History of Cameroon Timeline

In 1948, the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), a nationalist movement demanding independence and reunification, was founded, and Ruben Um Nyobe took over as its leader.

Image source: Union of the Peoples of Cameroon

In May 1955, arrests of independence activists were followed by riots in several cities across the country, escalating tensions between nationalists and the French colonial administration.

The UPC rebellion that began in the mid-1950s continued for years after independence. Government forces captured the last important rebel leader in 1970, ultimately defeating the movement.

An insurrection broke out among the Bassa people on December 18–19, 1956, beginning the UPC rebellion that would continue for years after independence.

Legislative elections were held on December 23, 1956, and the resulting Assembly passed a decree on April 16, 1957 which made French Cameroon a self-governing state within the French Union.

On June 12, 1958, the Legislative Assembly of French Cameroon asked the French government to accord independence to the State of Cameroon at the end of their trusteeship, setting independence in motion.

On October 19, 1958, France recognized the right of its UN trust territory to choose independence, and on November 12 asked the United Nations to grant French Cameroon independence and end the Trusteeship.

On October 24, 1958 the Assembly proclaimed Cameroonians' desire for full independence on January 1, 1960. On December 5, 1958 the UN General Assembly took note, and on March 13, 1959 it resolved that the Trusteeship Agreement would end when French Cameroon became independent on that date.

French Cameroun became independent as Cameroun or Cameroon in January 1960, with part of British Cameroons later voting to join the former French territory. Nigeria's own scheduled independence that year raised the question of what to do with the British territory.

Image source: Cameroon

On February 21, 1960, the new nation held a constitutional referendum approving a constitution that established the framework of the newly independent state.

Image source: 1960 Cameroonian constitutional referendum

On May 5, 1960, Ahmadou Ahidjo became president of the young republic, launching a tenure that would last more than two decades.

Image source: Ahmadou Ahidjo

After discussions begun in 1959, a plebiscite was held on February 11, 1961. Results announced on February 12 showed Southern Cameroons had voted for unification with the Republic of Cameroon—often called 'reunification' since both regions had been part of German Kamerun.

To negotiate the terms of the union between Southern Cameroons and French Cameroon, the Foumban Conference was held July 16–21, 1961. On August 14, 1961 the federal constitution was adopted, with Ahidjo as president of the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

Image source: Anglophone problem

In 1966, opposition parties were banned and Cameroon became a one-party state under Ahidjo's leadership, a system that would persist until 1990.

Image source: Politics of Cameroon

On March 28, 1970, Ahidjo was re-elected as president with 100% of the vote and a 99.4% turnout, reflecting the tightly controlled single-party political system.

In 1972, a referendum approved a new constitution replacing the federation between East and West with a unitary state called the United Republic of Cameroon, further expanding the power of the president.

Image source: Cameroon

On June 30, 1975, Paul Biya, a long-serving bureaucrat and administrator in the Ahidjo government, was appointed Prime Minister, positioning him as Ahidjo's eventual successor.

Image source: Paul Biya

Cameroon became an oil-producing country in 1977, adding petroleum revenues to its economy and becoming an important economic actor in Central Africa.

Image source: Economy of Cameroon

Disputes over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula simmered for decades: a demarcation effort revealed that a 1913 agreement placed Bakassi in German Cameroon, and an agreement between the countries in 1975 was derailed by a coup in Nigeria. In 1981, clashes between Nigerian and Cameroonian forces resulted in several deaths and nearly led to war.

Image source: Bakassi conflict

On November 4, 1982, Ahidjo resigned as president and Biya became his legal successor, beginning one of the longest presidencies in African history.

Despite previous good relations, in 1983 a rift became apparent between Biya and Ahidjo, fueled by struggles over the ruling party and accusations of a plot against the new president.

In January 1984, Biya was elected president of the country, running unopposed in a single-party election that confirmed his hold on power.

On April 6, 1984, supporters of Ahidjo attempted a coup d'état, led by the Republican Guard, an elite force recruited mainly from the north. The coup failed and was followed by purges and reprisals.

On August 15, 1984, Lake Monoun exploded in a limnic eruption that released enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, suffocating 37 people to death—an event that foreshadowed an even greater disaster two years later.

Image source: Lake Monoun

On August 21, 1986, another limnic eruption at Lake Nyos killed as many as 1,800 people and 3,500 livestock when a massive cloud of carbon dioxide descended on nearby villages—one of the deadliest natural gas disasters ever recorded.

Image source: Lake Nyos

At the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, the Indomitable Lions became the first African team to reach the quarter-final—a feat unmatched since. The team has only made it out of the group stage once, in 1990, making it a landmark moment for African football.

Image source: Cameroon national football team

By 1990, pressure from Western governments mounted as the Cold War ended, making them less tolerant of authoritarian allies. In December 1990, opposition parties were legalized for the first time since 1966.

The first multiparty elections were held in 1992 and were hotly contested, with Biya retaining power amid opposition claims of fraud. Only one party—the CPDM—has ever governed Cameroon.

Image source: 1992 Cameroonian presidential election

In 1993, the situation worsened with both countries sending large military contingents to the region and numerous reports of skirmishes and attacks against civilians over the contested peninsula.

On March 29, 1994, Cameroon referred the Bakassi dispute to the International Court of Justice, seeking a legal resolution to the long-running territorial conflict with Nigeria.

Pressure from Anglophone groups in former British Cameroons resulted in constitutional changes in 1996, which purported to decentralize power but fell short of Anglophone demands to reestablish the federal structure; many changes were never fully implemented and power remains highly centralized in the President.

In October 2002, the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Cameroon, awarding sovereignty over Bakassi based largely on colonial-era treaties.

Pressure from the UN and international community forced Nigeria to acquiesce, and the 2006 Greentree Agreement laid out a plan for transferring administration of Bakassi over two years. Low-level violence continued until it was subsumed in the Anglophone Crisis in 2017.

In February 2008, Cameroon experienced widespread violent unrest as a strike by transport workers opposing high fuel prices and poor working conditions coincided with President Biya's announcement that he wanted the constitution amended to remove term limits.

Biya had been scheduled to leave power at the end of his term in 2011. Ultimately, constitutional term limits were revoked and Biya was reelected in 2011 in an election criticized by the opposition and international observers as plagued by irregularities and low turnout.

Image source: 2011 Cameroonian presidential election

In 2014, the Boko Haram insurgency spread into Cameroon from Nigeria, bringing bombings, raids, and terror attacks to the far north of the country.

Image source: Boko Haram insurgency

In May 2014, in the wake of the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping, Presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon and Idriss Déby of Chad announced they were waging war on Boko Haram and deployed troops to the Northern Nigerian border.

In November 2016, major protests broke out in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, driven by grievances over marginalization, language discrimination, and perceived Francophone domination of courts, schools, and government.

Image source: Anglophone Crisis

In September 2017, the protests and the government's response escalated into armed conflict, with separatists declaring the independence of Ambazonia and starting a guerilla war against the Cameroonian Army in the west of the country.

Cameroon announced in September 2018 that Boko Haram had been repelled, but the conflict persists nonetheless in the northern border areas, with continued insurgent activity.

In January 2024, Cameroon launched the world's first routine malaria vaccine program, using the WHO-approved RTS,S vaccine developed by British drugmaker GSK—a milestone in global public health.

Image source: Malaria vaccine