The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua. Cameroon is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. English and French are the official languages. In 1960, French Cameroun became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons merged with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984. Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president, Paul Biya, and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, and corruption is widespread.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
64: The Great Fire of Rome started among the shops around the Circus Maximus selling flammable goods, eventually destroying four of fourteen Roman districts and severely damaging seven others. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Rome)
1863: American Civil War: Led by Union Army Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first formal African American military unit, spearheaded an assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Volunteer_Infantry)
1982: Guatemalan military forces and their paramilitary allies slaughtered over 250 Mayan campesinos in the village of Plan de Sánchez, Baja Verapaz department. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_de_S%C3%A1nchez_massacre)
1995: During the fifteenth stage of the 1995 Tour de France, Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli suffered a fatal crash on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Casartelli)
1996: Paris-bound TWA Flight 800 exploded at 00:31 UTC (20:31, July 17 EDT) off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 230 on board. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800)
_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:
eradicate: To pull up by the roots; to uproot. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eradicate)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice. -- William Makepeace Thackeray (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Makepeace_Thackeray)