Cameroon

varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north

diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north

Central Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria

402 km

290 sq km (2012)

Lake Chad Basin

Africa

volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes volcanism: Mt. Cameroon (4,095 m), which last erupted in 2000, is the most frequently active volcano in West Africa; lakes in the Oku volcanic field sometimes release fatal levels of gas, which killed about 1,700 people in 1986

sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa because of its central location on the continent and its position at the west-south juncture of the Gulf of Guinea; areas of thermal springs and indications of current or prior volcanic activity; Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Sub-Saharan west Africa, is an active volcano

petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower

slightly larger than California; about four times the size of Pennsylvania

6 00 N, 12 00 E

population concentrated in the west and north, with the interior of the country sparsely populated, as shown in this population distribution map