| Location | Central Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria |
| Geographic coordinates | 6 00 N, 12 00 E |
| Map references | Africa |
| Area | total: 475,440 sq km land: 472,710 sq km water: 2,730 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than California; about four times the size of Pennsylvania |
| Land boundaries | total: 5,018 km border countries (6): Central African Republic 901 km, Chad 1116 km, Republic of the Congo 494 km, Equatorial Guinea 183 km, Gabon 349 km, Nigeria 1975 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 | highest point: Fako on Mont Cameroun 4,045 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 667 m |
| Natural resources | petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower |
| Land use | agricultural land: 20.6% (2018 est.) arable land: 13.1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 3.3% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 4.2% (2018 est.) forest: 41.7% (2018 est.) other: 37.7% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 290 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 283.15 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes volcanism: Mt. Cameroon (4,095 m), which last erupted in 2000, is the most frequently active volcano in West Africa; lakes in Oku volcanic field have released fatal levels of gas on occasion, killing some 1,700 people in 1986 |
| Geography - note | sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa because of its central location on the continent and its position at the west-south juncture of the Gulf of Guinea; 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 |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
