Talk:Cameroon: Difference between revisions
Line 160: | Line 160: | ||
I've removed the photo of the prawn/crawfish twice now. Yes, the name ''Cameroon'' derives from the Portuguese word for ''prawn'', but I don't think that necessitates us showing a big picture of a prawn to emphasize the point. That picture is probably more appropriate for [[animals of Cameroon]] or for an article on [[fishing in Cameroon]]. The broad, country-wide article can only support so many photos, and I think it's at its saturation point as it is now. — [[User:BrianSmithson|Brian]] ([[user talk:BrianSmithson|<small>talk</small>]]) 22:43, 11 September 2007 (UTC) |
I've removed the photo of the prawn/crawfish twice now. Yes, the name ''Cameroon'' derives from the Portuguese word for ''prawn'', but I don't think that necessitates us showing a big picture of a prawn to emphasize the point. That picture is probably more appropriate for [[animals of Cameroon]] or for an article on [[fishing in Cameroon]]. The broad, country-wide article can only support so many photos, and I think it's at its saturation point as it is now. — [[User:BrianSmithson|Brian]] ([[user talk:BrianSmithson|<small>talk</small>]]) 22:43, 11 September 2007 (UTC) |
||
:Edited to add the photo in question to this talk page. — [[User:BrianSmithson|Brian]] ([[user talk:BrianSmithson|<small>talk</small>]]) 01:51, 12 September 2007 (UTC) |
:Edited to add the photo in question to this talk page. — [[User:BrianSmithson|Brian]] ([[user talk:BrianSmithson|<small>talk</small>]]) 01:51, 12 September 2007 (UTC) |
||
:: I do not agree to the removal. Refernce to prawn seems to be quite important for the identity of cameroon. So a small thumbnail of a prawn from wouri estuary is sigificant here. [[User:Tatoute|Tatoute]] 11:53, 12 September 2007 (UTC) |
|||
:: bof. It seems quicker to remove something than to add it. :( . I put the picture near the first sentence about prawn in the article... you remove it, explaining it is not adequate as first picture. Ok. I take care of your edit... put it on the second sentence about prawns. (Repetition denotes importance of this fact for cameroon article... I have no doubt that you, like a good small soldier, will remove one sentence now). You remove it for another reason... :( Do you want to initiate an edit war? No thanks! Please note that this is not a simple picture of prawn. it is a prawn form wouri estuary, that mean an illustration of the subject. But i do not know why i spend my time here... Chacun chez soi et les vaches seront bien gardées. [[User:Tatoute|Tatoute]] 09:04, 12 September 2007 (UTC) |
Revision as of 11:53, 12 September 2007
Cameroon is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so. | ||||||||||
This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on July 18, 2007. | ||||||||||
|
Project Countries main page | Talk | Participants | Templates | Articles | Pictures | To do | Article assessment | Countries portal |
This is a WikiProject, an area for focused collaboration among Wikipedians. New participants are welcome; please feel free to participate!
|
This WikiProject helps develop country-related pages (of all types) and works toward standardizing the formats of sets and types of country-related pages. For example, the sets of Culture of x, Administrative divisions of x, and Demographics of x articles, etc. – (where "x" is a country name) – and the various types of pages, like stubs, categories, etc.
What's new?
Articles for deletion
- 05 Dec 2024 – Emirate of Banu Talis (talk · edit · hist) AfDed by R Prazeres (t · c) was closed as no consensus by Sandstein (t · c) on 26 Dec 2024; see discussion (6 participants; relisted)
Categories for discussion
- 22 Dec 2024 – Category:Same-sex marriage in South America by country (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by MikutoH (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Dec 2024 – Category:Same-sex marriage in Europe by country (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by MikutoH (t · c); see discussion
- 21 Dec 2024 – Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants by country (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Sims2aholic8 (t · c); see discussion
Redirects for discussion
- 27 Dec 2024 – Arab Democratic Republic (talk · edit · hist) →Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was RfDed by РоманЖ (t · c); see discussion
- 24 Dec 2024 – Save The Montagnard People (talk · edit · hist) →Degar State was RfDed by Rusalkii (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Old Roman Empire (talk · edit · hist) →Roman Empire was RfDed by Veverve (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika (talk · edit · hist) →United States was RfDed by Hey man im josh (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Les États Unis d'Amérique (talk · edit · hist) →United States was RfDed by Hey man im josh (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Соединенные Штаты (talk · edit · hist) →United States was RfDed by Hey man im josh (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Соединенные Штаты Америки (talk · edit · hist) →United States was RfDed by Hey man im josh (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – 米国 (talk · edit · hist) →United States was RfDed by Hey man im josh (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Estados Unidos da América (talk · edit · hist) →United States was RfDed by Hey man im josh (t · c); see discussion
- 12 Nov 2024 – Canadaa (talk · edit · hist) →Canada was RfDed by TeapotsOfDoom (t · c); see discussion
- (2 more...)
