For many Chinese, since 1982, there is a country in the world that "exists" only once every four years, that is, Cameroon. Of course, it is more accurate to add the word "sense" to the existence here, because in recent decades in the world, it is really only because of football that countless people in the world know the existence of Cameroon, an African country.
In 1990, Cameroon defeated Argentina led by Maradona
Since 1982, the Cameroonian football team has only missed three World Cups in 1986, 2006 and 2018, so it can be said that it basically takes the world's spotlight every four years. In particular, in 1990, Cameroon truly became the focus of global attention by beating defending champions Argentina in the World Cup opener and reaching the quarter-finals. But aside from football, Cameroon never seems to have been in the international news. So what else is there in this country besides football? What kind of country is it? And what kind of history does it have? What does its football prosperous in Africa have to do with the country itself?
In fact, Cameroon is also a very interesting country, and the first interesting point is reflected in its name. The name "Cameroon" is translated from Cameroon in English, and the English word is translated from Camarões in Portuguese. And this word means "shrimp" in Portuguese, so the original meaning of the name "Cameroon" is "the country of shrimp". So what's going on here?
Location of Cameroon in Africa
Modern archaeology shows that Cameroon was inhabited as early as the Neolithic period. However, similar to other parts of Africa, Cameroon's early history was dominated by small local kingdoms or emirates, except that around 1000 AD, northern Cameroon was ruled by a relatively large empire called Ghanem-Bornu in inland Africa.
So at that time, Cameroon was not a whole region, so it did not have a specific name. In 1472 AD, Portuguese sailors from mainland Europe arrived on the coast of Cameroon for the first time, and they soon discovered that the Buri River, a local river in Cameroon, was rich in moray shrimp, so they named the Buri River "Rio dos Camarões" (River of Shrimp). Soon after, the Portuguese began to use the word "shrimp", which means "Cameroon", to refer to the area around present-day Cameroon, and gradually Cameroon became the name of the place.
However, although the Portuguese arrived in Cameroon in the 15th century AD, due to the complex tropical ecology of Africa at that time and the relatively strong local people, the Portuguese did not carry out colonial operations there, but only regularly went to the local area to buy sea clams, and a small number of missionaries had gone to the local area to preach.
Abram Petrovich Ganibal
So in the centuries that followed, there was very little exchange between Cameroon and outside Africa. However, during this period, Cameroon also had a family that was very famous in Europe and later in the world. Although Portugal did not immediately colonize Cameroon, the Ottoman Empire at the junction of Europe and Asia had already waged a series of wars in Africa, in which a Cameroonian child was captured by the Ottoman army and sold as a slave to tsarist Russia.
After arriving in Russia, the kid had a Russian name, Abram Petrovich Ganibal. Before he was sold to Europe, he seemed to be the son of a local chief in Cameroon, so he had seen some of the world since he was a child. Therefore, after arriving in Russia, he soon entered the Russian court and served him as a slave of Peter the Great of Russia.
Soon this Abram showed great intelligence, which Peter the Great liked very much, not only pardoned him as a slave, but also sent him to Metz, France, to receive an artistic, scientific and military education. Abram learned several foreign languages in Metz and became a master of mathematics and geometry. He later joined the French army to help fight Spain and rose to captain. After the war, Abram returned to Russia and became a mathematics teacher in the Russian Tsar's Royal Guard, gradually becoming a member of the upper Russian class.
Pushkin is of Cameroonian descent
In this way, it was natural for him to marry and have children in Russia, and he reproduced many offspring. And one of his grandchildren was named Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. That's right! It is the Russian writer Pushkin, who is still famous in the modern world. Therefore, Pushkin can also be said to be the most famous figure in the modern world with a Cameroonian background.
But the experience of Pushkin and his ancestors in Russia did not affect Cameroon, which continued to follow its own trajectory for centuries. In the early 19th century, a sheikh named Adama established an emirate called Adamawa and became a hegemon in Cameroon. During the existence of this emirate, it also created its own script for Cameroon.
Script created by the Emirate of Adamawa
But in the second half of the 19th century, European powers also reached a climax in their global colonial invasions. In 1868 AD, the Germans came to the coastal region of Cameroon and built a warehouse. Soon after, the Germans gradually began their expansion in Cameroon and established their own Cameroonian colony in 1884. Later, the Germans established a large number of plantations in the area, forcing the locals to grow cash crops such as bananas, rubber, palm and cocoa as slave laborers, and made huge profits.
