Douala
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Douala
Douala
Douala
Map of Cameroon showing the location of Douala
Coordinates:
0403N 00941E
Country
Cameroon
Region
Littoral
Department
Wouri
Government
Area
Total
210 km2 (80 sq mi)
Elevation
13 m (43 ft)
Population (2012 (est.))
Total
2,446,945[1]
Time zone
WAT (UTC+1)
Summer (DST)
WAT (UTC+1)
Website
Official website
Douala (German: Duala) is the largest city in Cameroon, the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region and
the richest city in the whole CEMAC region of six countries. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its
major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial and economic capital of
Cameroon and the entire UDEAC region comprising Gabon, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, CAR and
Cameroon. Consequently, it handles most of the country's major exports, such as oil, cocoa and coffee,
timber, metals and fruits. As of 2010 the city and its surrounding area had an estimated population that
surpassed 3,000,000 inhabitants. The city sits on the estuary of the Wouri River and its climate is
tropical.
Settlements had already existed on present-day Douala prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, British,
and Germans; however, it was during the German colonization that the city began to develop rapidly as
a commercial and political hub of the German colonial administration. During World War I a bitter battle
was fought for control of Douala. The City surrendered to British and French forces on September 27,
1914. A joint Anglo-French condominium governed the city until a comprehensive agreement ceded it
(and much of Cameroon) to the French. After the independence of Cameroon, Douala has grown rapidly.
Local industries, trade, and other opportunities have attracted an unprecedented influx of migrants,
especially from the western region of Cameroon. People from other countries in the region have also
permanently settled in the city; they include Nigerians, Chadians, and Malians. In recent times city
authorities have been overwhelmed by rapidly increasing population; services are stretched and there is
an urgent need to enhance the city's ability to cope with the rapid growth. Douala is the first city in
tropical Africa to have a piped natural gas supply (presently serving only industrial customers). It is
ranked first in 2015 as the most expensive city in Africa. It has the highest standard of living among all
African cities for the majority of the last 40 years. A very high number of European, American and Asian
expatriates live in the city due to its highly developed infrastructure and peaceful environment for
successful business and good life.[2]
Contents
1 History
o
1.1 Name
2 Geography
o
2.1 Cityscape
2.1.1 Architecture
2.2 Climate
3 Culture and contemporary life
o
3.1 Points of interest
4 Education
5 Transportation
6 Twin towns Sister cities
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
History
See also: Timeline of Douala and History of Cameroon
The first Europeans to visit the area were the Portuguese in about 1472. At the time the estuary of the
Wouri River is known as the Rio dos Camares. By 1650, it had become the site of a town formed by
immigrants, said to have arrived from Congo, who spoke the Douala language. And during the 18th
century it was center of the transatlantic slave trade.
In 1826[3] Douala appears to be made of four different villages located in four specific locations: the
village of Deido (Dido), of Akwa, of Njo and Hickory-town (today Bonaberi located on the other side of
the Wouri river).
The German corvette SMS OLGA at the bombardment of Hickorytown, Cameroon (today Duala) on
December 21st 1884.
Between 1884 and 1895 the city was a German protectorate. The colonial politics focused on commerce
and some explorations of the unoccupied territories. In 1885, Alfred Saker organized the first mission of
the British Baptist Church and in the same year the city known as Kamerun was renamed Douala and
became the capital of the territory until 1902, when the capital was moved to Bua.
In 1907 the Ministry of Colonies was established and Douala had 23,000 citizens.[4]
After World War I, in 1919, the German colonial territories became French and British protectorates.
France received a mandate to administer Douala; a treaty is signed with the local chiefs.
From 1940 to 1946, it was the capital of Cameroon. In 1955 the city had over 100,000 inhabitants.[4]
In 1960 Cameroon became independent and it becomes a federal republic, with its capital in Yaound.
Douala comes the major economic city. In 1972 the federal republic became a unified State. Douala then
had a population of around 500,000 inhabitants.[4]
In the 1980s, in Cameroon the struggle for liberalization and multi-partitism grew; between May and
December 1991, Douala was at the center of the civil disobedience campaign called the ghost town
operation (ville morte) during which economic activities shut down to make the country ungovernable
and to force the government to allow multi-partitiesm and freedom of expression.[5]
Name
With the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century, the area is known as Rio dos Camarns. Before
coming under German rule in 1884,[6] the town was also known as Cameroons Town; thereafter it
became Kamerunstadt ("Camaroon City"), the capital of German Kamerun. It was renamed Douala in
1907 after the name of the natives known as Dua ala Ijaws (Njos) and became part of the French
Cameroons in 1919. Many of the Ijaw (Njo) natives migrated to the Niger Delta in Nigeria during the
Portuguese era.
