Little is known about Cameroon before 1472 when the Portuguese arrived shouting 'Camarões, camarões!' in amazement at the many giant shrimp - hence the country's name. For the next 400 years, southern Cameroon's history, like that of the rest of West Africa's Atlantic seaboard, revolved around the slave trade. Northern Cameroon, by contrast, was a battleground for various empires, notably the Kanem-Bornu in Chad. When the Germans arrived in the late 19th century, 'feudal' northern Cameroon was under the control of the Fulani empire in Sokoto (Nigeria).

Despite an invitation from a Douala chief to set up a protectorate over the area in the 1850s, Great Britain dallied for decades and finally lost to the Germans in 1884, who beat them to an agreement by five days. The Germans were active colonisers, building schools, railways and plantations. But German rule was harsh: at one plantation a fifth of the labourers died in a single year from overwork.

After WWI Cameroon received new overlords courtesy of the League of Nations, which gave the French a mandate over 80% of the territory, and the British control of two separate areas, one in the south-western highlands (Southern Cameroons) and the other in the north (Northern Cameroons, now part of Nigeria). As a result, a single nation was divided into three parts governed by two colonial powers - hardly a situation conducive to later unification. What was worse, the British neglected their territories and instead lavished attention on their administrative capital in Nigeria. Within a few years the Brits sold their Cameroons holdings back to the Germans, who didn't last much longer - the outbreak of WWII saw them repatriated and stripped of their land by the Allies.

By contrast, the French improved the railway (with forced labour, forbidden by their mandate), developed cocoa and palm-oil plantations and exported timber, increasing the value of trade fivefold in its portion of the country between the world wars. After WWII, new political parties formed in French Cameroon, pressing for independence. A northern-based party, the Union Camerounaise, gained control of the national assembly, aggravating the resentment of southerners. Following independence in 1960, that ill will blossomed into a full-scale rebellion that took five battalions of French troops and a squadron of fighter planes eight months to put down. Thousands were ruthlessly killed and a state of emergency was declared that lasted two decades. The Union Camerounaise held onto power and its leader, Ahmadou Ahidjo, a northerner and ardent Muslim, became president.

In 1961, Northern Cameroons voted to become part of Nigeria; the south opted for federation with French Cameroon, forming a single republic 11 years later. Ahidjo was re-elected as president unopposed in 1975, continuing an exceedingly brutal and autocratic reign, filling jails with tens of thousands of political prisoners and censoring the press. Ahidjo's positive contribution was to invest wisely in agriculture, education, health care and roads, while resisting the temptation to borrow heavily and build expensive show projects. As a result, school enrollment reached 70% and farms produced enough food to keep the country self-sufficient and export a wide range of commodities. At the height of his power and success, Ahidjo unexpectedly announced his resignation in 1982. His hand-picked successor was Prime Minister Paul Biya, a southerner and a Christian who immediately set about removing Ahidjo's northern cronies, known as the 'barons'. By 1984, the barons had had enough and staged a coup that was such a surprise it almost succeeded. But Biya quickly regained control and was re-elected unopposed in 1988.

Cameroon made international headlines in 1986, when a toxic cloud erupted from a remote volcanic lake in the western mountains, asphyxiating nearly 2000 people in their sleep. Experts have said the phenomenon could reoccur at any time. In 1990, furious with Biya's inept handling of the economy, Cameroonians began openly accusing the government of corruption and formed a new party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF). The government's murderous attempt to wipe out the new threat backfired, and in less than a year there were 30 political parties and nearly a dozen independent newspapers. After Biya refused to call a constitutional convention in 1991, strikes brought the country to a standstill.

Biya eventually capitulated, calling the first multi-party elections in over 30 years. Various opposition parties took 52% of the vote and a new prime minister, Simon Achidi Achu, formed a coalition government in 1992. Later that year, Biya narrowly won re-election as president, defeating scattered and unprepared opposition. Biya's victory prompted accusations of electoral fraud from international observers and set off widespread rioting in western Cameroon. The government devalued the CFA franc in 1994, raising exports but sending public-sector salaries plunging 70%. Soon after the National Assembly (dominated by the Union Camerounaise) extended the presidential term from five years to seven, Biya won re-election again in 1997, this time unopposed but with less than a third of voters bothering to turn out.

Cameroon's split Anglo-French personality is further complicated by its bewildering array of African ethnic groups and languages. Of over 130 ethnic groups, however, there are 5 major ones: Bamiléké and Bamoun in the west, Fulani and Kirdi in the north, and Ewondo around Yaoundé. The Bamiléké are the most populous group in the western highlands and one of the largest communities in Douala, where they have taken control of much of Cameroon's economy. In their rural homeland, there are some 80-odd political units ruled by strongly independent chefferies (chiefs). Within each unit there are numerous secret societies responsible for the preservation of rituals. By contrast, the Bamoun are governed by a single leader called the sultan.

Whereas the south has been in contact with Europe for over 500 years, until the 20th century the north was part of quasi-feudal Muslim Fulani kingdoms centered in Nigeria, and tradition and resistance to outside influence remain strong. This isolation has kept Western-style development to a minimum. Most northerners, however, are neither Fulani nor Muslim but Kirdi, the Fulani word for pagan. The Kirdi are comprised of tribes driven by the Fulani into the inhospitable and isolated rocky areas near the Nigerian border.

Both French and English are official languages, though French is more widely spoken, especially in large, modern cities such as Yaoundé and Douala. About 10% of the country relies primarily on a pidgin English, mainly in the western provinces near Nigeria. Among the many African languages spoken in Cameroon, the five major ones are Bamiléké, Ewondo, Bamoun, Fulfulde and Arabic. Among the country's best-known writers are the novelists Kenjo Jumbam and Mongo Beti, both of whom have written about Cameroon's relationship with its European colonisers.

The music of Cameroon is among the most popular in Africa, especially makossa, a popular dance rhythm you'll hear blaring out of clubs and discos. Makossa is adaptable to a wide variety of instrumentation, from traditional thumb pianos to guitars and synthesizers. Manu Dibango brought the style to international prominence in the early 1970s; now Sam Fan Thomas is the king of makossa. Another popular dance music is bikutsi, typically sung in Ewonde.

Cameroon has some of the best food in Central Africa. Manioc leaves are one of the main ingredients, usually appearing on menus as feuille. Sauces are usually accompanied by rice (riz) or a thick mashed potato-like substance that comes in three main forms: couscous, pâe or fufu, any of which can be made from rice, corn, manioc, plantains or bananas. Street food is typically excellent, consisting mainly of grilled spiced brochettes stuffed into a bread roll with salad and dressing. Yaoundé has particularly good grilled chicken and fish.