The outpost ofEpsumb orJeundo was founded between theNyong andSanagarivers at the northern edge of the area's forests in 1887 by German explorers as a trading base for rubber and ivory. A military garrison was built in 1895 which enabled further colonization. After Imperial Germany's defeat inWorld War I,France heldeastern Cameroon as amandate, and Yaoundé was chosen to become the capital of the colony in 1922.[3]
Douala remained the more important settlement, but Yaoundé saw rapid growth and continued as the seat of government for theRepublic of Cameroon upon its independence in 1960. Most of Yaoundé's economy is still centred on the administrative structure but major industries in Yaoundé includetobacco,dairy products, beer,clay,glass goods andtimber. The city has many striking monuments and buildings, such as the Presidential Palace and Palais des Congrès.
The earliest inhabitants of Cameroon were likely theBakas (pygmies), who still inhabit the forests of the south and east regions. Bantu speakers originating in the Cameroonian highlands were among the first groups to move out before other invaders. During the late 1770s and early 1800s, theFulani—a pastoral Islamic people of the western Sahel—conquered most of what is now northern Cameroon, subjugating or displacing its largely non-Muslim inhabitants.
The outpost ofEpsumb orJeundo was founded between theNyong andSanagarivers at the northern edge of the area's forests in 1887,[4] 1888,[5][6] or February 1889 by theGerman explorers Lt. Richard Kund andHans Tappenbeck by the agreement of the chiefs of Ela Esono.[8] From December 1889 to May 1895, it was occupied by theGermanbotanistGeorg August Zenker as an agricultural research station namedJaunde after the localYaunde or Ewondo people.[9] His settlement served as a base for the area'srubber andivory trade, purchasing these from the natives in exchange for importedclothing andiron.[6] It was also known in English asYaunde Station.Major Dominik's establishment of a military garrison at the site in 1895 permitted aPallotine mission and religious school at nearbyMvolyé (now a suburb).[6]
DuringWorld War I, Jaunde was occupied byBelgian troops from theCongo. After Imperial Germany's defeat in that war,France heldeastern Cameroon as amandate of theLeague of Nations and Yaoundé was chosen to become the capital of the colony in 1922.[3]Douala long remained the more important settlement, but Yaoundé saw rapid growth after 1957 due to the cocoa crisis and unrest along the coast. It continued as the seat of government for theRepublic of Cameroon upon its independence.
Most of Yaoundé's economy is centred on the administrative structure of the civil service and the diplomatic services. Owing to these high-profile central structures, Yaoundé has a higherstandard of living and security than the rest of Cameroon.
Local residents engage in urban agriculture. The city is estimated to have "50,000 pigs and over a million chickens."[10]
In 2010, under Mayor Jean Claude Adjessa Melingui, Yaoundé began a flood reduction project, the Yaoundé City Sanitation Master Plan, to deal with "severe floods [that] disrupted the city 15 to 20 times a year, affecting as many as 100,000 people at a time." After four years, the frequency of flooding had been reduced from fifteen to three times a year, and cases of water-borne diseases such astyphoid andmalaria were reduced by almost half. Although Melingui died in 2013, local officials are continuing his efforts to transform the city. Ongoing improvements to sanitation infrastructure are being carried out under a "$152 million plan, largely financed by loans, primarily from theAfrican Development Bank and theFrench Development Agency", slated for completion in 2017.[10]
Despite the security issues and humanitarian crises that have plagued the central African nation, its economy remains stable. In fact, there is diversification of its productive economic activities, with the services sector contributing about half of the total domestic production.[11] However, like many African countries, Cameroon has long suffered from corruption, which dominates almost all the sectors, particularly in the capital city. Oil, gas and mining revenues are rarely reported, which implies massive graft.[12] In addition, there is weak protection of real and intellectual property, and the judicial system is vulnerable to political manipulation.
