Cameroon and Yaoundé in other languages: names, flag and 10 regions
Cameroon is Cameroun in French and Cameroon in English, its two official languages; the full name is République du Cameroun, Republic of Cameroon, with the ISO codes CM, CMR and 120. This page lists the name in 170 languages and varieties, Yaoundé in 59, and the ten regions in French and English.
Official languagesFrench (français); English
Checked
- alpha-2
- CM
- alpha-3
- CMR
- numeric
- 120
République du Cameroun
Republic of Cameroon
- English
- CameroonRepublic of Cameroon
- Capital
- YaoundéYaoundeYaoundé · Yaounde
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026. Flag after the Wikimedia Commons drawing.
Cameroon in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Manx | eng / glv | Cameroon | same as written |
| Czech, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Hungarian, Igbo, Indonesian, Javanese, Lingala, Malagasy, Norwegian, Novial, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, Northern Sami, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Wolof, Zazaki | ces / dsb / est / eus / fao / fin / fkv / hrv / hsb / hun / ibo / ind / jav / lin / mlt / nor / nov / pol / slk / slv / sme / stq / swa / swe / tgl / tur / wol / zza | Kamerun | same as written |
| Catalan, Corsican, Friulian, Interlingua, Italian, Ladin, Nahuatl, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian | cat / cos / fur / ina / ita / lld / nah / roh / ron / rup | Camerun | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Slovio, Turkmen | aze / crh / gag / kaa / slo / tuk | Kamerun / Камерун | Kamerun |
| Aragonese, Asturian, Galician, Spanish | arg / ast / glg / spa | Camerún | same as written |
| Kinyarwanda, Rundi, Samoan, Albanian | kin / run / smo / sqi | Kameruni | same as written |
| Afrikaans, West Frisian, Dutch | afr / fry / nld | Kameroen | same as written |
| Danish, French, Jersey Norman French | dan / fra / jnf | Cameroun | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Kamerun | same as written |
| Breton, Cornish | bre / cor | Kameroun | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal, Occitan | frp / oci | Cameron | same as written |
| Sicilian, Sardinian | scn / srd | Camerùn | same as written |
| Bambara | bam | Kamirunu | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Kamerun / Камерун / قامەرۆن | Kamerun |
| Welsh | cym | Camerwn | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Kameruno | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Camarun | same as written |
| Irish | gle | An Camarúin, Camarún | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Kamewoun | same as written |
| Hausa | hau | Kamaru | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Kamerún | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Kamerûn, Kamrûn | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Camarunia, Camerunia, Cameronia | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Kamerūna | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Kamerūnas | same as written |
| Malagasy | mlg | Kamerona | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Camerun / Камерун | Camerun |
| Malay | msa | Kamerun / كاميرون | Kamerun |
| Norman French | nrm | Cameroune | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | Camarões | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Kamirun | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Kameruno / कामेरुनो | Kameruno |
| Sango | sag | Yaundu, Yaunde | same as written |
| Samogitian | smg | Kamerūns | same as written |
| Somali | som | Kameruun, Kamaruun, Kamaroon, Kaameruun | same as written |
| Silesian | szl | Kamerůn | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Kamaroins | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Kamerun / Камерун / كەمېرۇن | Kamerun |
| Vietnamese | vie | Ca-mơ-run | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Kamerän | same as written |
| Võro | vor | Kamõrun | same as written |
| Walloon | wln | Camrone | same as written |
| Zulu | zul | iKamerunu | same as written |
| Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Chuvash, Kabardian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Macedonian, Mongolian, Ossetian, Rusyn, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abk / abq / alt / ava / bul / chv / kbd / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mkd / mon / oss / rue / rus / sah / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Камерун | Kamerun |
| Bashkir, Chechen, Serbian | bak / che / srp | Камерун / Kamerun | Kamerun |
| Belarusian | bel | Камерун / Kamierun, Камэрун / Kamerun | Kamierun, Kamerun |
| Kazakh | kaz | Камерун / كامەرۋن / Kamerwn | Kamerwn |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Камерун / كامەرۇن / Kamerun | Kamerun |
| Kurdish (Caucasus, Cyrillic) | kmr | Камерун / Kamêrûn | Kamêrûn |
| Tatar | tat | Камерун / Kamerun / كامېرۇن | Kamerun |
| Tajik | tgk | Камерун / کمیرون / Kamerun | Kamerun |
| Arabic | ara | الكاميرون, الكامرون, الكميرون | al-Kāmīrūn, al-Kāmirūn, al-Kamīrūn |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | کامئرون / Kamerun | Kamerun |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | کامێرون / Kamêrun | Kamêrun |
| Persian | fas | کامرون / Kâmrun / Kâmerun | Kâmrun / Kâmerun |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | کیمیرون | Kæmērūn |
| Dari | prs | کامرون | Kāmrūn |
| Pashto | pus | کامرون, کامېرون, کمېرون | Kāmrūn, Kāmerūn, Kamerūn |
| Uyghur | uig | كامېرۇن / Kamérun / Камерун | Kamérun |
| Urdu | urd | کیمرون, کیمیرون | Kæmarūn, Kēmērūn |
| Dhivehi | div | ކެމެރޫން | Kemerūn |
| Hebrew | heb | קמרון, קאמרון | Qamerūn, Qāmerūn |
| Ladino | lad | קאמירון / Kamerun | Kamerun |
| Yiddish | yid | קאַמערון | Kamerun |
| Berber (Tifinagh) | ber | ⴽⴰⵎⵉⵔⵓⵏ / Kamirun | Kamirun |
| Kabyle | kab | ⴽⴰⵎⵉⵔⵓⵏ / Kamirun | Kamirun |
| Amharic | amh | ካሜሩን | Kamerun |
| Greek | ell | Καμερούν | Kameroýn |
| Armenian | hye | Կամերուն | Kameroun |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | კამერუნი | Kameruni |
| Laz | lzz | კამერუნი / K’ameruni | K’ameruni |
| Hindi | hin | केमेरून, कामेरान, कामरून, कैमरून | Kemerūn, Kāmerān, Kāmarūn, Kæmarūn |
| Bengali | ben | ক্যামেরুন | Kæmerun |
| Gujarati | guj | કેમેરૂન | Kemerūn |
| Oriya | ori | କ୍ଯାମେରୂନ | Kæmerūn |
| Punjabi | pan | ਕੈਮਰੂਨ | Kæmarūn |
| Sinhala | sin | කැමරූන් | Kæmarūn |
| Kannada | kan | ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರೂನ್, ಕ್ಯಾಮರೂನ್ | Kæmerūn, Kæmarūn |
| Malayalam | mal | കാമറൂൺ | Kāmaṟūṇ |
| Tamil | tam | கமரூன், கேமரூன் | Kamarūṉ, Kēmarūṉ |
| Telugu | tel | కామెరూన్ | Kāmerūn |
| Chinese | zho | 喀麥隆/喀麦隆 | Kāmàilōng |
| Japanese | jpn | カメルーン | Kamerūn |
| Korean | kor | 카메룬 | Kamerun |
| Tibetan | bod | ཁ་མེ་རུང།, ཁམ་མུ་རོན། | Kʰa.me.ruṅ, Kʰam.mu.ron |
| Burmese | mya | ကင်မာရွန်း | Kĩmaẏũ |
| Thai | tha | แคเมอรูน | Kʰǣmə̄rūn |
| Lao | lao | ກາເມຣູນ | Kāmēlūn |
| Khmer | khm | កាមេរ៉ូន, កាមេរូន | Kāmerūn, Kāmerūn |
Arabic writes the name with the article, الكاميرون, and gives three spellings.
From Rio dos Camarões to Cameroon
The name began as a description of a river. Portuguese sailors reached the coast in 1472 and called the estuary of the Wouri Rio dos Camarões, river of shrimps, after the ghost shrimp they found there in great numbers. Portuguese still calls the country Camarões, and the other European forms grew out of it: Cameroon in English, Cameroun in French, Camerún in Spanish.
Germany annexed the coast in 1884 and called its colony Kamerun, the same spelling most Germanic, Slavic and Uralic languages in the table use today. After the First World War the territory was split into French Cameroun and the British Cameroons. The French part became independent on 1 January 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon; the southern British part joined it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. A referendum in 1972 ended the federation and produced the United Republic, and in 1984 the country went back to Republic of Cameroon.
In East Asian scripts the name is カメルーン in Japanese, 카메룬 in Korean and 喀麦隆, Kāmàilōng, in Chinese.
