Bertoua

Where is Bertoua?

Bertoua is in the East Region of Cameroon, 335 to 350 km from Yaoundé by road.

Bertoua is the capital of the East region and of the Lom-et-Djérem department, about 350 kilometres east of Yaoundé. At 717 metres above sea level, in the heart of the country's largest region, it had around 280,000 inhabitants by a 2018 estimate, though figures vary widely between sources. A crossroads town, it controls the roads towards the Central African Republic and the Congo.

History and origin of the name

According to the tradition reported by the sources, the town was founded in the early twentieth century by Gbaya hunters from what is now the Central African Republic; the Gbaya and the Maka are regarded as its indigenous peoples. The administrative post was officially created in 1927. A stopping point for gold traders and travellers heading to the Central African Republic, the Congo or Chad, Bertoua grew as a staging town before becoming an urban community in 2008.

What to see

• Holy Family Cathedral, seat of the Archdiocese of Bertoua: the diocese, created in 1983, was raised to an archdiocese in 1994.
• The equatorial forest around the town, gateway to the Cameroonian part of the Congo Basin.
• The University of Bertoua, created by decree in January 2022 and opened for the 2022-2023 academic year, which brings together schools already present in the town.

Economy and local life

The East region is the country's main timber reserve: it supplied more than half of the logs harvested in Cameroon in 2005, and the state plans a special economic zone there for wood processing. Agriculture dominates the local economy, and gold, mined artisanally in the region, has long drawn traders and travellers.

What to eat

The region's signature dish is mbol, made with crushed squash seeds that turn slippery in contact with water, often with crayfish or meat and aromatic herbs. The East is also home to odontol, a very strong homemade distilled spirit whose consumption carries real health risks.

Practical information

The climate is tropical, with average temperatures of 23 to 26 °C; records give 1,400 to 2,000 mm of rain a year depending on the source, October being the wettest month. National Highway 1 runs through the town, which has an airport opened in 1976. The nearest station is at Bélabo, on the Trans-Cameroon railway.

Distances by road

• Yaoundé: 335 to 350 km
• Douala: about 570 km

Approximate distances, city centre to city centre. Travel time depends heavily on road conditions and traffic.