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Region of Cameroon

The Far North Region, also known as the Extreme North Region (from ), is the northernmost and most populous constituent province of the Republic of Cameroon. It borders the North Region to the south, Chad to the east, and Nigeria to the west. The capital is Maroua. The province is one of Cameroon's most culturally diverse. Over 50 different ethnic groups populate the area, including the Shuwa Arabs, Fulani, and Kapsiki. Most inhabitants speak the Fulani language Fulfulde, Chadian Arabic, and French.

Sedimentary rock such as alluvium, clay, limestone, and sandstone forms the greatest share of the Far North's geology. These deposits follow the province's rivers, such as the Logone and Mayo Tsanaga, as they empty into Lake Chad to the north. At the province's south, a band of granite separates the sedimentary area from a zone of metamorphic rock to the southwest. This latter region includes deposits of gneiss, mica, and schists. The Rhumsiki Valley, a mountainous field littered by the cores of extinct volcanoes, constitutes a small area of volcanic rock, such as trachyte and rhyolite. The Far North's soils are a bit more complex. Much of the province is composed of young soils rich in raw minerals. This is true of much of the land south of Lake Chad, and of the Mandara Mountains on the western border with Nigeria. Soil here is black clay (alluvial soil). The seasonal flooding of the Logone River gives rise to a north–south band of hydromorphic soils at the border with Chad. The remainder of the territory, the Diamaré Plain and the El Beïd River valley, is made up of ferruginous soils. The province's dry/wet seasonal variations create relatively shallow, ferrous or lateritic soils.

Most of the Far North lies at a relatively low elevation. This lower lying portion makes up part of the Chad Plain and slopes gently from about 500 metres in the southwest to 200 metres at the Logone River. The average elevation of this basin is 280 metres. The Diamaré Plain occupies the lower third of the Chad plain and is characterised by a number of isolated inselbergs. The Mandara Mountains at the southwestern border with Nigeria form the highest point, lying between 500 and 1000 metres, with an average of about 900 metres. Mount Tourou is the highest point, at 1,442 metres. These mountains likely arose as a result of the same tectonic activity that gave rise to the Bénoué Depression in the North Province. The area was once volcanically active, as a number of freestanding necks of trachyte and rhyolite of extinct volcanoes attest. The most spectacular of these lie in the valley by the tourist village of Rhumsiki. The part of the range that lies within the Far North is on a middle plateau at about 800–900 metres. Isolated mountains continue into the Diamaré Plain. The mountains' northern extent is hilly, dissected by a number of rivers.

The Far North is hot and dry. Beginning at 10° N, the climate is tropical and Sahelian, and rainfall is a relatively small per year, with rains falling a bit more frequently in the Mandara region. South of 10°, the region west of the Mayo Kébi and south to the border with Chad, in the Cameroonian beak. Here, climate is tropical of the Sudan type, with higher rainfalls of per year. Temperatures average , except for the Chad Basin, where they climb to Actual temperatures of course fluctuate with the seasons, however. At Kousséri, for example, there is an difference between January and August
The Far North has two seasons: one dry, and one wet. These are further broken down based on average temperatures, yielding four distinct periods in the Sudan area: dry and relatively cool from November to January as the province experiences a shade of winter from climes further north, dry and hot from January to April, torrentially rainy from April to June, and cool and sporadically wet from June to November. In the Sahel zone, the wet periods are shorter, lasting only five to seven months in the south but shortening toward Lake Chad. Temperatures reach their highest levels from January to May. Beginning at about 11° N, the province only experiences about 25 to 30 rainy days each year. Kalamaloué National Park (Parc National de Kalamaloué) is a smaller protected area, which protects 45 km2 in the narrow neck of land separating Nigeria and Chad at the province's northernmost reaches. This park protects those species that routinely traverse Cameroon in their yearly migrations. Mozogo Gokoro National Park houses a diverse number of monkey and reptile species within 14 km2. The status of the province's wildlife remains uncertain, as corruption has allowed even these protected areas to be used by poachers. Some villages have embraced the animals, however. The town of Logone Birni, for example, is called "the village of the crocodiles". Savanna makes up the province's primary vegetation. Most of the area is thus covered in thin grasses punctuated by thorny shrubs such as Baobab, Faidherbia, and Karita. Those areas that have higher rainfall—south of 10&729 N and the Mandara Mountains—have thicker grasses and more and larger trees. Here the shrubs have thick bark to withstand the fires that sometimes ravage the area during the dry season. The frequently flooded Logone Valley and the perimeter of Lake Chad also support thicker and taller fields of grasses. Human activities such as burning of fields, chopping down trees, and overgrazing of cattle have exacerbated the problem of desertification in the Far North. In response, the Cameroonian government, with aid from various non governmental organisations, has begun Operation Green Sahel. The project aims to reverse the effects of desertification by reintroducing trees to the region.

