The Southern Region is one of the ten regions of Cameroon 1 . It extends over the southern and western part of the country, bordering three Central African countries from west to east: Equatorial Guinea , Gabon and the Republic of Congo . Its capital is the city of Ebolowa .

Géographie

Located in the southwest of the country, it is bordered to the northwest by the Littoral region , to the north by the Central region and to the east by the Eastern region . The southern part of the region borders three countries: Equatorial Guinea , Gabon and the Republic of Congo .

The southern region has a maritime facade on the Gulf of Guinea , which occupies its entire western flank.

Situation

The region is located in the southwest of the country, bordering a department of the Republic of Congo , a province of Gabon and the continental region of Equatorial Guinea .

Bordering regions of the South region
Coastline Center

Gulf of Guinea East
 Continental region  Woleu-Ntem  Sangha

Duty

Histoire

It was in this region that the Efulameyon (Ntem-Kribi Tribal Union) emerged, one of the political movements leading to the creation of the Union of the Populations of Cameroon with a view to decolonization 2 . The Southern Province was established in 1983 by dismembering the former South-Central Province 3 . The province was transformed into a region during the administrative reform of 2008 4 .

Subdivisions

The region is divided into 4 departments, 29 communes and districts, and two urban communities: Ebolowa and Kribi.

Departments

The departments of the Southern region.

The region, which is made up of four departments , covers an area of ​​47,110  km2 and is home to more than 534,900 inhabitants in 20015. Its density (and therefore its population) doubled between the 1976 and 2005 censuses, increasing from 6.7 to 13.4  inhabitants per km2 . It represented 3.6% of the total population of Cameroon in 20056. Its capital is the town of Ebolowa .

Department
Capital Area Population (2001)
Dja-and-Lobo
Bloodmelima 19,911 173 219
Mvila
Ebolowa 8,697 163,826
Ocean
Kribi 11,280 133,062
Ntem Valley
Ambam 7,303 64,747
Districts

The region has 29 districts 7 .

These districts are distributed as follows:

Mvila: Ebolowa I, Ebolowa II, Ngoulemakong, Mvangan, Biwong-Bane, Biwong-Bulu, Mengong, Efoulan;
Dja and Lobo: Sangmelima, Zoétélé, Meyomessala, Meyomessi, Djoum, Mintom, Oveng.
Communes

Detailed articles: Communes of Cameroon and List of communes in the South region of Cameroon .
Populations of the Southern region.

The region has 29 municipalities 8 .

Traditional chiefdoms

The Southern region has three traditional chiefdoms of the 1st degree  , 107 chiefdoms of the 2nd  degree 9 and 1,248 chiefdoms of the 3rd  degree 10 .

Population

The main ethnic groups constituting the population of the Southern region are the Fong, Boulou, Bane or Bene, Ntoumou, Mvae, Ewondo, Fang; the Sawa: Batanga, Badjeli, Mabéa, Bassa, Yassa, Ngoumba and Pygmies 11 . The evolution of the population was noted during the censuses of 1976, 1987 and 2005 12 .

Demographic evolution
1976 1987 2001 2005 2016
315 202 373 798 534,900 634 655 757 739
Personalities

Martin-Paul Samba , Jean-Louis Njemba Medou , René Jam Afane , Charles Assalé , Paul Biya , Jean-Marc Ela , Jacques Fame Ndongo , Charles Ateba Eyene , Engelbert Mveng , Ferdinand Oyono , Guillaume Oyônô Mbia .