Cameroon: 2005 Census Results Finally Published

According to the government of Cameroon, the population of Cameroon is now officially 19.4 million (19,406,100) as of January 1, 2010. This figure is a projection derived from the Population & Housing Census of November 2005, and based on an estimated national population growth rate of 2.6% since then.

Given the important role that census figures play in national life, from the allocation of state finances to the of distribution social and other services such as hospitals, schools, roads, including the allocation of parliamentary seats, etc., it is no surprise that these results are already mired in controversy with some either questioning the accuracy of the projections for the last five years, or simply accusing the government of having manipulated the results with an eye on future elections...

Critics point out, for example, that the "opposition" NW province, which had a population of 1.7 million in 2005, is now projected to have increased by a mere 75,000 to about 1.8 million inhabitants, while the "pro-regime" North province with a population of 1.6 million in 2005 now has 2 million inhabitants - a startling increase of about 362,000 inhabitants - even more than that of the Littoral province, Cameroon's economic nerve center...). Government  officials have refuted these claims, pointing out that the projections were done by statisticians whose work has been validated by the Resident Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

1. Regional breakdown of national population according to 2005 census results and 2010 projections

Region	Total Population according to 2005 census	Total Population based on 2010 projections	Projected Population Increase Since 2005
Adamawa	884, 289	1,015,622	131,333
Centre	3, 098, 044	3,525,664,	427,620
East	771, 755	801,968,	30,213
Far North	3,111,792	3,480,414	368,622
Littoral	2,510,283	2,865,795	355,512
North	1, 687, 859	2,050,229	362,276
North West	1,728,953	1,804,695	75,742
West	1,720,047	1,785,285	65,238
South	6 34 855	692,142	57287
South West	1 318 079	1,384,286	66,207
Total	17, 463, 836	19,406,100	1,942,264

Some interesting statistics

• 50.5% of the population is female
• 52% of the population live in urban areas
• 43.6% of the population is less than 15 years old
• Only 5.5% of the population is older than 60 years old

Comments

[Wirngo Nelson Lifoter]

Revisit your statistics again ,a closer look at the percentages show you don't master well your arithmetics.How can the North with a population of 2,050229 have the same percentage with the NorthWest with a population of 1,804695.
Check again.
Does it means No child was born since 2005? howmany died?

[Dibussi]

Correct! Those percentages were based on the actual census results and not on the 2010 projections on which the official results are based. I have replaced the table with one that should tell the story much better.

[Minard]

Hello Tande:

I contend that the entire exercise is a sham. The 2005 census figures from all indications are "cooked" -- the relative weight given to some regions is pretty obvious, and a far cry from the reality we all know. The 2010 projections are therefore based on faulty data. In fact, there should be a clarion call for these results to be annulled.

Minard

[Ndoping A T]

The conception of conducting and publishing the results of census in any country is welcoming, but if to do so and not to declare until when elections are approaching is dubious. Why were these results not published in say 2006? If we have to take the results as authentic, we need an explanation of how a region with high population density suddenly has low population growth after 5 years as compared to some areas of low population density.

[JP Mouanko]

Find below the reaction of Dr. Samson Lamlenn (posted on CAMNET and other Cameroonian forums) who incidentally works for the UNFPA in New York. Dr. Lamlen was the senior UN technical adviser during the very sensitive first post-genocide census in Rwanda and came out respected by all sides of the Rwandan divide. He also oversaw UN census operations in West Africa, so he knows what he is talking about.
_________________________________________
It is indeed very interesting and intriguing to read through the recently released results of the census that was conducted some 5 years ago in Cameroon. We have beaten all records in delaying the results of a census. Conventionally, the preliminary results are released within 3 months of the count and the final results come 8-12 months afterwards. With improvements in technology, these durations are even becoming shorter. Yet we have had to wait for 5 years!

My next major worry is with the figure that has been provided for 2005 - 19,406,100 persons. When I compare with the figure of 10,493,655 released for the 1987 census, I have an annual growth rate of 3.3%! That is far unreasonable for a country whose previous growth rate was 2.1%. What happened? Have we been producing more children so rapidly at home? Or did so many persons from neighbouring countries come into Cameroon? One has the impression we are rather living an exodus!

My worry turns into anxiety when I proceed to examine the annual growth rates by province. The sizes of the Center, North, Littoral and Adamawa Provinces have more than doubled. For some odd reason, the Northern Province has the fastest growing population at 4.7% followed by the Centre and Littoral provinces, 4%, Littoral and the Adamawa province, 3.8%! On the other hand, the Western Province, known to have the highest fertility in the land has the lowest growth rate of 1.6% closely followed by the North-West Province, 2.1%.

So what ever happened to Cameroon's demographics? All these rates are too high by even African standards and are an aberration by world standards. They cannot be explained using any conventional dynamics of growth.

Our Census Office should offer some tangible explanations for the adjustments they must have made. That is the source of the confusion. Such figures can only contribute to making our current development planning difficult. They also will taint our future efforts even in the domain of census taking.

Just sharing preliminary worries which will certainly be taken up at a more technical level.