In larger towns and cities, such as Maroua, houses tend to follow the modern model of concrete walls and metal roof. Though house construction differs from people to people, the most common type is a small building with a small entryway under a conical roof covered in palm leaves or thatching. Builders make walls from locally available materials, so the Matakam use stone, the Fulani use clay, and the Guizigi weave walls of straw. The head of a particular household or lineage often builds several small houses within a single, walled compound called a saré. These compounds tend to be built with the compound of the chief at their centre, and all houses have a granary nearby, as the long dry season prevents year round food cultivation. Concentric farms surround the settlement, these surrounded by hedges to keep livestock away. Bororo Fulani are primarily nomadic, though they do establish some semi permanent settlements for the old or infirm. The province is Cameroon's fourth most densely populated, with 1,855,695 people and an average of 54 inhabitants per km2. Most of this population lives in the corridor between Maroua, which has 214,000 inhabitants, and Mokolo. Another area of high density is the Mandara Mountains, a legacy of the Fulani conquest of the past, in the Diamaré plain, and at the Logone Chari confluence and up to Lake Chad. The remainder of the province is moderately populated, and the Logone valley and the Chari division are sparsely populated until about the level of Kousséri. Since independence, much of the Far North's population has been migrating to large population centres, particularly Maroua and Garoua.

The Fulani (Fulbe) make up a large portion of the Far North's population. The heart of the province is primarily Fulani territory, and Maroua is mostly a Fulani settlement. They also occupy smaller pieces of land south of there, one along the border with Chad, and one to the southeast. The Zumaya (sedentary Fulani group who reached the department of Diamare before the arrival of Massina Fulani) had first established their kingdom (Wouro Laamorde) at Kalaki (Wouro Zangui). With the beginning of the Fulani jihad they joined the Massina Fulani to convert the Kirdi to Islam. The Bororo Fulani, tall, thin nomads with lighter complexions than their sedentary kin, drive herds of cattle through this region, though they also move through most of the northern strip of land between Nigeria and Chad, as well. The Fulani speak Fulfulde, a Senegambian language. Adamawa language speakers make up a smaller group, with about 169,700 members in the country in 1982. These are broken into the Mundang and the Tupuri, whose territories lie adjacent to one another on the southern border with Chad. The Kanuri, on the western border between Nigeria and Waza Park, are the sole speakers of a Nilo Saharan language. They numbered about 56,500 individuals in 1982. Some 63,000 semi nomadic Shuwa Arabs live in the north of the province up to Lake Chad. More than 974,408 people in the province speak one of the various Chadic languages and thus comprise the plurality of the population.

