Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
President: Paul Biya
Population
584,578
20,129,878
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
54.710 years
Capital City
Yaounde
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Douala (population: 1,338,080)
Human Development Index
0.591
0.514
GDP per capita
$2,300 US
Literacy Rate
%
67.9%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
2.3
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
13.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
30.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
parliamentary democracy
republic; multiparty presidential regime
Independence date
1 January 1960 (from French-administered UN trusteeship)
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
