The country's cities

Cities of Cameroon: Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam, Garoua, Maroua…

Economic capital, political capital, beach resort, town at the foot of a volcano or Sahel crossroads: every Cameroonian city has its own story and atmosphere. Here are the main ones, with what to know before you go.

The 20 most populous cities in Cameroon

Ranking based on the 2005 census, the latest published by BUCREP, the national census office. Figures cover the city itself, not the wider municipality; more recent estimates vary too much between sources to support a reliable ranking.

Rank	City	Region	Census 2005	Census 1987
1	Douala	Littoral	1,906,962	809,852
2	Yaoundé	Centre	1,817,524	649,252
3	Bamenda	North-West	269,530	110,690
4	Bafoussam	West	239,287	112,681
5	Garoua	North	235,996	141,839
6	Maroua	Far North	201,371	123,450
7	Ngaoundéré	Adamawa	152,698	78,062
8	Kumba	South-West	144,268	70,112
9	Nkongsamba	Littoral	104,050	85,420
10	Buéa	South-West	90,090	32,871
11	Kousséri	Far North	89,123	53,713
12	Bertoua	East	88,462	43,402
13	Limbé	South-West	84,223	44,561
14	Foumban	West	83,522	57,271
15	Kumbo	North-West	80,212	33,353
16	Édéa	Littoral	66,581	50,609
17	Ebolowa	South	64,980	34,771
18	Dschang	West	63,838	35,717
19	Tiko	South-West	60,796	23,559
20	Kribi	South	59,928	21,507

Sources consulted : citypopulation.de, d'après le BUCREP (recensements de 1987 et 2005)