Plantations established by the Germans in Cameroon
However, after Germany's defeat in World War I, it was stripped of all its overseas colonies, and the German colony in Cameroon was divided into two and placed under French and British rule. Although both France and Britain have since abolished the German slave labor system in Cameroon and made some investments there, Cameroonian calls for independence have grown stronger as colonial rule has declined globally.
After World War II, the Union of Cameroonian Peoples, which advocated independence in French Cameroon, was banned by the French colonial authorities. Beginning in 1955, the Cameroonian People's League waged a 10-year guerrilla war against the French colonial authorities. In the course of the war, although the three leaders of the Awami League were assassinated one after another, their guerrilla warfare never subsided. In this situation, the French saw that maintaining rule in Cameroon had become a loss-making deal, so they changed their tactics and allowed Cameroon to become independent, but installed a pro-French government.
Cameroon's first president, Ashijo, meets with U.S. President John F. Kennedy
On January 1, 1960, the French-backed Cameroonian government declared independence. In this case, the end of British colonial rule became inevitable. At that time, the British did not want British Cameroon to become independent, so they gave the British Cameroonians two options, either with Cameroon or with Nigeria. The British Cameroonians finally decided to unite with Cameroon in 1961, and in that year they also freed themselves from British rule, uniting with French Cameroon, which had been independent the previous year, to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1964, the Federal Republic of Cameroon defeated the Awami League, ending the Cameroonian Civil War.
Because of the different histories of the French and British colonies, Cameroon was a federal form of government at the beginning of its independence. But soon after, the former French Cameroon overwhelmed the British Cameroon and took control of the entire Cameroon situation. Thus, in 1972, Cameroon ceased to be a federal system and its name was changed to the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1984, Cameroon changed its name to the Republic of Cameroon.
However, although the former French Cameroon had the advantage throughout Cameroon, in the former British Cameroon region, it was still not satisfied that the situation was controlled by the former French powers, so from the mid-1980s onwards, there were also secession movements in the former British colonies. Some local people began to demand independence from Cameroon and an independent state called Ambazonia. Since 2017, some organizations in the former British colony have also launched guerrilla warfare in Cameroon because of disputes over the use of English in the education system and courts, which has also caused some turmoil in the situation in Cameroon.
Scene of the civil war in Cameroon
In addition to the contradictions between the former French and British colonies, Cameroon also faces a headache: the threat of the religious extremist group Boko Haram. Boko Haram is an armed group active in northeastern Nigeria that has attracted global attention in previous years over incidents such as the abduction of students. In addition to frequent attacks in Nigeria, this group often crosses the border to carry out attacks in Cameroon. In 2014, a Boko Haram attack killed 84 Cameroonian civilians, prompting the Cameroonian government to launch a massive crackdown on it. In September 2018, the Cameroonian government announced that it had completely defeated Boko Haram within its borders.
Because of these conflicts, coupled with the generally weak historical economic base of African countries, Cameroon is still a relatively backward country, agriculture accounts for 70% of its economy, and its per capita GDP is only $1600, ranking 150th in the world. Even so, the situation in Cameroon is relatively calm compared to many other African countries, such as Cameroon, which has a very stable central government, unlike many other African countries where coups often occur. Since independence in 1960, Cameroon has produced only two Presidents in more than 60 years, its founding President, Ahchijo, and Paul Biya, who has been the direct President of Cameroon since 1982.
So while Cameroon's economy has been lagging behind for a long time, it has less civil turmoil than many other African countries. Despite the troubling factors such as civil war and terrorist attacks, Cameroon's domestic heartland has been relatively unaffected. According to some sources, Cameroon's biggest upheaval in recent years was a protest by transport workers that swept through 31 cities in 2008, and the incident lasted only five days before it was quelled. This is very different from the situation in some other African countries where civil wars are often fought.
Cameroon's well-known star Eto'o
This relatively peaceful environment has enabled the European football industry to establish a relatively stable star mining system in Cameroon and its national team to be stable for a long time, which may be the reason why Cameroonian football teams can maintain a relatively high level for a long time. In addition, most ordinary Cameroonians speak fluent French or English, which is one of the conditions for Cameroonian players to further improve their level when they travel to Europe.
Of course, this relatively poor but calm situation also makes it difficult for Cameroon to attract international media attention outside of football, because after all, a considerable part of the African news that people usually notice is related to war or other violence. This is probably the main reason why Cameroon has a very weak presence outside of football, giving the impression that it only "exists" once every 4 years. (Image from the Internet)