Yaoundé
The political capital, the city of seven hills
Centre Region (capital: Yaoundé) · Mfoundi department (capital: Yaoundé)
Related music genre : Bikutsi
On screen : Quartier Mozart (1992), Paris à tout prix (2007)
Related language : Ewondo, Pidgin camerounais, Camfranglais
Study here : University of Yaoundé I, University of Yaoundé II-Soa
Where is Yaoundé?
Yaoundé is in the Centre Region of Cameroon, about 240 km from Douala by road.
Yaoundé is Cameroon's political capital, in the Centre region. Built at roughly 750 metres above sea level on a landscape of hills that earned it the nickname "city of seven hills", it is the country's second-largest city, with more than three million inhabitants by most estimates.
History and origin of the name
The site was occupied by German explorers in the late 1880s, then by the botanist Georg August Zenker from the end of 1889. The name comes from the Ewondo, the people of the area: the Germans transcribed it as "Jaunde". After the First World War the city became the capital of French-administered Cameroon, then of the independent country in 1960.
What to see
- The National Museum of Cameroon, housed in the former presidential palace.
- The Basilica of Mary Queen of the Apostles at Mvolyé and Our Lady of Victories Cathedral.
- Mount Febe, one of the viewpoints over the city, and the Mvog-Betsi zoo and botanical park.
- The Reunification Monument and the Palais des Congrès.
Economy and local life
Home to the institutions, ministries and embassies, Yaoundé is also a university city, with the universities of Yaoundé I and II as well as private Catholic and Protestant universities. A railway line, the Transcamerounais, links it to Ngaoundéré in the north of the country.
What to eat
Yaoundé lies in the Centre and South, home of okok, sanga and mets de pistache. These dishes are staples of family cooking here.
Practical information
The climate is tropical, with average temperatures of 23 to 26 °C and around 1,500 mm of rain a year. Nsimalen International Airport serves the city.
Distances by road
- Ebolowa: 155 to 170 km
- Édéa: about 175 km
- Douala: about 240 km
- Kribi: about 285 km
- Bafoussam: about 290 km
- Limbé: about 315 km
- Buéa: about 315 km
- Bertoua: 335 to 350 km
- Foumban: 335 to 360 km
- Bamenda: about 375 km
- Kumbo: about 400 km
Approximate distances, city centre to city centre. Travel time depends heavily on road conditions and traffic.