Sustenance farming serves as the primary occupation for most Far North residents. Crops vary from area to area. Far to the south, planters may raise root crops such as manioc, but as one moves north, cereals dominate. Maize is found in the strip between Chad and Nigeria. Groundnuts are in Maroua and northwest and in the Mandara Mountains. The seasonal flooding of the Logone River and Mayo Tsanaga supports large fields of rice. Millet and sorghum grow all over, though millet tends to grow better than sorghum in arid conditions. Cotton is common, especially in the Diamaré Plain, though it grows poorly in the swampy Logone valley. Beans are also common. Village farmers typically sow in concentric circles around the farm. Hedges surround the farm to keep away animals. Farming tools are typically simple hoes, sickles, knives, and machetes. Farmland is burnt during the dry season, then crops are planted at the first rains. These farms can be quite extensive, as in the Mandara Mountains area. Here, farms climb up the mountain slopes in terraces held in place by stones. Rice is the primary moneymaker for farmers in the Logone valley. This is largely due to the Rice Expansion and Modernisation Company of Yagoua (SEMRY), which operates some 129 km2 of rice fields. Elsewhere, cotton is the most lucrative cash crop. Both textiles and oil come from the cotton Société du Développement du Coton (SODECOTON) is the main government body working to improve cotton yields in the region. The Bororo Fulani and Shuwa Arabs both live principally as cattle raisers. Bororo herds roam much of the Far North and often wind up far south for sale in Yaoundé or Douala. Other ethnic groups are today becoming more involved in cattle raising. Horses and donkeys are common in the province, although these are usually employed as beasts of burden. Farmers also raise sheep and goats. Animal husbandry is less prevalent in the Far North than in the North and Adamawa Provinces, however, as the arid conditions make watering large animals difficult and large population centres make fields scarce. Maroua has emerged as an important centre for animal raisers, with both a cattle market and a veterinary centre. Fishing is an important way of life for the peoples who live along Lake Chad. The Kofia Islands are home to the Budumu and to fishermen from Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria, most of whom earn their living in this fashion. These vehicles also serve as the primary taxi service in town. Access to petrol is another problem, as supplies often run out during the rainy season. Merchants often hike or bicycle into Nigeria to obtain cheaper fuel there for resale in Cameroon. A major obstacle to road travel in recent years is increased road banditry. Buses service the more traveled destinations, especially the road south from Maroua to Garoua. Smaller destinations are reachable by bush taxi or privately hired motorcycle drivers. Motorcycle taxis are the primary means of travelling about in the large towns. Travel on the open road has in recent years been curtailed by increases in road banditry. These outlaws often ambush buses or bush taxis and rob all passengers. Air travel is another possibility within the Far North, and airstrips operate in Koza, Méri, Waza, Yagoua, and Kaélé. Maroua has a regional airport. Riverain transport is possible along the Logone and Chari Rivers during rainy season. The Far North is home to many of Cameroon's most popular tourist destinations. Waza National Park is the pre eminent wildlife park in Cameroon, and it is well managed with knowledgeable guides and rentable rooms on the premises. The wildlife there is relatively easy to see, and, of Cameroon's wildlife parks, Lonely Planet names it "the best for viewing wildlife", and Rough Guides calls it the "probably the best site for savannah game viewing in West Africa".