Geography
The city is located on the banks of the Wouri River, the two sides linked by Bonaberi Bridge. In 2013, the
president Paul Biya made a decree that a new bridge will be built over the Wouri River to accommodate
the growing population of the citizens in Douala. The bridge is still under construction.
Cityscape
The city of Douala is divided into 7 districts (Akwa, Bassa, Bonabri, Bonapriso, Bonanjo, Dedo and New
Bell)[7] and it has more than 120 neighborhoods. Akwa is Douala's business district and Bonanjo its
administrative district. Plateau Joss is the name used historically to call the current district of Akwa. The
name of the districts refer to the Douala lineage, as well as the neighborhoods. For example, Akwa was
historically divided between Bell and Deido into Bonadibong, Bonamilengue, Boneleke, Bonalembe,
Bonejang, Bonamuti, Bonabekombo, Bonaboijan, Bonakuamuang; the prefix "bona" means "descendant
of".
Architecture
According to Jacques Soulillou,[8] historical images of Douala document the areas of Akwa (Plateau Joss)
and the port between 1860 and 1960, while the district of Bonaberi, Deido and New Bell have almost no
images. The archives which provide documentation about the city are based in Paris,[9] Basel,[10]
Hamburg,[11] Potsdam,[12] Douala[13] and Yaound.[14] The Native Baptist Church is built 1849. In 1896 a
first urban plan of the city is developed during the German colonial period. The plan includes an
hospital, the governor residency, the palace of justice, the police station, administrative buildings and
buildings for the port and customs (among those the Old Woermann Linie Bachelors House). Also the
Bonakouamouang Chimney dates back to this period. In 1904 starts the construction of the Villa
Mandessi Bell, in 1905 the palace of the King Manga Ndumbe Bell (also called la Pagode) is built and in
1906 the general plan of Gross Douala is established. In 1914 the large population living in Bonanjo is
moved to the new estate of Neue Bell (New Bell). Between 1925 and 1930, during the French colonial
period, the chamber of commerce, the new palace of justice, the new railway station, the vault of the
Kings Bell and the catholic cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul are built. Constructions are intensified
between 1930 and 1955 and in 1955 the bridge on the Wouri River is built. In 1935 the Mausoleum of
the Kings Akwa is constructed. In 1947 the Temple of the Centenary is build. In 1959 a new city plan is
designed (Plan Dorian); according to Danile Diwouta-Kotto,[4] this plan is still influencing Douala urban
development. After the independence of 1960 a new development and urban plan is established and in
1998 a research prepares the diagnostic for 2015 horizon. In 2005 a new development and urban plan is
designed and routes and public canalizations are reestablished and created. In the same year the Project
Sawa-Beach is launched Since 1888 terracotta bricks are produced in Douala.[4] The publication Suites
architecturales[4] focuses on heritage and reappropriation in the architecture of Douala and it presents
some of the characteristics of the buildings and architecture of Douala after its independence. Among
those buildings the Casino, the Show-room La Meublerie, the Exhibition hall Cami-Toyota, Union Bank of
Cameroon, Immeuble Hollando, the Baptist Church, Immeuble Victoria, Headquarters CA-SCB, espace
doual'art, Orange Flagship. The Palace Dika Akwa Mukanda is built in 1990.
Climate
Douala features a tropical monsoon climate (Kppen climate classification Am), with relatively
consistent temperatures throughout the course of the year, though the city experiences somewhat
cooler temperatures in July and August. Douala typically features warm and humid conditions with an
average annual temperature of 27.0 C (80.6 F) and an average humidity of 85%.[15][16] Douala sees
plentiful rainfall during the course of the year, experiencing on average roughly of 3,600 millimetres
(140 in) precipitation of rainfall per year.[15] Its driest month is December where on average 28
millimetres (1.1 in) of precipitation falls while its wettest month is August when on average nearly 700
millimetres (28 in) of rain falls.[15]
[hide]Climate data for Douala
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov Dec
Year
Record
high C
(F)
33
(91)
35
(95)
37 37
(99) (99)
37
(99)
32
(90)
35
(95)
32
(90)
32
(90)
37
(99)
36
(97)
37
(99)
Average
high C
(F)
32.5
32.2 32.8
32.1 31.4 29.9 28.1 27.7 29.0 29.8 30.9 31.7 30.67
(90.