Thanks

Lamlenn S.

[DANGO TUMMA]

by Now every intellectual in french- cameroun or abroard, would have come to his/her senses, never to take this
regime and its dubious tendencies serious, because, right from its inception in 1960, and its illegal annexation of british southern cameroons, have always been falsehood, and the preservation of self, (the big man), AND THE OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE.The regime before engaging any undertaking would first contemplate ways, 1, to disadavntage, southern cameroonians, 2. exploit their land, 3. decieve the world opinion, with their cameroun BEEING BILINGUAL(english/french) but SOME HOW THE ENGLISH CAMEROUN IS control not by the people from there but by french cameroun, THEIR CONSTITUTION, A SHAM,Their legal system , a sham, their economy, based ob a french sham too, their education , a complete sham, their religion, homosexualism. . every thing about PAUL BIYAS CAMEROUN IS GOOD FOR SATAN. good not even for dogs. he will manupolate the census. the show that southern cameroons which have a population , 2008 at 8m is today just 4 m. after all it brings hims joy to see victoria, called LIMBE, and LAKE YOS
BOMB TESTED AS 3000 ARE KILLED SOO FAR AS HE GETS HIS 50M DOLLASR BRIBE FOR WEAPONS TEST, IT doesnt take a rocket scientist to read these tendencies , of theman who, just last year, have to bribe parliament, his hand picked, to elongate his trem as life president, or the man who ordered the gunning down of 200 yound people who dare demonstrate on the streets on douala, feb 2008. or the raping and killing of college students in southern cameroons, buea by his militias, called police. I am stunned why THE UN PEACE KEEPIMG FORCE HAVE NOT BEEN SENT TO THE CAMEROONS UP TO NOW, ITS MIND BOGGLING.
ITS TELLS THE WORLD , ESPECIALLY ASIANS, THAT THE WEST HAVE A DOUBLE STANDARD, DEMOCRACY, IN AMERICA, IS NOT THE SAME AS THE ONE IN AFRICA OR INDIA. THEN THIS LOW LIFE BEGROES FROM THE CENTRAL AFRICAN FOREST OF MVOMEKA, WILL THINK HIE IS THE SECOND GOD. AS FRANCE WANTS IT TO BE.

[DANGO TUMMA]

THE UN seriously needs reform, i agree with reagan, and uptill now that havent happened, i see why reagan withheld us contribution to this organisation, that have outlived its usefulness. Trust, no one should trust a ma, or president of a countries, when its been established fact as 1, a liar, a dictator, a, murderer, a plunderer, homosexual, genocidaire, criminal as paul biya of french cameroun, why would the UN, KEEP DEALING WITH THIS MAN? WHY DOES THE UN, US UK STILL KEEP TRUSTING HIM?
WHEN WILL THE UN SAY, DEVELOPMEN CAN NEVER HAPPEN IN CAMEROUN , UNTILL SOUTHERN CAMEROONS IS INDEPENDENT AS A SOUVEREIGN NATION, AND CAMEROUN ALSO IS FREE AND RULE BY FREE ELECTED RULER, THIS PROJECT IS ACHIEVABLE, IF THE UN SAYS SOO,AND THE SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE ON THIS ISSUE. FRANCES , THE NATION WHOSE BEEN SOWING THE SEEDS OF EVIL AND DEATH IN THE CAMEROUNS , WILL VETO. BUT THE MAJORITY MEMEBERS WHO HAVE A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
WILL MAKE THIS HAPPENED ,LETS ALL STOP LIEING TO OURSELVES, BIYA IS A CRIMINAL THAT SHOULD BE HANGED ALONG SIDE HIS COLARBORATORS, AND BRITISH SOUTHERN CAMEROONS MUUUST BE INDEPENDENT
FOR ANY DEVELOPMENT TO COME HERE IN THE LAND.

[DANGO TUMMA]

Mr tande, i applaude your effort to make available a medium like this blog, through which we can exchange our thoughts, our thoughts about out native land, southern cameroons, not cameroun, our thoughts because, albert eonstein saidm thoughts rule the world, our toughts ought to rule our southern cameroons, if only we are on the same page, but you are always defending the status qou, always supporting this criminal ebterprise, some thing soo wrong, its begs any one conscience if such endeavour are worth it, ?
why must gods children suffer and die on their gods goven land, without water to drink? without bread to eat, because some foreigner, have taken hostage of them with weapons, paid their own brethren a pound of flesh to sell the perpetrators evil exploiative, colonizing, occupational, slavery agenda upon them, is it what it? After 28 years, and counting, after
22 year by ahijo, , NO good thing can come from any association with french cameroun, period like it or not
without free- independent southern cameroons, NO STRANGER WOULD COME FROM NEAR AND AFAR AND BUILD YOUR OWN IVORY
TOWER IN BUNDOMA OR GREAT SOPPO. ONLY THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE ALND SHOULD, THATS JUST THE LAWS OF NATURE, EVEN MR MVOMEKA KNOWS THAT, THAT WHY THEIR IS NO SEAPORT IN VICTORIA, NO AIRPORT IN TIKO, NO NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF , BUT BE PROUD OF YOUR LAND, ATLEAST YOU CAN BUILD IT YOUR WAY ,NOT THE CEMAC WAY BUT THE ECOWAS WAY, . MR TANDE, THE

NELSO LIFOTER IS RIGHT, NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT , THE PERCENTAGE INCREMENT IS A SHAM. AS THE SHAM WORK WE ARE TOO FAMILIAR WITH OF FRENCH CAMEROU HANDIWORK, ,, A SHAM AS BIG AS THAT MY BLIND GRAND MOTHER KNOWS TOO WELL OF THE FRENCH ENGINEERED CFA FRANCES, CURRENCY SHAM.

