The People of Cameroon

Learn about the people of the Republic of Cameroon with these helpful facts.

Population:
19,711,291
country comparison to the world: 58
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 (July 2011 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40.5% (male 4,027,381/female 3,956,219)
15-64 years: 56.2% (male 5,564,570/female 5,505,857)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 300,929/female 356,335) (2011 est.)

Median age:
total: 19.4 years
male: 19.3 years
female: 19.6 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.121% (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 41

Birth rate:
33.04 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 37

Death rate:
11.83 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 30

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 81

Urbanization:
urban population: 58% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 3.3% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major cities - population:
Douala 2.053 million; YAOUNDE (capital) 1.739 million (2009)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 60.91 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 32
male: 65.48 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 56.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 54.39 years
country comparison to the world: 202
male: 53.52 years
female: 55.28 years (2011 est.)

Total fertility rate:
4.17 children born/woman (2011 est.)
country comparison to the world: 39

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
5.3% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 13

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
610,000 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 15

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
37,000 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 11

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Nationality:
noun: Cameroonian(s)
adjective: Cameroonian

Ethnic groups:
Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1%

Religions:
indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%

Languages:
24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.9%
male: 77%
female: 59.8% (2001 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 10 years
male: 11 years
female: 9 years (2009)

Education expenditures:
2.9% of GDP (2008)
country comparison to the world: 150