Good article nominees
- 01 Oct 2024 – Regency of Algiers (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Nourerrahmane (t · c); see discussion
- 01 Oct 2024 – Connecticut Colony (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Gazingo (t · c); start discussion
Featured article reviews
- 30 Oct 2023 – Byzantine Empire (talk · edit · hist) was put up for FA review by SandyGeorgia (t · c); see discussion
Good article reassessments
- 26 Dec 2024 – Eurasian Economic Union (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for GA reassessment by Z1720 (t · c); see discussion
Requests for comments
- 08 Dec 2024 – Estado Novo (Portugal) (talk · edit · hist) has an RfC by 2804:29B8:5183:100C:7163:1F92:A81A:7841 (t · c); see discussion
Peer reviews
- 24 Dec 2024 – Central Powers (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by History6042 (t · c); see discussion
Requested moves
- 27 Dec 2024 – Italian Ethiopia (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Italian occupation of Ethiopia by FuzzyMagma (t · c); see discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Slovak Republic (1939–1945) (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to First Slovak Republic by 143.179.74.165 (t · c); see discussion
- 13 Dec 2024 – Syrian opposition (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Syrian opposition to Bashar al-Assad by Panam2014 (t · c); see discussion
- 17 Dec 2024 – Threatening statements in the Russo-Ukrainian War (talk · edit · hist) move request somewhere else by CanonNi (t · c) was moved to Red lines in the Russo-Ukrainian War (talk · edit · hist) by Cyberdog958 (t · c) on 24 Dec 2024; see discussion
- 16 Dec 2024 – East Timor (talk · edit · hist) move request to Timor-Leste by Kenneth Kho (t · c) was moved to Timor-Leste (talk · edit · hist) by Robertsky (t · c) on 24 Dec 2024; see discussion
Articles to be merged
- 29 Nov 2024 – Uyunid Emirate (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Uyunid dynasty by Mrox2 (t · c); see discussion
- 05 Nov 2024 – Champa (Ja Thak Wa) (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Ja Thak Wa uprising by 27.96.243.106 (t · c); see discussion
Articles to be split
- 29 Nov 2024 – Sind State (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Veritasphere (t · c); see discussion
- 05 Oct 2024 – Francoist Spain (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Salmoonlight (t · c); see discussion
Click to watch (Subscribe via RSS Atom) · Find Article Alerts for other topics!
To do list
To-do list for Cameroon:
|
Scope
This WikiProject is focused on country coverage (content/gaps) and presentation (navigation, page naming, layout, formatting) on Wikipedia, especially country articles (articles with countries as their titles), country outlines, and articles with a country in their name (such as Demographics of Germany), but also all other country-related articles, stubs, categories, and lists pertaining to countries.
Navigation
This WikiProject helps Wikipedia's navigation-related WikiProjects (Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge, WikiProject Categories, WikiProject Portals, etc.) develop and maintain the navigation structures (menus, outlines, lists, templates, and categories) pertaining to countries. And since most countries share the same subtopics ("Cities of", "Cuisine of", "Religion in", "Prostitution in", etc.), it is advantageous to standardize their naming, and their order of presentation in Wikipedia's indexes and table-of-contents-like pages.
Categories
Click on "►" below to display subcategories: |
---|
Click on "►" below to display subcategories: |
---|
Subpages
- List of all subpages of this page.
Formatting
Many country and country-related articles have been extensively developed, but much systematic or similar information about many countries is not presented in a consistent way. Inconsistencies are rampant in article naming, headings, data presented, types of things covered, order of coverage, etc. This WikiProject works towards standardizing page layouts of country-related articles of the same type ("Geography of", "Government of", "Politics of", "Wildlife of", etc.).
We are also involved with the standardization of country-related stubs, standardizing the structure of country-related lists and categories (the category trees for countries should be identical for the most part, as most countries share the same subcategories – though there will be some differences of course).
Goals
- Provide a centralized resource guide of all related topics in Wikipedia, as well as spearhead the effort to improve and develop them.
- Create uniform templates that serve to identify all related articles as part of this project, as well as stub templates to englobe all related stubs under specific categories.
- Standardize articles about different nations, cultures, holidays, and geography.
- Verify historical accuracy and neutrality of all articles within the scope of the project.
- Create, expand and cleanup related articles.
Structure and guidelines
This section contains an essay on style, consisting of the advice or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how to format and present article content within their area of interest. This information is not a formal Wikipedia policy or guideline, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
Although referenced during FA and GA reviews, this structure guide is advisory only, and should not be enforced against the wishes of those actually working on the article in question. Articles may be best modeled on the layout of an existing article of appropriate structure and topic (See: Canada, Japan and Australia)
Main polities
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, states with limited recognition, constituent country, or a dependent territory.
Lead section
- For lead length see, #Size
Opening paragraphs
The article should start with a good simple introduction, giving name of the country, general location in the world, bordering countries, seas and the like. Also give other names by which the country may still be known (for example Holland, Persia). Also, add a few facts about the country, the things that it is known for (for example the mentioning of windmills in the Netherlands article). The primary purpose of a Wikipedia lead is not to summarize the topic, but to summarize the content of the article.
First sentence
The first sentence should introduce the topic, and tell the nonspecialist reader what the subject is, and where. It should be in plain English.
The etymology of a country's name, if worth noting and naming disputes, may be dealt with in the etymology section. Foreign-languages, pronunciations and acronyms may also belong in the etymology section or in a note to avoid WP:LEADCLUTTER.
Example:
Sweden,[a] formally the Kingdom of Sweden,[b] is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe.
Sweden,(Swedish: Sverige [ˈsvæ̌rjɛ] ⓘ) formally the Kingdom of Sweden,(Swedish: Konungariket Sverige [ˈkôːnɵŋaˌriːkɛt ˈsvæ̌rjɛ] ⓘ) is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe.
