Geography

The city of Yaoundé is located in the south of the Central region and is 250 km east of the coast of the Gulf of Biafra . This mountain site 3 is divided into three topographic units inscribed in a Precambrian gneiss bedrock: the barrier of inselbergs in the northwest dominated by the Mbam Minkom mountains (1,295 m ) and Mount Nkolodom (1,221 m ) and in the southwest with Mount Eloundem (1,159 m ); a group of hills 600 to 700 m above sea level and plateaus; the valleys also called élobis . The different districts are arranged according to the rugged terrain of the city's site. Roads and buildings are mainly developed on the heights of the various hills, while the marshy lowlands often give way to subsistence agriculture, vegetation and numerous small watercourses. Some of these are the Mfoundi, Ékozoa, Biyeme and Mefou rivers. Near the administrative centre of Yaoundé is a lake called " Lac municipal de Yaoundé ", created in 1951-1952. The marshy lowlands are also a land reserve for the development of precarious housing: the geographer Martin Luther Djatcheu has shown how this type of self-built housing developed in the flood-prone parts of the city, following the strong population growth 4 .

Climate

The city of Yaounde is located in a tropical savannah climate characterized by many months of heavy rains. The dry season extends from late November to February. The rainy season sees a decrease in rainfall in July and August. The climate of Yaoundé is tropical, although tempered by altitude, with a dry season from December to February and a rainy season from March to November. Rainfall decreases somewhat in July and August, although the sky is often cloudy. The average temperature of the coldest month (August) is 23.2°C, that of the warmest month (February) is 25.8°C. The precipitation totals 1540 millimeters per year: it is therefore abundant. In the least rainy months (January, December) it amounts to 20 mm, in the wettest month (October) it amounts to 295 mm. Here is the average precipitation.