(90) (91)
(89.8) (88.5) (85.8) (82.6) (81.9) (84.2) (85.6) (87.6) (89.1) (87.22)
5)
Daily
mean C
(F)
28.2
27.8 28.5
27.8 27.3 26.5 25.4 25.3 25.9 26.2 27.1 27.5 26.96
(82.
(82) (83.3)
(82) (81.1) (79.7) (77.7) (77.5) (78.6) (79.2) (80.8) (81.5) (80.52)
8)
32
(90)
Average 23.4 24.1 23.9 23.5 23.2 23.0 22.7 22.8
low C (F) (74.1) (75.4) (75) (74.3) (73.8) (73.4) (72.9) (73)
22.8
(73)
22.5 23.2 23.3 23.2
(72.5) (73.8) (73.9) (73.76)
Record
17
low C (F) (63)
17
(63)
17
(63)
18
(64)
18 18
(64) (64)
20
(68)
19
(66)
17
(63)
18
(64)
18
(64)
20
(68)
17
(63)
Average
155.
34.2 54.5
241.2 276.2 354.1 681.4 687.5 561.2 406.6 123.1 27.5 3,602.7
precipitati
2
(1.34 (2.14
(9.49 (10.87 (13.94 (26.82 (27.06 (22.09 (16.00 (4.84 (1.08 (141.83
on mm
(6.1
6)
6)
6)
4)
1)
7)
7)
4)
8)
6)
3)
8)
(inches)
1)
Average
precipitati
5
on days (
0.1 mm)
15
18
21
23
27
30
26
24
12
215
Average
relative
81
humidity
(%)
81
83
84
85
87
89
89
88
87
85
83
85.2
52.7
90.0
130.2 162.0 182.9 1,709.3
Mean
monthly
sunshine
hours
192.2 180.8
170.
177.0 176.7 123.0 71.3
5
Source #1: World Meteorological Organization[15]Hong Kong Observatory (sun 1961-1990)[17]
Source #2: Weatherbase (record highs and lows, humidity)[16]
Culture and contemporary life
Main article: List of public art in Douala
Along the city's main thoroughfare lie some of Cameroon's best restaurants, coffee houses and Frenchstyle patisseries; along the waterfront, many bars and bistros may be found, commanding views of the
Gulf of Guinea and nearby mangrove swamps. Many of these are frequented by the city's large
expatriate population, mainly French or Lebanese, most of whom work in the petroleum industry.
Points of interest
Play media
Hotel Akwa Palace
Place du Gouvernement
La Pagode
Doual'art
Joseph-Francis Sumegn, La Nouvelle Libert, 1996
Casino Kheops
Mahima Supermarket
Mahima Restaurant
Casino Kheops,Akwa, Boulevard Amadou Ahidjo.
Education
Main article: Education in Cameroon
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to
reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2014)
As in most large cities in Cameroon there are several nursery, primary, secondary and high schools in the
city. In recent years there has been a surge in the number of private schools.[citation needed] In is interesting
to note that there is also a large informal educational sector that caters for a huge part of the
population; mostly individuals with primary school certificate or those with no education at all.[citation
needed]
This form of education is common in sectors like cloth manufacture, bread making, construction,
security, car repair. Individuals from this these informal sector are by far the most visible in deprive
neighborhoods such as Ndokoti, Bepanda, Village, Logbaba.
The city of Douala is home to a number of higher education institutions including the University of
Douala. There are also a number of professional school the most prominent being the Douala Maritime
institute. Douala has an aviation school called CAE Oxford Aviation Academy Douala. The city of Douala
is however mostly a commercial city hence education is not underscored like in other cities[citation needed]
Transportation
Gare de Bessengu, Douala's train station.
Douala is linked by rail to Yaound, Ngaoundr, Kumba and Nkongsamba. Douala has a fairly developed
road network compared to other cities in Cameroon. However many of the city's roads have decayed
due to years of neglect and corruption. Efforts have recently been made to renovate the city's roads,
especially in the most deprived neighborhoods.[citation needed]
The Douala International Airport is located in the eastern part of the city. There are direct flights to
several European cities including Paris, Brussels, and Istanbul. Regional and continental destinations
include Abidjan, Brazzaville, Dakar, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos, Malabo, Nairobi and other cities. The
airport is the busiest in the CEMAC area and is the hub for Cameroon's national carrier Camairco.
The seaport has 8.5m of draft.