Detail, duplication and tangible information
Overly detailed information or infobox data duplication such as listing random examples, excessive numbered statistics or naming individuals should be reserved for the infobox or body of the article. The lead prose should provide clear, relevant information through links to relevant sub-articles about the country an relevant terms, rather than listing random stats and articles with minimal information about the country.
Example:
A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Recognized as a middle power, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums.
A highly developed country, Canada has the seventeenth-highest nominal per-capita income globally and the sixteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world and the 14th for military expenditure by country, Canada is part of several major international institutions including the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the Organization of American States.
Infobox
There is a table with quick facts about the country called an infobox. A template for the table can be found at the bottom of this page.
Although the table can be moved out to the template namespace (to e.g. [[Template:CountryName Infobox]]) and thus easen the look of the edit page, most Wikipedians still disapprove as of now, see the talk page.
The contents are as follows:
- The official long-form name of the country in the local language is to go on top as the caption. If there are several official names (languages), list all (if reasonably feasible). The conventional long-form name (in English), if it differs from the local long-form name, should follow the local name(s). This is not a parameter to list every recognized language of a country, but rather for listing officially recognize national languages.
- The conventional short-form name of the country, recognised by the majority of the English-speaking world; ideally, this should also be used for the name of the article.
- A picture of the national flag. You can find flags at the List of flags. A smaller version should be included in the table itself, a larger-sized version in a page titled Flag of <country>, linked to via the "In Detail" cell. Instead of two different images, use the autothumbnail function that wiki offers.
- A picture of the national coat of arms. A good source is required for this, but not yet available. It should be no more than 125 pixels in width.
- Below the flag and coat of arms is room for the national motto, often displayed on the coat of arms (with translation, if necessary).
- The official language(s) of the country. (rot the place to list every recognized or used language)
- The political status. Specify if it is a sovereign state or a dependent territory.
- The capital city, or cities. Explain the differences if there are multiple capital cities using a footnote (see example at the Netherlands).
- If the data on the population is recent and reliable, add the largest city of the country.
- Land area: The area of the country in square kilometres (km²) and square miles (sq mi) with the world-ranking of this country. Also add the % of water, which can be calculated from the data in the Geography article (make it negligible if ~0%).
- Population: The number of inhabitants and the world-ranking; also include a year for this estimate (should be 2000 for now, as that is the date of the ranking). For the population density you can use the numbers now available.
- GDP: The amount of the gross domestic product on ppp base and the world ranking. also include the amount total and per head.
- HDI: Information pertaining to the UN Human Development Index – the value, year (of value), rank (with ordinal), and category (colourised as per the HDI country list).
- Currency; the name of the local currency. Use the pipe if the currency name is also used in other countries: [[Australian dollar|dollar]].
- Time zone(s); the time zone or zones in which the country is relative to UTC
- National anthem; the name of the National anthem and a link to the article about it.
- Internet TLD; the top-level domain code for this country.
- Calling Code; the international Calling Code used for dialing this country.
Lead map
There is a long-standing practice that areas out of a state's control should be depicted differently on introductory maps, to not give the impression the powers of a state extend somewhere they do not. This is for various types of a lack of control, be it another state (eg. Crimea, bits of Kashmir) or a separatist body (eg. DPR, TRNC).
Sections
A section should be written in summary style, containing just the important facts. Undue weight can be given in several ways, including but not limited to the depth of detail, the quantity of text, prominence of placement, the juxtaposition of statements, and the use of imagery. Main article fixation is an observed effect that editors are likely to encounter in county articles. If a section it is too large, information should be transferred to the sub-article. Avoid sections focusing on criticisms or controversies. Try to achieve a more neutral text by folding debates into the narrative, rather than isolating them into sections.
Articles may consist of the following sections:
- Etymology sections are often placed first (sometimes called name depending on the information in the article). Include only if due information is available.
- History – An outline of the major events in the country's history (about 4 to 6 paragraphs, depending on complexity of history), including some detail on current events. Sub-article: "History of X"
- Politics – Overview of the current governmental system, possibly previous forms, some short notes on the parliament. Sub-article: "Politics of X"
- Administrative divisions – Overview of the administrative subdivisions of the country. Name the section after the first level of subdivisions (and subsequent levels, if available) (e.g. provinces, states, departments, districts, etc.) and give the English equivalent name, when available. Also include overseas possessions. This section should also include an overview map of the country and subdivisions, if available.
- Geography – Details of the country's main geographic features and climate. Historical weather boxes should be reserved for sub articles. Sub-article: "Geography of X"
- Economy – Details on the country's economy, major industries, bit of economic history, major trade partners, a tad comparison etc. Sub-article: "Economy of X"
- Demographics – Mention the languages spoken, the major religions, some well known properties of the people of X, by which they are known. Uncontextualized data and charts should be avoided. (See WP:NOTSTATS and WP:PROSE) Sub-article: "Demographics of X".
- Culture – Summary of the country's specific forms of art (anything from painting to film) and its best known cultural contributions. Caution should be taken to ensure that the sections are not simply a listing of names or mini biographies of individuals accomplishments. Good example Canada#Sports. Sub-article: "Culture of X".
- See also – 'See also" sections of country articles normally only contain links to "Index of country" and "Outline of country" articles, alongside the main portal(s).
- References – Sums up "Notes", "References", and all "Further Reading" or "Bibliography"
- External links – Links to official websites about the country. See WP:External links
Size
- Articles that have gone through FA and GA reviews generally consists of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 words as per WP:SIZERULE, with a lead usually 250 to 400 words as per MOS:LEADLENGTH.
