Population and Demographics

2005 estimates place Cameroon's population at 16,322,000. This population is young: an estimated 41.2% are under 15, and 96.7% are under 65. The birth rate is estimated at 33.89 births per 1,000 people, the death rate at 13.47. The 1976 census found that deaths were more than twice as common in the north and nearly that much higher in rural areas. The life expectancy is 51.16 years (50.98 years for males and 51.34 years for females).

Cameroon's population is almost evenly divided between urban and rural dwellers. Population density is highest in the large urban centres, the western highlands and the northeastern plain. Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua are the largest cities. In contrast, the Adamawa Plateau, southeastern Benue depression, and most of the South Cameroon Plateau are sparsely populated. People from the overpopulated western highlands and the underdeveloped north are moving to the coastal plantation zone and urban centres for employment. Smaller movements are occurring as workers seek employment in lumber mills and plantations in the south and east. Although the sex ratio is relatively even, these out-migrants are primarily males, which leads to unbalanced ratios in many regions.

In 1976, 55.8% of men and 66.8% of women were married, 76.4% in monogamous marriages and 23.6% in polygamous ones. The average Cameroonian family is large and extended. In the north, men herd cattle or work as farmers, and women tend to the home. In the south, women grow the family's food, and men provide meat and grow cash crops. Cameroonian society is male-dominated, and violence and discrimination against women is common. At the onset of puberty, an estimated 26% of girls are subjected to breast ironing, a practice by which their breasts are pounded or massaged with heated objects to prevent them from developing. The goal is to prevent the girls from becoming precociously sexually active and to protect them from sexual assault. Female genital mutilation is practiced in portions of the Far North and Southwest provinces.

Estimates identify anywhere from 230 to 282 different ethnic and linguistic groups in Cameroon. The Adamawa Plateau broadly bisects these into northern and southern divisions. The northern peoples are the Sudanese ethnic groups, who live in the central highlands and the northern lowlands, and the Fulani, who are spread throughout northern Cameroon. These peoples are predominantly Muslim, although ethnic groups such as the Kapsiki and Tupuri retain their native animist beliefs and are called Kirdi (pagan) by the Fulani. A small number of Shuwa Arabs live near Lake Chad. Although Cameroon has a high level of religious freedom, discrimination by Muslims against Christians and followers of traditional beliefs is common in the north. Witchcraft is outlawed, and those suspected of practicing it are often subject to mob violence.