The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua.... Cameroon is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. The constitution divides Cameroon into 10 semi-autonomous regions, each under the administration of an elected Regional Council.

Cameroon is divided into five major geographic zones distinguished by dominant physical, climatic, and vegetative features. The coastal plain extends 15 to 150 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Guineaand has an average elevation of 90 metres.Exceedingly hot and humid with a short dry season, this belt is densely forested and includes some of the wettest places on earth. The South Cameroon Plateau rises from the coastal plain to an average elevation of 650 metres. Equatorial rainforest dominates this region, although its alternation between wet and dry seasons makes it is less humid than the coast.

Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president,and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party.

Yaoundé is the capital city of Cameroon and second largest city in the country after Douala. It lies in the centre of the nation at about 750 metres (2,500 ft) above sea level. Major industries in Yaoundé include tobacco, dairy products, breweries, clay, glass goods, and lumber. It is also a regional distribution center for coffee, cocoa, copra, sugar cane, and rubber. The city centre houses government offices, some hotels, and the central market. The Bastos neighbourhood, with most homes owned by Cameroonians, is home to foreign embassies and the expatriate European community (drawn mainly from the diplomatic corps). The presidential palace and compound is in the Etoudi neighborhood. Also found in Yaoundé are the cathedral, the Cameroon Art Museum (located in a former Benedictine monastery), the Cameroon National Museum (located in the former presidential palace), and the Afhemi Museum. There is a small zoo in the Mvog-Betsi neighbourhood.