- Australia = Prose size (text only): 60 kB (9,304 words) "readable prose size"
- Bulgaria = Prose size (text only): 56 kB (8,847 words) "readable prose size"
- Canada = Prose size (text only): 67 kB (9,834 words) "readable prose size"
- Germany = Prose size (text only): 54 kB (8,456 words) "readable prose size"
- Japan = Prose size (text only): 51 kB (8,104 words) "readable prose size"
- East Timor = Prose size (text only): 53 kB (8,152 words) "readable prose size"
- Malaysia = Prose size (text only): 57 kB (9,092 words) "readable prose size"
- New Zealand = Prose size (text only): 62 kB (9,761 words) "readable prose size"
- Philippines = Prose size (text only): 62 kB (9,178 words) "readable prose size"
Hatnote
The link should be shown as below: Avoid link clutter of multiple child articles in a hierarchical setup as hatnotes. Important links/articles should be incorporated into the prose of the section. For example, Canada#Economy is a summary section with a hatnote to Economy of Canada that summarizes the history with a hatnote to Economic history of Canada. See WP:SUMMARYHATNOTE, WP:HATNOTERULES, WP:HATLENGTH for more recommended hatnote usages.
== Economy ==
== Economy ==
Charts
As prose text is preferred, overly detailed statistical charts and diagrams that lack any context or explanation such as; economic trends, weather boxes, historical population charts, and past elections results, etc, should be reserved for main sub articles on the topic as per WP:DETAIL as outlined at WP:NOTSTATS.
Galleries
Galleries or clusters of images are generally discouraged as they may cause undue weight to one particular section of a summary article and may cause accessibility problems, such as sandwiching of text, images that are too small or fragmented image display for some readers as outlined at WP:GALLERY. Articles that have gone through modern FA and GA reviews generally consists of one image for every three or four paragraph summary section, see MOS:ACCESS#FLOAT and MOS:SECTIONLOC for more information.
Footers
As noted at Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and series boxes the number of templates at the bottom of any article should be kept to a minimum. Country pages generally have footers that link to pages for countries in their geographic region. Footers for international organizations are not added to country pages, but they rather can go on subpages such as "Economy of..." and "Foreign relations of..." Categories for some of these organizations are also sometimes added. Templates for supranational organizations like the European Union and CARICOM are permitted. A list of the footers that have been created can be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Countries/Templates/Navboxes, however note that many of these are not currently in use.
Transclusions
Transclusions are generally discouraged in country articles for reasons outlined below.
Like many software technologies, transclusion comes with a number of drawbacks. The most obvious one being the cost in terms of increased machine resources needed; to mitigate this to some extent, template limits are imposed by the software to reduce the complexity of pages. Some further drawbacks are listed below.
- Transcluded text may have no sources for statements that should be sourced where they appear, have different established reference styles, contain no-text cite errors, or duplicate key errors. (To help mitigate these, see Help:Cite errors)
- Excerpts break the link between article code and article output.
- Changes made to transcluded content often do not appear in watchlists, resulting in unseen changes on the target page.
- Transcluded text may cause repeated links or have different varieties of English and date formats than the target page.
- Transclusions may not reflect protection levels, resulting in transcluded text perhaps having a different level of protection than the target page. See Cascading protection
- {{excerpt}} and related templates may require using
<noinclude>
,<includeonly>
and<onlyinclude>
markup at the transcluded page to have selective content; that would require monitoring that the markup is sustained. - Excerpts cause editors to monitor transcluded pages for "section heading" changes to ensure transclusion continues to work. (To help mitigate this, see MOS:BROKENSECTIONLINKS)
- Excerpts can result in content discussions over multiple talk pages that may have different considerations or objectives for readers.
Lists of countries
To determine which entities should be considered separate "countries" or included on lists, use the entries in ISO 3166-1 plus the list of states with limited recognition, except:
- Lists based on only a single source should follow that source.
- Specific lists might need more logical criteria. For example, list of sovereign states omits non-sovereign entities listed by ISO-3166-1. Lists of sports teams list whichever entities that have teams, regardless of sovereignty. Lists of laws might follow jurisdiction boundaries (for example, England and Wales is a single jurisdiction).
For consistency with other Wikipedia articles, the names of entities do not need to follow sources or ISO-3166-1. The names used as the titles of English Wikipedia articles are a safe choice for those that are disputed.
Resources
Sisterlinks
Related WikiProjects
Popular pages
Notes
- ^ Swedish: Sverige [ˈsvæ̌rjɛ] ⓘ; Finnish: Ruotsi; Meänkieli: Ruotti; Northern Sami: Ruoŧŧa; Lule Sami: Svierik; Pite Sami: Sverji; Ume Sami: Sverje; Southern Sami: Sveerje or Svöörje; Yiddish: שוועדן, romanized: Shvedn; Scandoromani: Svedikko; Kalo Finnish Romani: Sveittiko.
