- Also spelled:
- Yaounde or Jaunde
- Also called:
- Éwondo
Yaunde
-
Who are the people living in Yaoundé?
Yaoundé is the capital city of Cameroon, located on a hilly, forested plateau between the Nyong and Sanaga rivers. The city is inhabited by the Yaunde, a Bantu-speaking people who share cultural and historical connections with other Beti groups.
The Yaunde raise crops such as cassava and corn, along with vegetables, palm oil, mushrooms, and insects. They also keep goats and pigs for ritual feasts rather than daily consumption. Rural Yaunde often work as laborers in urban centers due to less profitable cacao cultivation in their region.
The Yaunde have a loose political organization with clans determined through patrilineal descent. They live in small clusters of homesteads rather than compact villages. Yaoundé serves as a lingua franca in the city, where people from Cameroon and neighboring countries use it for communication.
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What are the main ethnic groups in Yaoundé?
Yaoundé is inhabited by the Bantu-speaking Yaunde people, who are closely related to the Eton. Together, the Yaunde and Eton form the two main subgroups of the Beti. The Beti are one of three major subdivisions of the Fang peoples in southern Cameroon, mainland Equatorial Guinea, and northern Gabon.
Cameroon has over 200 distinct ethnic groups and is among the most urbanized countries in western Africa. The Yaunde language is a dialect of the Yaunde-Fang group of Bantu languages and serves as a lingua franca in Yaoundé, where people from Cameroon and neighboring countries use it for commerce and politics.
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What languages do people in Yaoundé speak?
The official languages of Cameroon are French and English. In Yaoundé, a Bantu language called Yaunde is used as a lingua franca, especially in rural areas, for commerce, politics, and general communication among the diverse people who have come to the city from throughout Cameroon and neighboring countries. The residents of Yaoundé also assimilate vocabulary from other dialects and nearby languages, as well as from English and French, into their everyday speech.
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What religions do people in Yaoundé practice?
Yaoundé is a transportation and communication center and one of Cameroon's largest cities. In Cameroon, there is a cultural division between the north and the south. The north is predominantly Muslim, while the southern peoples adhere to Christianity and traditional African religions. Holidays in Cameroon include those associated with the majority Christian population, including Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas. The Feast of the Assumption is observed by the Roman Catholic community on August 15. Holidays celebrated by the Muslim community, including Ramadan, are governed by the lunar calendar.
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How has the population of Yaoundé changed over time?
Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, was founded in 1888 during the German protectorate period. In 1922, it was declared the capital of French Cameroun. From 1940 to 1946, Douala replaced it as the capital, but Yaoundé regained its status after independence in 1960.
As an administrative, commercial, and communications hub, the city has grown. Yaoundé's population in 2005 was 1,817,524, which decreased to an estimated 1,801,000 in 2010.
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What are some important cultural traditions among the people of Yaoundé?
The Yaunde people, a Bantu-speaking group residing in south-central Cameroon, share cultural traits and history with the Beti. The Yaunde raise staple crops such as cassava and corn, along with diverse vegetables and gathered products. Goats and pigs are reserved for ritual feasts rather than daily consumption.
Like the Bulu and Fang, the Yaunde had a loose political structure before European influence, maintaining an egalitarian society. Their society consists of genealogically related clans through patrilineal descent, lineage groups, and tribes. The national library, museum, and archives are located in Yaoundé.
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Yaunde, a Bantu-speaking people of the hilly area of south-central Cameroon who live in and around the capital city of Yaoundé. The Yaunde and a closely related people, the Eton, comprise the two main subgroups of the Beti, which in turn constitute one of the three major subdivisions of the cluster of peoples in southern Cameroon, mainland Equatorial Guinea, and northern Gabon known as the Fang (q.v.). The other two main subdivisions are those of the Bulu and of the Fang proper, who live mostly in Gabon and in Equatorial Guinea.
Yaunde is a dialect of the Yaunde-Fang group of Bantu languages; people may speak a maternal dialect, such as Eton, but they learn to read and write in Yaunde. Yaunde is also used for commerce and politics in rural areas inhabited by other groups and is especially useful in Yaoundé city, where immigrants from throughout Cameroon and neighbouring countries employ it as a lingua franca. Vocabulary from these other dialects, other nearby languages, and English and French is assimilated into everyday speech.
The Yaunde share a common culture and history with other Beti, and it is often difficult to distinguish them from their neighbours. Beti are said to be the last of several great waves of Fang immigrants who came from somewhere to the northeast perhaps because of pressure from the jihad of the Fulani under Usman dan Fodio. While the Fang proper drove into what is now Gabon, and the Bulu subgroup swept toward the sea, the Beti followed these powerful precursors and occupied lands adjacent to theirs.
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The Yaunde live in a region of equatorial forest. They raise staple crops of cassava and corn (maize), which are supplemented with a wide variety of vegetable leaves, palm oil, wild mushrooms, insects, and other gathered products. Yams, plantains, and peanuts (groundnuts) are also important to the Yaunde economy, the latter so much so that the name Éwondo is derived from peanut. Goats and pigs are kept but are used more for ritual feasts than everyday eating. Cacao is an important cash crop, but its cultivation is not as profitable as it is in other areas, because poorer soil and higher population density reduce the land area available for plantations. Rural Yaunde, as a consequence, are less wealthy than some of their neighbours. In general, Yaunde are more often labourers in urban centres than are individuals from the richer, cacao-producing regions.
The Yaunde, like the Bulu and other Fang, had only a loose political organization prior to European conquest, and their society remains essentially egalitarian. The essential units of Yaunde society are genealogically related clans determined through patrilineal descent; lineage groups within those clans; and the larger entities of the tribes, which are loosely cohering clusters of clans. The age groups into which Yaunde society was also divided have decreased in importance in recent years. Most rural Yaunde continue to live in small clusters of adjacent homesteads (with populations rarely exceeding 300 or 400 people) rather than in compact villages.