According to Yaoundé City Council data, over 130 floods struck the city between 1980 and 2014, causing massive loss of life and economic damage. However, there has been a reduction of flooding in the city since the establishment of a sanitation master plan to address the issue.[13] Another measure was to relocate people living along the drainage routes and in low-lying flood zones.
The city centre houses government offices, some hotels, and the central market. The Bastos district, with most homes owned by Cameroonians, is home to foreign embassies and the expatriate European, American and other continental communities (drawn mainly from the diplomatic corps). The presidential palace and compound are in the Etoudi district.
There is a small zoo in theMvog-Betsi neighbourhood. Yaoundé has a small assortment of pubs, nightclubs and restaurants.A distance outside Yaoundé is the NGOApe Action Africa, which rescues and rehabilitates great apes threatened with extinction by the illegal bushmeat and deforestation trades.
Yaoundé features atropical wet and dry climate (Aw), and it is thermally equatorial rather than tropical, with a narrow range of monthly temperatures throughout the year. However, primarily due to the altitude, temperatures are not quite as hot as one would expect for a city located near the equator. Yaoundé has a lengthywet season, covering a ten-month span between March and November. However, there is a noticeable decrease in precipitation within the wet season, seen during the month of July, almost giving the city the appearance of having two separate rainy seasons; this is because the city is only slightly north of the equator. It is primarily due to the relative lull in precipitation during this month that Yaoundé features a tropical wet and dry climate, as opposed to atropical monsoon climate.
Many bus companies operate from the city; particularly in the Nsam and Mvan districts.[18] Frequent buses run on the road between Yaoundé and Douala, which has witnessed several fatal accidents. Travel time by road between Douala and Yaounde is approximately 3 hours. Traffic in the city can be heavy during weekdays, but is very light during the weekends. Yaoundé has made significant progress in infrastructure, especially road construction.
Cameroon is a bilingual country, where English and French are both official languages; therefore in the city there is a coexistence of French educational system schools, where the degree giving access to university is theBaccalaureate, and all the education is in French, and the English educational system schools, where the degree giving access to university is theGCEAdvanced level.
There are three American schools in Cameroon, theAmerican School of Yaounde (ASOY) and Rain Forest International School (RFIS), and theAmerican School of Douala (ASD). There is also one Turkish School, The Amity College/School.
Yaoundé is the site of several universities: theUniversity of Yaoundé II (on a campus outside of town), the Protestant University of Central Africa (UPAC) and theCatholic University of Central Africa (UCAC). Several of the nation's professional schools are also located in Yaounde (Higher Teacher's training college, École Militaire InterArmes du Cameroun) as well as various schools for Engineers (Polytech), Doctors (CUSS), Nurses and Diplomats.
Yaoundé is also the base for the National Institute of Youth and Sport (INJS); this school trains government workers who will be in charge of sport all across the country during their career.
^Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach; James Hartmann; Jane Setter (eds.),English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN3-12-539683-2
^abBritannica,Yaoundé, britannica.com, USA, accessed on July 7, 2019
^Kund, Richard. Letter to the Foreign Office of April 4, 1889. Bundesarchiv R 1001/3268, Bl. 14f.(in German)
^„Ich bemerke nur, daß der Lieutenant Tappenbeck und ich eine Station in größeren Maßstabe auf dem Innerafrikanischen Plateau zwischen den Flüssen Yong u Zannaga an dem Platze angelegt haben, der auf der Karte mit dem Namen Epsumb bezeichnet ist. (3° 48' N.) Die Entfernung von der Küste beträgt 20 Tagesmärsche...“[7]
^Kund and Tappenbeck had used the title "Jaunde" to refer to the area but not the settlement or site itself.
^"Corruption in Cameroon".Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 1999.
^Nfor, Monde Kingsley (7 August 2015)."Cameroon's Cities Tackle Flood Risk".United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Retrieved4 November 2016.
^J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann,Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, pp. 484–486
.JPG)
.JPG)
%2c_Yaound%25C3%25A9_(2014).JPG)
_in_Yaound%25C3%25A9.JPG)
.jpg)
