Place:South, Cameroon

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The South Region is located in the southwestern and south-central portion of the Republic of Cameroon. It is bordered to the east by the East Region, to the north by the Centre Region, to the northwest by the Littoral Region, to the west by the Gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic Ocean), and to the south by the countries of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo. The South occupies 47,720 km² of territory, making it the fourth largest region in the nation. The major ethnic groups are the various Beti-Pahuin peoples, such as the Ewondo, Fang, and Bulu.

The South Region has a fair amount of industry, its main commerce consisting of logging, timber, mining, and offshore oil drilling. Commercial agriculture is also important in the South, the major cash crops being cocoa and rubber. Cattle rearing and fishing are significant economic components, as well. Much of the population is made up of subsistence farmers.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Early population movements

Archaeological finds in the areas of Kribi and Lobé attest to human presence in the territory of the South Province since prehistory. Of the area's current inhabitants, the earliest to arrive were the Pygmies, who moved in from further south and east in ancient times and lived for centuries as hunter-gatherers in the forests. The Batanga arrived and settled the coastal areas in the 18th century.

The Beti-Pahuin Bantu groups entered the area in the 19th century from the northeast, south of the Sanaga River. They were under pressure from the migrating Vute, Mbum, Babouti, and Gbaya, who were themselves fleeing the Fulbe (Fula). The Beti-Pahuin were more militarily advanced than the natives they encountered, and they easily subdued and assimilated these peoples or else pushed them away, as with the Ngumba and Mabea, descendants of the Maka and Njem, who had traveled southwest toward the coast when the Beti-Pahuin had first encountered them a century earlier north of the Lom River. The Beti-Pahuin may have practiced cannibalism at this time, as well.

Once across the Sanaga, in present-day East and Centre Provinces, the various tribal groups settled individually in family groups, or clans. The Ntumu, Fang, and Mvae moved toward the Dja valley and into present-day Gabon while the Bulu travelled west along the Nyong to their present territory. The Beti formed the final wave.

European contacts

Europeans knew the entire western coast of the present-day South Province since Portuguese ships first explored it in 1472. The Portuguese set up trade with the natives, collecting particularly pepper, ivory, kola nuts, and slaves. Other Europeans followed the Portuguese, and the Dutch became the most active by the 17th century. Minor trading centers emerged, including Kribi and Campo. Trade was carried out on the Europeans' ships, allowing the coastal tribes to set themselves up as go-betweens, finding slaves from the interior and distributing goods obtained from the Europeans. In fact, the Beti-Pahuin migration was still taking place during this time, allowing the Bulu to set themselves in such a position.

The British supplanted the Dutch as the pre-eminent traders in the region by the 19th century. This was also the period of abolition, and the British sent elements of the Royal Navy in 1827 to the Cameroonian coast to prevent further slave trading. Merchants were instead encouraged to trade in items such as ivory, rubber, and palm kernels. Under the British, trade was conducted on land, and Europeans quickly set up bases along the coast. For example, a trading post was opened in Grand Batanga in 1828 to service the lower Cameroonian coastline. Slaves continued to be traded clandestinely.

German administration

Germany annexed the Cameroons in 1884, and for the first few years, they were only interested in the coastal area. Explorers under Governor Julius Von Soden were the first to penetrate into the southern interior when they pushed in to Beti lands in 1887. Eugen Von Zimmerer followed as colonial governor with an aggressive push to build plantations, particularly to grow cocoa. Much of the road infrastructure of the province dates from Von Zimmerer's time, since the Germans needed a means of travelling along the coast and from plantation to plantation. It was largely the native population who was forced to build these improvements.

As the Germans consolidated their power and conscripted workers, they faced resistance from the indigenous peoples. Of Cameroon's southern groups, the Bulu revolted first in 1891 in protest over their loss to the Germans of their lucrative trade position. Von Zimmerer's army finally suppressed the rebellion in 1895. That same year, the Ewondo rose up until the colonials were able to suppress them in 1896. Germany also replaced native chiefs with more sympathetic ones when they deemed it necessary.

Jesko Von Pultkamer became governor of German Kamerun in 1895. He accelerated the creation of plantations through the southern forest zone, which created more need for conscripted native labourers. In 1907, the Ewondo rebelled once more, but the Germans again suppressed them.

French administration

In 1916, France gained control of most of Germany's Cameroonian territory at the end of World War I. Under French administration, the present South Province fell into the Kribi-Lolodorf-Campo district, governed from Kribi, and the Ebolowa-Akoafim district, governed from Ebolowa.

The French maintained the various German-founded plantations and started new ones, including coffee plantations at Ebolowa, palm plantations at Kribi, and groundnut fields at Batoke. They also continued Germany's policy of propping up puppet chiefs of the various native peoples. The French greatly expanded the road network through the region and improved the port at Kribi, albeit still with native forced labour.

Post-independence

Upon Cameroon's independence in 1960, the present-day Centre and South Provinces were one territory called the Centre-South. In 1982, Paul Biya became the second president of Cameroon. One of his first moves was to separate the Centre-South into the modern Centre and South Provinces in August, 1983.

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