- ^ Swedish: Konungariket Sverige [ˈkôːnɵŋaˌriːkɛt ˈsvæ̌rjɛ] ⓘ
Africa FA‑class | ||||||||||
|
Cameroon is not a POOR COUNTRY
Who says Cameroon is poor when the Swiss Bank and many other Foreign Financial institutions have piled million of Dollars belonging to Ministers, Directors and even the president Mr Biya. Can you imagine less than 5% of the population have more than 95% of the country's resources. What do you really think we can do about it?
edited the sentence "Originally a German colony, it was split after World War I among the French and British." because it gives the impression that germans had a long rule over it.Bharatveer 11:26, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
- 32 years (1884–1916) isn't long? French rule was only six years longer (1922–1960). Still, it reads okay the way you changed it. — BrianSmithson 14:48, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
The issue of corruption in Cameroon can only be solve if the problem is been viewed from above(the 5% Population).It is the duty of international organisations like the UN to look into this matter. The 1972 constitution of Cameroon postulated freedom of Speech but this exist only on papers.
Dictatorship, i think is one of the greatest cause of corruption and since international organisation like the UN claim to fight against dictatorship, this is another arena for them to prove their words.Or do they go only where they have something to benefit(like in Iraq).
The situation is Cameroon is not what you know but who you know? This has cause braindrainage cuz young talented people live the country on a daily basis to seek for greener pasture in western world in the name of "falling bush"
We still have lots and lots of unexploited natural resource which make us rich:Foreign direct investment is the fastest route to economic development but foreign investment are not showing interest cuz there is no trust, security of property rights.
Taken from the U.S. State Dept
Just to clarify, it appears that a lot of this was copied from the U.S. State Dept. This is fine as US Govt works are public domain, but we should at least make a note of this. See http://web.archive.org/web/20020223000759/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/2822.htm
Ta bu shi da yu 03:00, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
Administrative divisions
Actually, in English we say that Cameroon is divided into Divisions, and not into departments. (Hint: each Division is administered by a Senior Divisional Officer or SDO.) For example, there is the Lebialem Division (Département de Lebialem in French) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Fotang (talk • contribs) .
- Feel free to make changes if necessary, Fotang. You are correct about the Anglophones saying "divisions" but the Francophones using "départements". (And don't forget to sign your comments by typing ~~~~ after them.) — BrianSmithson 16:36, 6 June 2006 (UTC)
Name of the anthem
The anthem of Cameroon is currently given as "Chant de Ralliement." I wonder if we can change that to what is stated in constitution of Cameroon, Article 1.(6): Its national anthem shall be «O Cameroon, Cradle of our Forefathers».
Would it be ok to have that in place of Chant de Ralliement?
--Fotang 13:39, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
- As there are two official languages in Cameroon, perhaps it should be given as both? Or does the French version of the constitution give the name as "O Cameroon, Crade of Our Forefathers" as well? -- BrianSmithson 14:21, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
- No, the name in french is different:Art. 1.(6) L’hymne national est : «Ô Cameroun, Berceau de nos Ancêtres».
- Just to dot an i, I'll put mdash;es in the motto, replacing the commas (§1.(4)) --Fotang 09:38, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
- There seems to be quite a bit of confusion among sources as to the proper titles. For example, according to the English-language constitution, the English title is "O Cameroon, Cradle of our Forefathers". In their Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon, DeLancey and DeLancey give its title as "O Cameroon, Cradle of Our Fathers". From what I know, this matches up with the actual lyrics. The French title is given as "Chant de Ralliement" in National Anthems of the World by Shaw and Bristow (they do not mention the English version). However, the French-language constitution gives the name as "Ô Cameroun, Berceau de nos Ancêtres". The only official site I could find with the hymn does not give a title!
- At this time, it would seem that the constitutions are our best guide. Thus, per Wikipedia:Use English, the page "Chant de Ralliement" should be moved to either "O Cameroon, Cradle of our Forefathers" or "O Cameroon, Cradle of Our Forefathers". I'm not sure what conventions of capitalization we should follow — the constitution's or those of Wikipedia . . . . — BrianSmithson 15:19, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
- Just to dot an i, I'll put mdash;es in the motto, replacing the commas (§1.(4)) --Fotang 09:38, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
HIV origin
I do not particularly like the tone of the phrase saying that HIV might have jumped from chimps to humans through cameroonian hunters. This statement is only speculative and can only be added here if proven. It gives an impression that Cameroonians should be blamed for AIDS which is not fair since the statement is based on speculcation. What is factual is that the reserviour of HIV-1 has been traced to chimps in cameroon but how it jumped to humans is absolutely disputable.
eyallow 23:19, July 19, 2006
- Whether you like it or not, bushmeat hunting is the leading candidate for how the virus made the jump from chimp to human. I don't find the article accusatory at all; no one is to "blame" for the spread of HIV. I've reverted to the previous version but reworded slightly. Burying this information is not the best way to handle this situation, in my opinion. If you know of sources that theorize other possible vectors for transmission from chimp to human, feel free to add them. -- BrianSmithson 23:04, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
BrianSmithson 23:04, 19 July 2006
- As a principle i believe only accurate information should be presented here and not speculations. That is my point! The statement that bushmeat is the leading candidate for how SIV jumped from humans to chimps is very disputable. A recent report states that HIV jumped from humans to chimps during the colonial era because the virus mutates at a fixed rate. Back calculating from the mutation rates of the HIV-1 to the SIV found in chimps in Cameroon it shows that, mutation to HIV-1 occurred during the colonial era. Therefore one theory is that HIV came as a result of colonial practices. Humans have been eating bush meat hundreds of years before then. However i dont deem that information worthy of being added here just because the idea sounds good. It must be proven beyond reasonable doubts in my opinion! If you read on the HIV page here in wikipedia, the authors of that article are very cautious about making too strong statements like the one present on the cameroon page. Maybe that section should be edited accordingly as well! Maybe it should also be added that some theorize that the virus jumped from chimps to humans through mass administration of the oral polio vaccines produced in the kidneys of chimps in congo kinshasha! These are all feasible possibilities right?
