Ethnic Melting Pot and the Evolution of Cameroon’s Urban Centres : A Historical Perspective

This book examines the history of the demographics of Cameroon, a country with more than 250 ethnic groups interacting together. It examines the geographical and historical context of ethnic distribution and the advent of urban centres in Cameroon. These ethnic groups have a complex history reflecting their multifaceted culture and this work examines the 'melting pot' of ethnic diversity in present-day Cameroon’s urban centres which dates back to the missionary, colonial, and post-colonial eras. Within these periods, people migrated to urban centres of Limbe, Douala, Yaounde, Maroua, Garoua, etc., for political, economic, and social reasons. This book demonstrates that once Cameroon gained its independence and reunified, the situation grew more complicated. Urban centres gradually became an El Dorado to the immigrants from all the corners of the country, thus promoting the spirit of ethnic melting and national unity. Legislation put into place, in addition to other factors, promoted ethnic mixing as an attempt to promote national unity and integration. However, this phenomenon witnessed in these urban centres could not be attained without challenges, and solutions are the main issues in the present study.