Cameroon Through History: Who Ruled Its Lands
The land of today's Cameroon appears on 39 historical border maps from 500 BC to today. Over that time it was held, in whole or in part, by 8 different states, among them Cameroon, French Cameroons, Kamerun, Southern Cameroon, Fulani Empire.
CameroonExplore the history of Cameroon in the interactive map
Compare 1000 with today · Cameroon as a state on the map
Who ruled the land of Cameroon, map by map
Share of sample points inside today's borders held by each state on each map. Areas with no organised state on the map are left out.
| Map | Main states on this land |
|---|---|
| 1815 | Fulani Empire 13% |
| 1880 | Calabar 6% · Spanish Guinea 6% · Sokoto Caliphate 2% |
| 1900 | Calabar 6% · Spanish Guinea 6% · Sokoto Caliphate 2% |
| 1914 | Kamerun 100% |
| 1920 | French Cameroons 100% |
| 1930 | French Cameroons 100% |
| 1938 | French Cameroons 100% |
| 1945 | Cameroon 81% · Southern Cameroon 19% |
| 1960 | Cameroon 100% |
| 1994 | Cameroon 100% |
| 2010 | Cameroon 100% |
Questions
Which empires and states ruled the territory of Cameroon?
On the border maps from 500 BC to today, the largest shares of the territory of modern Cameroon belonged to Cameroon, French Cameroons, Kamerun, Southern Cameroon, Fulani Empire, Calabar, along with 2 other states.
What was Cameroon part of in 1900?
On the border map for 1900, most of the territory of today's Cameroon lay within Calabar.
Further reading
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.