- Again, if you can find credible sources to support these alternate theories, they are fair game for the article. Something does not have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be in Wikipedia; it's enough to label it a theory or to say that it is speculative information. The alternatives you present should be in there too if you have sources to back them up. -- BrianSmithson 12:48, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
Brain: Google it and you find enough sources to cite. Is that good enough? Listen to this interview on how colonial practices lead to spread of HIV http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5450391
- I'm not disputing your information, but I'm not going to do the work for you. Feel free to find sources and edit the article. Thanks for the link, by the way; interesting story. -- BrianSmithson 22:29, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
- And for what it's worth, the NPR story you linked to does not dispute that SIV probably jumped to people through a person butchering a chimp. It blames colonial practices for helping to cause the pandemic, not the intitial transfer. So maybe you should add a note to the article about the Jim Moore's theory about colonial work gangs, vaccinations, etc. (Actually, the primate specialist, Jim Moore, claims that the initial contact might have been from a man fleeing colonials and forced to eat a chimp, but that sounds really far-fetched to me. People in Cameroon eat chimpanzees to this day; why try to blame the colonials for the initial contact? I have not problem buying that the colonials helped spread it, though.) -- BrianSmithson 22:45, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
I guess the point that is brought up in the link is that, the virus jumped to humans only during the colonial era indicating that colonial practices might have been the leading cause for the initial jump and mutation of the virus due to a debilitated immune system. Else why did it not happen earlier on since humans in Cameroon had been eating bushmeat for eons? However, that some one came in contact with a chimp and contracted SIV that later mutated to HIV is obvious, but just how that happened is not known and open to all sorts of speculations. Therefore no theory is apparently strong enough to be the leading one. However, i find this topic quite interesting though!
- I've edited the section to reflect the information from the NPR story. Do you think it's a bit more balanced now? -- BrianSmithson 14:15, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Sounds good i think. Much more open and gives free room to thinking and mind probing as well.
I question whether the country's main article page is the place to discuss theories as to the origin of HIV. Granted that AIDS is one of the major diseases that threaten the world, but I doubt there is a section in India or Egypt discussing the origins of tuberculosis, or a section on measles in the Persia article, or a discussion on the origins of cholera in the India, or even the Ganges River article... all diseases threatening the world's prosperity according to the World Health Organisation. I believe this article should conform to the items listed at the Countries Project and let the editors at HIV and AIDS origin discuss the different theories. --Spaceriqui 04:20, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
- You're probably rght. I won't oppose you if you remove the section. BrianSmithson 08:51, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks Brian. --Spaceriqui 23:41, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
Corruption
"Cameroon's police and judiciary are among the most corrupt institutions in the world, according to Berlin-based corruption watch Transparency International." Source CNN News: " Cameroon's 'jungle justice' replaces corrupt cops". If this were added to the article it would be immediately reverted. --Wetman 04:41, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't follow. What do you mean? -- BrianSmithson 14:16, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
Violence against women and young girls section removed
I removed the section on "violence against women and young girls" as inappropriate for a broad country overview article. There is no such section in any other country article; why should Cameroon be singled out? I could just as easily add a "violence against foreigners" section, but, again, it doesn't belong here. Furthermore, the section that was here was completely unsourced. — BrianSmithson 22:29, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
BrianSmithson is correct, the topic is too specific for its own section. However, this practice is specific to Cameroon. Sources: Breast ironing has been recognized by the BBC and Reuters as a practice that occurs extensively in Cameroon -- see References. GTZ surveyed some 5,700 Cameroonian girls and women aged from 10 to 82, and found that 25% had had their breasts ironed. 4 million young Cameroonian girls have undergone this torturous practice. It has only been found to occur in Cameroon, and a mention of it has been placed in the Culture section. — Joie de Vivre 13:08, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
- It's a tough question: How much of this sort of thing belongs in a general country overview before it becomes a violation of Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy? There should arguably be a human rights section that discusses not only breast ironing but also private jails run by various lamibe, girls forced to marry on the onset of puberty, "village justice" against perceived thieves, deplorable conditions and overcrowding in government jails, etc., etc. But how much of this can we add before overpowering the article and slanting it too negatively? That said, I think your recent inclusions are fine. -- BrianSmithson 23:39, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
Reverted expansions to history section
The additions to the history section, while sourced, were in violation of WP:NPOV in my opinion. They made the Germans sound like the saviors of the poor savages, when in reality, the German occupation was quite brutal in places. Cameroonian women were taken as concubines or granted to conscripted soldiers for such, Cameroonians were forced to do backbreaking labor, and native power structures were toppled as puppet chiefs were propped up. Period documents may be interesting and add color, but they are hardly reliable sources for any impact positive or negative the Germans may have had. — BrianSmithson 14:33, 17 October 2006 (UTC).
