The Far North Region, also known as the Extreme North Region (; ) 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.
Geography Land 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.Neba 22.
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.Gwanfogbe and Melingui 21.
Drainage A number of rivers criss-cross the territory, many of them rising in the Mandara Mountains. The Mayo Kébi, Mayo Louti, and their tributaries form part of the Niger River basin. The Louti rises in the Mandaras, passing and swelling the Kébi in the North Province. The Kébi rises south of Yagoua and flows into western Chad.
The province's other rivers are part of the Chad Basin. The El Beid River flows northwest from the Kalamalou National Park and forms the northernmost stretch of the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. The Mayo Tsanaga rises south and west of the El Béïd's source and moves eastward at the north of the Diamaré Depression. The Logone rises west of the territory and flows north to form most of the border between the Far North and Chad. It eventually meets the Chari, which also rises in Chad. The Chari forms the remainder of the Chad-Cameroon border beginning at Kousséri before emptying into Lake Chad.
These rivers all follow a tropical regime, fluctuating between high water in the wet season (May to September) and low water in the dry season (October to April). At the height of the dry season, many of the waterways disappear completely or else diminish to a mere trickle. The Logone all but disappears during the wet season.Gwanfogbe and Melingui 26. The low elevation of the Chad basin (200–500 metres) causes flooding during the wet season; the Logone is especially prone to this, and much of its basin is marshlike conditions along its length during the wet season. Even during the dry season, some of these remain, called Yaéré in Fulfulde.Gwanfogbe and Melingui 29. The El Beïd and Serbewel Rivers drain these marshy areas into Lake Chad. The Diamaré Plain, part of the Chad plain, occupies the southeastern third of the province. It is not as prone to flooding due to a number of inselbergs through the area.
The province is also home to a number of lakes. The most prominent of these is Lake Chad. The lake was formed by a tectonic depression that has since been filled in by the area's rivers. However, over time, these rivers have deposited sediment as well, making Lake Chad nearly disappear in the past. This is a cause of concern, since when the Logone and Mayo Kébi flood, they meet. This diverts water from the Logone to the Kébi, and ultimately the Bénoué. This has caused some scientists to predict that in the future, river capture will occur, depriving Lake Chad of one of its major sources.Neba 46. Much of Lake Chad evaporates each year and must be replaced by rains from the wet season.
Other lakes include Lake Fianga, which exists only during the seasonal flooding of the Logone; during the dry season, it is at best a swamp. Maga Lake, south of the town of the same name at the eastern border, is an artificial body of 6,000 square metres. It is known for its fishing.
Relief 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.Gwanfogbe and Melingui 11. 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.Gwanfogbe and Melingui 8–9. 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.
Climate 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 ().Gwanfogbe and Melingui 14.
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.
Plant and animal life
The whole territory of the Far North Province was once home to most of Africa's iconic species: antelope, jackals, cheetahs, crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, heron, hippopotami, hyenas, leopards, lions, monkeys, warthogs, and others. Centuries of human habitation have today forced these species back to a few protected areas and national parks. Foremost among these is Waza National Park (Parc National du Waza), which occupies 1700 km2. The park was created in 1968, and has since grown to be one of Cameroon's largest tourist attractions.Hudgens and Trillo 1132. 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.Chrispin 151. 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.Chrispin 151–2.
The status of the province's wildlife remains uncertain, as corruption has allowed even these protected areas to be used by poachers.Hudgens and Trillo 1122. Some villages have embraced the animals, however. The town of Logone-Birni, for example, is called "the village of the crocodiles".Chrispin 58.
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.Neba 35.
Demographics
Settlement patterns 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.Chrispin 105. 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.Law. Most of this population lives in the corridor between Maroua, which has 214,000 inhabitants,Fitzpatrick 261. 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.Neba 109. Since independence, much of the Far North's population has been migrating to large population centres, particularly Maroua and Garoua.Neba 107.
People
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.Fanso 25.
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.