Cameroon

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Facts

Population:  15,803,220 note:  estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:  0-14 years:  42.37% (male 3,385,898; female 3,310,504) 15-64 years:  54.28% (male 4,305,354; female 4,271,958) 65 years and over:  3.35% (male 244,419; female 285,087) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:  2.41% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:  36.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:  11.99 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) NA migrant(s)/1,000 population
Sex ratio:  at birth:  1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years:  1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years:  1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over:  0.86 male(s)/female total population:  1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:  69.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:  total population:  54.59 years male:  53.76 years female:  55.44 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:  4.8 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:  7.73% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:  540,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:  52,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality:  noun:  Cameroonian(s) adjective:  Cameroonian
Ethnic groups:  Cameroon Highlanders 31%, Equatorial Bantu 19%, Kirdi 11%, Fulani 10%, Northwestern Bantu 8%, Eastern Nigritic 7%, other African 13%, non-African less than 1%
Religions:  indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20%
Languages:  24 major African language groups, English (official), French (official)
Literacy:  definition:  age 15 and over can read and write total population:  63.4% male:  75% female:  52.1% (1995 est.)
GDP:  purchasing power parity - $26 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:  4.4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:  purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:  agriculture:  43.4% industry:  20.1% services:  36.5% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:  48% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:  lowest 10%:  NA% highest 10%:  NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):  2% (2000 est.)
Labor force:  NA
Labor force - by occupation:  agriculture 70%, industry and commerce 13%, other 17%
Unemployment rate:  30% (1998 est.)
Budget:  revenues:  $2.1 billion expenditures:  $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.)
Industries:  petroleum production and refining, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber
Industrial production growth rate:  4.2% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production:  3.47 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:  fossil fuel:  2.59% hydro:  97.41% nuclear:  0% other:  0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:  3.227 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:  0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:  0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:  coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber, bananas, oilseed, grains, root starches; livestock; timber
Exports:  $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:  crude oil and petroleum products, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee, cotton
Exports - partners:  Italy 24%, France 18%, Netherlands 10% (2000 est.)
Imports:  $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:  machines and electrical equipment, transport equipment, fuel, food
Imports - partners:  France 29%, Germany 7%, US 6%, Japan 6% (2000 est.)
Debt - external:  $10.9 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:  on 23 January 2001, the Paris Club agreed to reduce Cameroon's debt of $1.3 billion by $900 million; total debt relief now amounts to $1.26 billion
Currency:  Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States
Currency code:  XAF
Exchange rates:  Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro
Fiscal year:  1 July - 30 June

Statistics: CIA World Factbook.

Press

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