It is important that you said "your opinion" here. Are you a historian? It appears user Christchurch is. I suspect that most ex-colonies talk of "brutal occupation" with lots of accompanyign stories. But are you disputing the purely historical and properly sourced facts whch were entered? Are you saying they were untrue? The sources seem to be very credible. If you're anti-European/anti-German maybe you should keep off these articles. 213.122.73.141 12:47, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
- I've moved this inserted text, with some edits that I hope will be generally acceptable, to the main History of Cameroon article. Kahuzi 13:51, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
- To anwer the anonymous user's question, no, I am not an historian. But there is not a single Wikipedia policy or guideline that says that only historians can edit articles or sections about history. And I am not anti-German or anti-European. The fact of the matter is that if you present one side of the story, as Christchurch did, you are in violation of Wikipedia's WP:NPOV policy. That is why I reverted. Now the History of Cameroon article is skewed.
- At any rate, I have checked a number of Featured Articles on countries, and it seems best practice is to have a "History" section about two or three times the size of this one for country articles. Christchurch's edits probably have a place here, but they need to be tempered with information on the downside of colonialism. Jesko von Puttkamer was recalled to Germany for abuses against the Cameroonian populace, for example, but to judge by Christchurch's edits, the German colonial period was all roses and sunshine. — BrianSmithson 22:51, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
Naturally I cannot agree with your remarks. If you are to have an article about the history of a country it should be just that. I mentioned some fundamental developments in the history of that colony which were entirely factual. You had no right to remove them just because you did not like them or thought they presented an "all roses and sunshine" story. Either this is supposed to be an encyclopaedia or it is not. If you have properly sourced information which you feel should be added by all means add it. But you should not be deleting other editor's properly sourced and factually correct additions just because you don't want them in the article. It does not belong to you. I am considering making a complaint. Christchurch 21:25, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
- Just being sourced does not make an article meet the neutral point of view policy. Besides, your information on German infrastructure improvements is still there, but for a general overview article on the country as a whole, there's just not room for the long quotations from colonial administrators that you provided. Make your complaint, by all means. I did nothing wrong. — BrianSmithson 22:50, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
This is either an ecyclopaedia or it is not. And there is pl;enty of room. The information I added was neutral and factual and properly sourced. You may not like it, but so what? It gave some substance to bland statements such as 'made substantial invesments'. It helps the reader to know just what the colonial powers did in these colonies. Some (possibly yourself) think that everything done was bad. Balance is therefore important. Christchurch 13:50, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
- Just because we're an encyclopedia doesn't mean that anything with a source citation gets to stay. As an encyclopedia, we must choose the most pertinent information to give a broad overview of the topic at hand. For this article, the topic is Cameroon, the nation as a whole, and not just its history. Adding long quotations from colonial administrators (and none from actual Cameroonians, incidentally) means that some other information must go, which, in a broad overview of 1,500 years of history or more, is a shame. Accordingly, your quotations were moved to History of Cameroon, where we do have room to add period "flavor" and the like. You misquoted the text, by the way. It says, "They made substantial investments in the colony's infrastructure, including the building of railways, roads, and hospitals." The preceding line talks about the building of plantations. All having a quote there would do is add color. And, again, in a broad country overview, we need to be more selective of how detailed we get on any one aspect of the topic. — BrianSmithson 04:07, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
Proposed WikiProject
In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Middle Africa at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Middle Africa whose scope would include Cameroon. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:33, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
"Social issues" section
There are certainly a lot of social issues that could be discussed in this article. In addition to breast ironing that Joie de Vivre wrote about, there's female genital mutilation, horrible prison conditions, "village justice", even allegations of continued slavery among some northern populations. However, it's my understanding that sections outlining such abuses are against the best practices of Wikipedia's broad country overview articles, as they tend to violate the neutral point of view policy. As such, I've removed the "Social issues" section for now. I could be wrong; if Joie de Vivre wishes to challenge me on this, I'll ask for the consensus of the Wikipedia:WikiProject Countries folks and defer to their judgment. But I wanted to explain why I removed the section. — Brian (talk) 01:30, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
- Update: I've gone ahead and requested feedback at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries. Our Featured Articles on Libya and the People's Republic of China have "human rights" sections, but I can't tell whether they were there when the artiles became featured or have since been added. I'm certainly not opposed to such a section in this article, but I just want to make sure that we adhere to established consensus. — Brian (talk) 01:51, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
- This is not a brochure for tourism in Cameroon, this is an encyclopedia article about Cameroon. I find it markedly POV to sanitize all mention of a human rights abuse occurring exclusively in Cameroon. Breast ironing deserves some mention in this article. Joie de Vivre 17:44, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
- I never said it was a tourism brochure, and I don't think it reads as one even without discussing breast ironing. My problem is how do we determine what social issues merit mentioning and which ones don't? If we talk about breast ironing, do we also mention genital mutilation, increasing rates of violent crime, domestic violence, allegations of slavery, horrid prison conditions, violence against and incarceration of homosexuals, etc., etc.? So far, some folks at WP:Countries seem to agree that such issues do merit discussion, so I'll try to get more guidance on the best way to present the information without violating NPOV. In the meantime, feel free to reinstate your additions. — — Brian (talk) 02:09, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
- This is not a brochure for tourism in Cameroon, this is an encyclopedia article about Cameroon. I find it markedly POV to sanitize all mention of a human rights abuse occurring exclusively in Cameroon. Breast ironing deserves some mention in this article. Joie de Vivre 17:44, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
- I didn't mean to sound accusatory, I apologize if it sounded that way. I'm just surprised that this article focuses so heavily on the pleasant-sounding aspects of this country (the sports, cuisine, arts, etc.) while ignoring not only breast ironing, but the myriad other less sanguine issues you mentioned above. I don't understand why there isn't even a cursory mention of these realities in this article. I think that all the things you listed should be mentioned in some form, if only briefly. At the very least, breast ironing, specific to Cameroon, should certainly be mentioned. Thoughts? Joie de Vivre 01:00, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
- Well, like I said, I was under the impression that including to much of this sort of thing was considered NPOV violation. However, you're right; keeping it buried is even more of a NPOV violation. I spent yesterday afternoon finding information on these issues, and I intend to add the information to the article. The big question now is whether to do so as a new section (labeled "Health and social conditions" or "Human rights", perhaps) or rather to pepper the rest of the article (discussing prison conditions under "Politics and government" and ethnic conflict under "Demographics", for example). Or, the solution may be to combine both of these approaches. I've never tackled a subject this massive before on Wikipedia, so I'm more than open to suggestions. — Brian (talk) 04:39, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
- I didn't mean to sound accusatory, I apologize if it sounded that way. I'm just surprised that this article focuses so heavily on the pleasant-sounding aspects of this country (the sports, cuisine, arts, etc.) while ignoring not only breast ironing, but the myriad other less sanguine issues you mentioned above. I don't understand why there isn't even a cursory mention of these realities in this article. I think that all the things you listed should be mentioned in some form, if only briefly. At the very least, breast ironing, specific to Cameroon, should certainly be mentioned. Thoughts? Joie de Vivre 01:00, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
I've removed the section again, instead integrating the human rights issues into the rest of the article wherever appropriate. Breast ironing is now covered under "Demographics" in a paragraph discussing marriange and gender roles. — — Brian (talk) 10:42, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
Federal or unitary?