Evidence of human habitation has been found in the Chad basin and at sites near Maroua and Mokolo. The Paleo Sudanese peoples are the earliest known inhabitants of the territory. The arrival of Neo Sudanese groups from the east and west forced the Paleo Sudanese into the Mandara Mountains. The Shuwa Arabs, descendants of Banu Hilal deported from the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, arrived from the northeast and settled around Lake Chad in the 15th century. Archaeological finds attest to the existence of the Sao culture in the Logone valley and around Lake Chad as early as the 5th century. Little is known about the Sao, except that they were copper and ironworkers and, legend says, fearsome giants. Legends of later peoples claimed that the Sao were descendants of the Hyksos who arrived in the area in several waves. Another theory makes them the original inhabitants of the Chad basin, traditionally an oasis to the north of the basin. They may have been of Nilotic origin. Even the span of their civilisation is in dispute, with various estimates putting their rise at some point between the 5th and 8th century and their fall between the 8th and 15th century. The prevailing opinion among scholars, however, dates them to no later than the 10th century. At this time, eastern invaders entered the Chad Basin and conquered them. The Sao likely disappeared through intermarriage with this and other groups. Many of the current ethnic groups in the Far North claim descent from the Sao. The Kanem Empire, originated in the 9th century AD to the northeast of Lake Chad, and from there expanded in the region. Islam reached Kanem early, and the rulers converted in the 11th century. Kanem Bornu strengthened as an Islamic stronghold, and the population converted as well. Embassies were traded with North African states, and trade increased. The rulers launched a series of conquests, culminating in Dunama Dabbalemi's (r. 1221–1259) expansion south as far south as the Adamawa Plateau. At this point, Kanem and its successor Bornu were active participants in trans Saharan trade. Slaves in particular were frequently traded in exchange for horses and salt. The Kanem Bornu Empire lasted until 1893, when the Sudanese warlord Rabih az Zubayr overthrew it. Other groups in the territory also formed kingdoms, such as that of the Kotoko. They were eventually split, as the northern Kotoko became a vassal state of the Kanem Empire, while the southerners paid tribute but remained mostly independent with their capital at Logone Birni. This part of the kingdom would eventually be Islamicised as well. The Mandarawa settled the Mandara Mountains in the 15th century. They coalesced into state, called Mandara. Over the next hundred years, they fought wars of expansion against their neighbours, eventually capturing Dulo, which would become their capital. Civil war erupted after this conquest, and an appeal was made to the ruler of Bornu in 1614 to settle it. The resulting settlement established Bornu as an important influence over Mandara. In 1715, King Boukar received three Muslim missionaries and converted to their faith. The Mandara would largely convert to Islam over the next 200 years. Boukar also ended Bornu influence in Mandara when he defeated a Bornu expedition sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. He launched further conquests on neighbouring groups.

Fulani herdsmen migrated into the territory from the west beginning in the 13th century. The earliest of these settled as minorities in pre existing population centres, but by the 17th century, Fulani only settlements had been established. A conversion to Islam only strengthened Fulani identity, and by 1804, population pressures were driving Fulani herdsmen to seek new territory in which to lead their cattle. Usman Dan Fodio declared a jihad in what is now northern Nigeria and Cameroon, and Modibo Adama led the charge into the land of Fumbina, which included areas of the Far North. Adama focused first on areas south. Then he turned his attentions toward the Mandara kingdom. Many soldiers who had fought Mandara in previous engagements in 1808 joined his ranks. Adama first attacked from the south and took Guider by 1810. He then took the Dulo, the Mandara capital, but the Mandarawa counterattacked and recaptured it. Bornu and Mandara allied against the Fulani invaders; meanwhile, several of Mandara's pagan vassal states rebelled. Bornu took advantage of Mandara's weakness and burnt Dulo. The Fulani took Bornu in 1845, and the weakened Mandarawa eventually fell to Fulani aggression in 1893. Adama took Maroua in battles from 1808 to 1813. The Fulani eventually came to rule the territory, with the exceptions of Mandara, Kotoko, and various Kirdi ethnic groups that had fled to the mountains and swamps. The region had been depopulated by war, slavery, and disease. Adama set up government over this new Adamawa Emirate in Yola (present day Nigeria), answering only to the sultan of the Sokoto Empire. The Mandara Mountains and the swampy confluence of the Logone and Chari rivers supported the highest population density, as many peoples had fled the Neo Sudanese and Fulani invasions by taking refuge on higher ground. The region was part of a lamidat ruled from Maroua.

The earliest Europeans to reach the territory were British explorers Hugh Clapperton, Dixon Denham, and Dr. Walter Oudney, who were exploring the Niger River. They crossed the Sahara Desert overland and reached Lake Chad in 1822. Denham then explored the lake while Clapperton and Oudney followed the Chari River. Denham accompanied the Bornu and Mandara army in its attack on Fulani in Mosfei, north of Maroua in April 1823. He was captured, but managed to escape as his Fulani captors argued over his clothing. Oudney died in 1823. Clapperton and Denham regrouped near the Mandara Mountains and returned to England in 1825. They published their adventures in 1826 as Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, 1822, 1823, 1824. James Richardson led a British expedition to the Chad Basin in 1851. He was accompanied by Germans Heinrich Barth and Herman Overweg. Their goal was to explore the land south of Lake Chad. Richardson died at Lake Chad in 1851. The others arrived at the Mandara Mountains and then explored Uba, the northernmost Fulani settlement in the Adamawa Emirate then continued on to Yola. Overweg died in 1852, but by 1855, Barth was back in England, where he published Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. In 1865 to 1867, two German expeditions under Gerhard Rolfs and Gustav Nachtigal explored the Chad Basin and the Mandara Mountains. They noted the potential commercial benefits of the area to Germany. In 1868, Nachtigal returned, reaching Lake Chad basin in June 1870. He stayed three years as a guest of the Sultan of Bornu, noting the groups around and their relations to one another. He returned to Europe in 1875 and published a three volume Sahara and Sudan in 1879.