[J Ewusi]

The whole 2005 exercise is a sham. I live in Buea and I am form the South West Province.
During the census I was home all the time and coutioned all my children to call on me when the census team come to my house. For the whole period no census agent ever passed around my house which is located in the centre of Wonganga quarter in Buea. After the head count I went and complained to the then Provincial delegation of Planning and Regional Development. He told me some errors were actually noticed and that a team was to pass round and do a control count. I insisted asking him how a team could go round recounting all of Buea or at least my quarter again. To be frank to God and man, no team ever passed as I had suspected. I am talking from my own personnal case. There were so many people who complained not to have seen the counting team in their houses. In effect, there was no head count of Cameroonians during this census. The census organisers had their plan to deceive Cameroonian about a head count. There was no systematic head count. Many of the census agents can attest to this. There was a plan to cook up the figure of this census from inception of the idea. There was no credible census Cameroon in 2005. All Cameroonians should know that any results presented today have been cooked up as it was initially intended.

[Ma Mary]

When Southern Cameroonians shall achieve consensus and decide to walk away from this failed union like one person, we shall be unstoppable, and there shall be no war, no sharing of blood.

I want to thank those people who have been informing the populace using the internet and other media. We shall bring something beautiful to Africa, because we are a beautiful, kind and cultured people. We shall bring a different and more ideal social order.

[Wantim]

This is what Augustine Kodock, the former Minister of Planning, Programming and Regional Development who organized the census had say about the recently released census results: "Ces chiffres sont faux." /"These results are false." Excerpt of interview in Le Jour newspaper below:

"Lorsque des chiffres sont proclamés cinq ans après une enquête, avec les mouvements transfrontaliers de populations, avec les naissances, les mutations d’une tranche d’âge à une autre, les autres variables comme la mortalité, la natalité, vous pensez que, quelles que soient les techniques utilisées pour pondérer les erreurs, on peut faire confiance à des résultats pareils ? En tout cas, moi, j’en doute. Ces chiffres sont faux. Ils devraient être plus importants que ceux déclarés."

http://tinyurl.com/y2jhy4j

[JP Mouanko]

Hi friends,
Herewith a follow up from Dr Sam Lamlenn on the census issue;
Hi all,

The situation in Cameroon is far from clear. I reacted on first impressions that the figure of 19.4 million inhabitants refered to the 2005 period. Now it turns out that they were projections for 2010. This implies that, if we consider the 17.5 million announced for 2005, we come up with an annual intercensal growth rate of 2.8% as opposed to the 2.1% observed uring earlier periods. However, when one considers the 2005-2010 period, the growth rate then drops to 2.1%. How can this be explained?

The situation become more hazy when we examine the growth rates by region. The Western and NW Regions which are known to have the highest fertility in the land, rather have the lowest growth rates during the two periods under consideration. Apart from the regions with the two largest cities (Centre -3.4% -and Littoral -3.3%), the other highest growth rates are observed in the 3 northern regions! - North (3.8%), Adamawa (3.1%) and Extreme North (2.8%). Only the South province seems to have rivaled them with 2.9%!

Our eminent statisticians have served us with projections which defy basic logical thinking.
The impression we are being given here is that the population of Cameroon greww very rapidly between 1987 and 2005 and then slowed down rapidly since then. What policies and programmes could be considered to have made such an evolution possible within such a short time?

While the growth rate of all regions is implied to have been declining for almost all the provinces, it rather increased for the Northern region from 3.8% to 3.9%. The observed decline is less pronounced for the other regions of the north as well as for the Centre amd Littoral regions.

In summary, it is apparent that the adjustments and simulations have been more in favour of the northern regions of the country and for the regions with major cities, than for the rest of the country. The Northern region which ranked 8th in terms of population size in 1987, ranked 6th in 2005 and is now occupying the 4th position. the Adamawa region moved from last position to 8th.

Such evidence is cogent enough to doubt the current demographics of our country. While they'll make logical planning difficult, they evidently render our understanding of African and World demographics rather difficult. That is the reason why the CEMAC, AU and the UN should request to have a closer look at them.

Sorry for being this long. My interpratations remain on the technical lane.

Lamlenn S.

[Trung]

Hi
I find information about population of cameroon at level sub-division. Who do help me. Send to my email: [email protected].
Thanks!

[mbarga manga]

excellent data