Yaoundé in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | eng | Yaounde | same as written |
| Aragonese, Asturian, Spanish | arg / ast / spa | Yaundé | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Jaunde, Yaoundé | same as written |
| Latvian, Polish | lav / pol | Jaunde | same as written |
| Lithuanian, Samogitian | lit / smg | Jaundė | same as written |
| Portuguese, Tetum | por / tet | Iaundé | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Yaunde / Јаунде | Yaunde |
| Bosnian | bos | Jaunde / Јаунде / ياۆندە | Jaunde |
| Esperanto | epo | Jaundeo | same as written |
| French | fra | Yaoundé | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Yaoundé | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Jánde | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Yaûnde | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Yaoundé / Яунде | Yaoundé |
| Malay | msa | Yaounde / ياوندي | Yaounde |
| Sango | sag | Yaundu, Yaunde | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Ýaunde / Яунде | Ýaunde |
| Uzbek | uzb | Yaunde / Яунде / يەئۇندې | Yaunde |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian, Ukrainian | bul / mon / rus / ukr | Яунде | Jaunde |
| Bashkir | bak | Яунде / Yaunde | Yaunde |
| Belarusian | bel | Яунде / Jaundie, Яундэ / Jaunde | Jaundie, Jaunde |
| Kazakh | kaz | Яунде / ياۋندە / Yawnde | Yawnde |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Яунде / ياۇندە / Yaunde | Yaunde |
| Serbian | srp | Јаунде / Jaunde | Jaunde |
| Tatar | tat | Яунде / Yawnde / ياۇندې | Yawnde |
| Tajik | tgk | Яунде / یئونده / Jaunde | Jaunde |
| Arabic | ara | ياوندي, ياووندي | Yāwundī, Yāwūndī |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | یاوندئ / Yaunde | Yaunde |
| Persian | fas | یائونده / Yâunde | Yâunde |
| Pashto | pus | ياوندې | Yāwnde |
| Uyghur | uig | ياۋندې / Yawndé / Яунде | Yawndé |
| Urdu | urd | یاؤندے | Yāʾunde |
| Hebrew | heb | יאונדה | Yaʾūndeh |
| Yiddish | yid | יאַונדע | Yaunde |
| Amharic | amh | ያውንዴ, ያዉንዴ | Yawnde, Yawunde |
| Greek | ell | Γιαουντέ | Giaoynté |
| Armenian | hye | Յաունդե | Yaounde |
| Georgian | kat | იაუნდე | Iaunde |
| Hindi | hin | याउन्डे | Yāunḍe |
| Bengali | ben | ইয়াউন্ডি, য়াউন্ডে | Iyāunḍi, Yāunḍe |
| Kannada | kan | ಯಓಂಡೆ, ಯೋಂದೇ | Yaōṃḍe, Yōṃdē |
| Malayalam | mal | യാവുന്ഡേ | Yāvunḍē |
| Tamil | tam | யாவுண்டே | Yāvuṇṭē |
| Telugu | tel | యావుందే | Yāvuṃdē |
| Chinese | zho | 雅溫得/雅温得 | Yāwēndé |
| Japanese | jpn | ヤウンデ | Yaunde |
| Korean | kor | 야운데 | Yaunde |
| Thai | tha | ยาอุนเด | Yā'undē |
| Khmer | khm | យ័ន្តដេ | Yŏntde |
German keeps Jaunde, the spelling of the colonial period, beside the French Yaoundé; Latvian and Polish write Jaunde as well.
The 10 regions of Cameroon with ISO 3166-2 codes
Cameroon has ten regions, each with a French and an English name, since the decree of 12 November 2008 that turned the provinces into regions. The English column gives the short name ISO 3166-2:CM publishes; the centre is the regional capital in both languages.
| ISO 3166-2 | French | English | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regions régions10 | |||||
| CM-AD | Région de l’Adamaoua | Adamawa Region | Adamaoua | NgaoundéréNgaoundere | |
| CM-CE | Région du Centre | Centre Region | Centre | YaoundéYaounde | |
| CM-ES | Région de l’Est | East Region | East | BertouaBertoua | |
| CM-EN | Région de l’Extrême-Nord | Extreme North Region | Far North | MarouaMaroua | |
| CM-LT | Région du Littoral | Littoral Region | Littoral | DoualaDouala | |
| CM-NO | Région du Nord | North Region | North | GarouaGaroua | |
| CM-NW | Région du Nord-Ouest | Northwest Region | North-West | BamendaBamenda | |
| CM-OU | Région de l’Ouest | West Region | West | BafoussamBafoussam | |
| CM-SU | Région du Sud | South Region | South | EbolowaEbolowa | |
| CM-SW | Région du Sud-Ouest | Southwest Region | South-West | BuéaBuea | |
Codes and ISO names: ISO 3166-2:CM on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, as tabulated in Wikipedia's ISO 3166-2:CM, checked 28 October 2026. Regional names and capitals in French and English: the 2016 edition of this list.
Region names in two official languages
French and English are both official, and the regional names on this page come in pairs. Most are simple translations, Région du Nord and North Region, but the north-western pair differs in form: French Nord-Ouest and Sud-Ouest, English Northwest and Southwest, which ISO hyphenates as North-West and South-West. The far northern region is Extrême-Nord in French; ISO's English name for it is Far North.
The two English-named regions in the west, Northwest and Southwest, were part of the British Cameroons and remain its predominantly English-speaking part. Their capitals, Bamenda and Buea, carry the same spelling in both languages, except that French writes Buéa with an accent.
Questions about the names and regions of Cameroon
Where does the name Cameroon come from?
From Portuguese Rio dos Camarões, river of shrimps, the name sailors gave the Wouri estuary in 1472.
What are the ISO codes of Cameroon?
CM (alpha-2), CMR (alpha-3) and 120 (numeric). The regions run from CM-AD Adamaoua to CM-SW South-West.
How many regions does Cameroon have?
Ten. They were called provinces until a decree of 12 November 2008 renamed them regions.