Douala

Douala is the largest city in Cameroon, and capital of the Littoral Province. It is the commercial capital of the country and home to its largest portand its major international airport. The Bonaberi Bridge over the Wouri River divides the city into two parts. The population of Douala as of 1991 was about 1.6 million and is currently likely to be over two million. Douala is a transportation center, handling most of the country's exports of oil, cocoa, and coffee, as well as transit trade from Chad.

The locality, which had first been visited by the Portuguese in 1472, became the site of a city founded in about 1650 by immigrants from the interior who spoke the Douala language, developing as a center of the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century. Coming under German rule in 1884, it was given the name Kamarunstadt ("Camaroon city") and became the capital of German West Africa. Renamed Douala in 1907, it became part of the French Cameroons in 1919 and was the capital of Cameroon in 1940–46.

The city is also home to Eko Market, the largest in the nation. The most important districts of Douala are Bonanjo (the commercial and administrative centre) and Akwa (known for its nightlife). Douala Airport is the busiest in Cameroon, while railway lines run to Yaoundé, Kumba and Nkongsamba. The city has a hot and humid climate. Douala is home to some of Cameroon's best and most diverse choice of restaurants, with excellent French-style patisseries and coffee houses along its main thoroughfare. There are also numerous bars and bistros along the city's waterfront, commanding views of the Gulf of Guinea and nearby mangrove swamps. Many of the waterfront restaurants are frequented by Douala's large expatriate population (mainly French and Americans), who work for the most part in the petroleum industry.