Country Profiles » Cameroon

Country Profile: Cameroon

Country Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Cameroon 1:50,000 Scale Topographic MapsCentre Geographique National (CGN)1:50,000258
Cameroon 1:200,000 Scale Topographic Maps (CGN)Centre Geographique National (CGN)1:200,0001967 – 198546
Cameroon 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsCentre Geographique National (CGN)1:500,0001963 – 197910
Chad 1:200,000 Scale Topographic Maps (IGN)Institut Geographique National1:200,0001959 – 19592
Cameroon 1:300,000 Scale Topographic Maps (IGN)Institut Geographique National1:300,00034

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Cameroon 1:500,000 Scale Geological MapsBureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres1:500,0001952 – 197015
Gabon 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological MapCouncil for Geoscience, Geological Survey of South Africa1:1,000,0002001 – 20011
Cameroon 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological MapsDirection des Mines et de la Geologie du Cameroun1:1,000,0001979 – 19792
Niger 1:2,000,000 Scale Geological MapsDirection Generale des Mines et de la Geologie1:2,000,0001965 – 19651
Nigeria 1:3,000,000 Scale Geology and Mineral Deposits MapFederal Surveys, Nigeria1:3,000,0001967 – 19671
Nigeria 1:1,000,000 Scale Geological Maps by ZoneNigerian Geological Survey Agency1:1,000,0002006 – 20066

Thematic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
The World 1:30,000,000 Scale Topographic Map Series 1145 (NGA)DMA1:30,000,0002
Cameroon City MapsINCVaries1987 – 20085
Equatorial Guinea 1:200,000 Scale Scientific MapsBMA1:200,0001999 – 19991

Global Census Archive: GIS Census Data

East View Geospatial has an ongoing effort to add GIS census data to our Global Census Archive program. Please contact us for the status and availability of Cameroon census resources.


Global Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military City PlansVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)Varies1944 – 20033017
Soviet Military 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:100,0001947 – 199924897
Soviet Military 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:200,0001949 – 200917799
Soviet Military 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:500,0001953 – 19983093

Nautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
NGA Nautical Charts POD Certified (All Scales)National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyVaries1943 – 20134517

Aeronautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Joint Operations Graphic (JOG) 1:250,000 – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:250,0001958 – 20074204
Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) 1:500,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:500,0001967 – 2006598
Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) 1:1,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:1,000,0001969 – 2001243
Jet Navigation Chart (JNC) 1:2,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:2,000,0001971 – 1999117
Global Navigation and Planning Chart (GNC) 1:5,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:5,000,0001981 – 199927

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:1,000,0001948 – 19941089

Note: East View Geospatial is continuously sourcing new resources that may not yet be listed in Global Explorer. Please contact us if you have geodata needs beyond what is listed above and we will be happy to discuss available off-the-shelf and custom solutions.


Historical Country Mapping Information

Jump to: Topographic | Geological/Scientific | Soil | Atlas | Cadaster | Tourist/Reference

Topographic

Cameroon assumed its present form in 1961, when it became a federal republic. In 1972 it became a unitary republic and was renamed in 1984 as the Republic of Cameroon. Some rudimentary mapping was carried out before 1916 when it was a German colony, and subsequently the British, who had a trusteeship of part of the territory prior to 1961, also undertook some mapping. The modern mapping of Cameroon is essentially a product of French survey undertaken after World War II by the Institut Géographique National (IGN). Progress benefited from the establishment of an IGN mapping center at Yaoundé in 1959. In 1975 this became the Centre Géographique National, and in 1993, the current topographic mapping organization, the Institut National de Cartographie (INCC), was created.

The country has been covered by a series of 46 one-degree sheets at 1:200,000 scale. Publication began in 1953 and was completed in the 1970s. All sheets are in a six-colour regular edition with 40 m contours. Projection is UTM, Clarke 1880 ellipsoid. A 1:50,000 scale mapping programme also began in the 1950s and new sheets continued to be issued until the late 1970s. These quarter-degree sheets are in four colours with 20 m interval contours and are also on the UTM projection. Of a projected 667 sheets, 242 have been published. In the area bordering Lake Chad, some photomap sheets at this scale were also produced by the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys for the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC/CBLT). A 1:500,000 scale cover of Cameroon was published between 1963 and 1976 using sheet lines modified from the standard IMW format.

Soviet military topographic mapping of Cameroon exists at the following scales: 1:1 000 000 (6 sheets, complete coverage, published 1983-1987); 1:500 000 (18 sheets, complete coverage, published 1962-1985); 1:200 000 (78 sheets, complete coverage, published 1979-1982) and city (1:10,000 to 1:25,000) topographic maps of Luanda, Ndjamena and Yaounde published between 1976 and 1980. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

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Geological/Scientific

Geological mapping of the country is the responsibility of the Institut de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Yaounde. The best available geological maps are those produced in the 1950s by the French Bureau Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM) at scales of 1:2,000,000 and 1:500,000.

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Soil

Soil mapping has also been undertaken by ORSTOM, which maintains an office at Yaoundé (ORSTOM Yaoundé), and includes a 1:1,000,000 scale map of the whole country supported by a substantial monograph and published in 1966. 1:500,000 scale soil and soil resource maps, together with land capability maps are presented with a 286 pp text Les sols et les ressources en terres du Nord-Cameroun by P. Brabant and M. Gavaud (1985). Larger scale soil mapping of discrete areas, mainly in the north of the country, was also completed by ORSTOM in the 1960s and early 70s.

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Atlas

A national atlas was compiled between 1960 and 1975 by the Institut de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique, Yaounde.

The recent Atlas régional du Sud-Cameroun covers an area around Yaoundé in 25 sheets including a variety of themes on physical geography, culture and demographics. Atlas de la province de l’Extrême-Nord Cameroun was due to be published in late 1999.

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Cadaster

A map of tribal areas of the Bamileke region (Les chefferies traditionelles. Bamileke du Cameroun) was published in 1997 by C4 Engeneering.

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Tourist/Reference

Small-scale general maps have been published by IGN and its Centre de Yaounde since 1960, when a large 1:1,000,000 scale wall map was published. Later versions were issued in two sheets, and in 1994 a single-sheet road map at 1:1,500,000 scale was issued in the IGN Pays et villes du monde series. A new edition was published by INCC in 1998, and an administrative map at the same scale in 1996. There is also a road map from Macmillan at this scale, which has 1:12,000 scale indexed maps of Yaoundé and Douala on the reverse and a similar one from Freytag-Berndt (FB).

1:10,000 scale urban maps of Yaoundé were also published by IGN, Paris, in conjunction with the IGN Centre at Yaoundé. A fine contoured and shaded relief map of the city and environs was published in 1964, but the most recent map of the city itself was updated in 1972.

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