In 1884, Germany took nominal control over the territory. They sent an army north and met with Fulani resistance. With the fall of Tibati in 1899 under Captain Von Kamptz and Lieutenant Hans Dominik, the area was subdued. The region became part of the administrative units ruled from Garoua and Mora. Much of the local administration was left in the hands of the lamidos. The Germans placed the Wandala and the Kirdi under the jurisdiction of these Fulani rulers. The area was otherwise largely ignored, as the crops available were not as lucrative as the rubber and ivory found in the jungles to the south. The only real way to get in or out was along the Benue River, which travelled through British controlled Nigeria. In World War I, the French under General Aymerich attacked the German outpost at Kousséri. On 25 August 1914, Colonel C. H. P. Carter attacked Germans at Mora, but was repulsed after a two day fight. Captain Von Reuben continued the resistance, but he succumbed to the Anglo French allies eventually. In February 1916, France became the colonial head of the area. The territory was placed in the Mora Garoua administrative unit, headed at Garoua. France allowed the lamidos to keep their power, but it also overthrew any who refused to comply with French mandates. They set up independent Kirdi chiefdoms to discourage animosity between the Islamic and non Islamic peoples in the territory. Missionaries began to arrive, setting up a Bible school at Yagoua and a printing press for religious literature in Kaélé. The French improved the roads and built an airstrip at Maroua. In 1931, they introduced a higher yielding form of cotton. They also began SEMRY, a rice growing project in the Logone Chari swamplands. The first Cameroonian premier of Cameroon, André Marie Mbida, startled the Fulani of the area when he announced his Abong Mbang Resolutions in 1957. One of these stated that northern French Cameroon was to be "democratised", which the lamidos read to mean that their power would be curtailed. The northern territories threatened to secede and join with Chad. Northerner Ahmadou Ahidjo and his Union Camerounaise party rejected the resolutions, and Ahidjo used the issue to gain leverage and replace Mbida as prime minister.

Cameroon was granted independence on 1 January 1960 with Ahmadou Ahidjo its president. Under his rule, SODECOTON was set up, as was the Société de Développement et d'Exploitation des Production Animales (SODEPA) set up to improve ranching in 1974. Another was SEMRY in 1971. Upon Paul Biya's accession to the presidency, Moussa Yaya was accused of stirring up the lamidos against him. The UNDP is a Fulani based party, but the CPDM is careful to support their interests. In 1983, the Grand North was split into three provinces. Border areas of the Far North have been affected by the Boko Haram insurgency spilling into Cameroon from neighboring Nigeria, resulting in the December 2014 Cameroon clashes. In January 2015, many schools in the Far North did not re open after the Christmas vacation, and it was reported that "Thousands of teachers, students and pupils have fled schools located along the border due to bloody confrontations between the Cameroon military and suspected Boko Haram militants." In December 2021, dwindling of water resources around Lake Chad led to clash between Arab Choa herders and Mousgoum and Massa farmers. The clash was started in border village of Ouloumsa and then spread to other part of the region. At least 44 people are dead, 111 injured, and 112 villages burned down with more than 100.000 people are displaced with at least 85.000 people fled to Chad. UNHCR, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Chadian Red Cross are deployed to assist the refugee. The situation are subsided after intervention from Cameroonian forces, but isolated incident are remain in the region.