the quickest way to tell them apart.
The other African trainers here are Nigeria States, next door, Ghana Regions, Senegal Regions, Kenya Counties, Egypt Governorates, Morocco Regions, Tunisia Governorates, South Africa Provinces and South Africa Dialing Codes. For a map of a similar size, try Canada Provinces or UK Nations and Regions.