The introduction says cameroon is an unitary republic, but the article politics of Cameroon says it's federal... which one is right?24.37.182.109 21:56, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure it's unitary. Brian might want to chime in and confirm this. Picaroon 22:06, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
- According to the current constitution, the country is federal (or at least, the "regions" have a high degree of autonomy), but in practice, the federal system is not in place, and the country is still a unitary republic with provinces (instead of regions) governed by presidential appointees. So the politics of Cameroon article should probably be changed. — Brian (talk) 02:23, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
Republica?
It is written "Republica of Cameroon" in the national coat of arms. Why? Aaker 15:13, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
- Typo? :) GeeJo (t)⁄(c) • 20:15, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
"138th most corrupt"
The article currently says that "in 2006, Transparency International ranked Cameroon as the 138th most corrupt of 163 countries." This is extremely confusing, and implies that Cameroon's ranking is the opposite of what it really is. The rankings are organized from least to most corrupt, and Cameroon is 138 on the list. So Cameroon is 138th least corrupt, or 26th most corrupt. If you said "Brazil is the fifth most populous country," that means that four countries are more populous than Brazil, and all other countries are less populous. Similarly, if you say "Cameroon is the 138th most corrupt of 163 countries," that means that 137 countries are more corrupt than Cameroon, and only 25 are less corrupt. For now I will change the article to say "in 2006, Transparency International placed Cameroon at 138 on a list of 163 countries ranked from least to most corrupt," but maybe someone can think of a more concise but accurate way to put it. PubliusFL 20:44, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
- Well the issue is with the listing itself, not the article; we can't invert the list for our own ease, tempting as it may be. I think your revised wording is good. Picaroon (Talk) 20:52, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
- Sounds good to me too. Good catch, PubliusFL. — Brian (talk) 22:24, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
Fair use rationale for Image:Cameroon building5.jpg
Image:Cameroon building5.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot 19:19, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
- This and several other photos were added to the article by User:Bayee and an anonymous contributor, presumably also Bayee. I've gone ahead and removed all of them, as they all seem to be shots of the Yaoundé and Douala areas (with one random Limbe shot thrown in). This overrepresents those areas in the article and upsets the balance of photos that is there now, with all regions more ore less equally represented in the article. Bayee also changed several captions, which I have reverted. I'm not sure why obscuring the fact that the bush taxi is trying to pass a stalled logging vehicle is a good idea, and the Northwest is certainly better off than places like the Adamawa, South, and East.
- I'm certainly open to arguments as to why Bayee's photos (or one or two of them) should be kept in the article or replace photos in the article, of course. In the meantime, Bayee might consider placing them on subpages instead, such as the articles for the Centre Province, Littoral Province, Douala, or Yaoundé. That is assuming the copyright issues can be dealt with first. — Brian (talk) 22:38, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
Prawn photo
I've removed the photo of the prawn/crawfish twice now. Yes, the name Cameroon derives from the Portuguese word for prawn, but I don't think that necessitates us showing a big picture of a prawn to emphasize the point. That picture is probably more appropriate for animals of Cameroon or for an article on fishing in Cameroon. The broad, country-wide article can only support so many photos, and I think it's at its saturation point as it is now. — Brian (talk) 22:43, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
- Edited to add the photo in question to this talk page. — Brian (talk) 01:51, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
- I do not agree to the removal. Refernce to prawn seems to be quite important for the identity of cameroon. So a small thumbnail of a prawn from wouri estuary is sigificant here. Tatoute 11:53, 12 September 2007 (UTC)
- Wikipedia featured articles
- Featured articles that have appeared on the main page
- Featured articles that have appeared on the main page once
- WikiProject Countries
- Wikipedia pages with to-do lists
- WikiProject style advice
- WikiProjects participating in Wikipedia 1.0 assessments
- FA-Class Africa articles
- Unknown-importance Africa articles
- WikiProject Africa articles