Cameroon’s English-speaking regions
Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions were once British-run Southern Cameroons. They joined French-speaking Cameroon in 1961 as part of a federation, which was abolished in 1972. Protests in 2016 grew into a war between the government and separatists that has killed more than 6,500 people.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 9 October 2026Suggest a correction
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Two Cameroons
From 1916 Germany’s colony of Kamerun was split into British Cameroons and French Cameroun.[3] French Cameroun became independent as the Republic of Cameroon on 1 January 1960. British Cameroons had two parts, Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons.[2]
In a UN-supervised vote on 11 February 1961, Northern Cameroons chose Nigeria and Southern Cameroons chose to join the Republic of Cameroon.[2][3] Many in the south wanted independence of their own, but the UN left that option off the ballot.[2] On 1 October 1961 Southern Cameroons joined the republic as part of a new Federal Republic of Cameroon.[2][3]
From federation to one state
The federation gave the two parts unequal power from the start. President Ahmadou Ahidjo centralised government, and after a referendum on 20 May 1972 he replaced the federation with the United Republic of Cameroon. Anglophones argued the change was illegal, because the 1961 constitution allowed only parliament to amend it.[2]
Movements for a return to two-state federalism, or for secession, grew in the 1990s. Activists proclaimed an independent “Ambazonia Republic” over the radio in Buea in 1999 and again in 2009.[2]
From strikes to war
The current crisis began on 11 October 2016, when lawyers in Bamenda went on strike over French-speaking magistrates in courts that use English common law. Teachers and students followed.[2] The government arrested the movement’s leaders and cut the internet in January 2017 for three months, and many Anglophones began calling for federalism or outright secession.[2]
The confrontation between the government and English-speaking separatists turned into an armed conflict in 2017. By Crisis Group’s count it has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced 584,000, with another 73,000 refugees in Nigeria. The UN says 1.8 million of the regions’ four million people need humanitarian help, and about 250,000 children are affected by school closures.[1] In September 2026 separatist lockdowns again disrupted the start of the school year.[1]
Timeline
19601 January 1960
French Cameroun independent
It becomes the Republic of Cameroon.[2]
196111 February 1961
The plebiscite
Southern Cameroons votes to join Cameroon, the north to join Nigeria.[2]
19611 October 1961
Federation
Southern Cameroons joins the Federal Republic of Cameroon.[2]
197220 May 1972
One state
A referendum ends the federation.[2]
201611 October 2016
The lawyers strike
Protests begin in Bamenda.[2]
2017
Armed conflict
Fighting begins between the government and separatists.[1]
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Sources
- [1]Cameroon · International Crisis Group · 2026-10
- [2]Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis at the Crossroads (Africa Report no. 250) · International Crisis Group · 2 August 2017
- [3]Cameroon · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [4]Northwest (relation 2750874) and Southwest (relation 2750875) regions · OpenStreetMap contributors
Outlines, clipped to the land the site draws.
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.