KAMERUN The German colony of Kamerun has an area of 191,000 square miles. The country rises from a flat coastal plain to the high land of the African plateau, which falls away on the east to the basin of the Congo, and on the north to the depression of Lake Chad. In the south-west the volcanic massif of Kamerun rises to a height of 14,500 feet. Along the coast and for some distance inland, there is a mean annual rainfall of at least 80 inches, though in places it is much heavier. Towards the east there is a slow, and towards the north a more rapid, decrease in precipitation. Much of the coastal plain is covered with mangrove swamps, and dense forests stretch over the southern and western parts of the plateau ; but, in the regions of lighter rainfall further inland, these give place to extensive savannas.
The Kamerun is being steadily developed by Germany, but in a country, much of which has a climate unsuitable for Europeans, progress must necessarily be slow. The forest products include
the oil and coconut palms, valuable timbers and cabinet woods, and various rubber-producing plants. Where the soil is fertile, as is the case on the slopes of the Kamerun itself, and elsewhere, plantations have been established mainly for the cultivation of cacao and rubber. The savannas contain large areas suitable for cattle-raising, and it is said that much land north of the Benue is adapted to the cultivation of cotton. Considerable attention is being paid to the development of communications, and a railway is being constructed from Victoria to a port on the Sanga (a tribu tary of the Congo). The exports consist of forest and plantation produce and ivory, and the imports of manufactured goods. The bulk of the trade is transacted with Germany.