Kumba

:"For the roller coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa, see Kumba (roller coaster). For the fish genus, see Kumba (genus). For the South African iron ore company, see Kumba Resources".Infobox Settlement
official_name = Kumba
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subdivision_type = Country
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subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = Southwest Province
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population_total =125,000 (est)
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Kumba is a city in Southwest Province, western Cameroon. It has a population of 125,600 (2001 estimate). The N8 and N16 highways meet at Kumba.

History

Economy

The city is a trade centre for cacaos and oil palms, and has a timber industry as well. Kumba is a local road junction, making it one of the main commercial towns in anglophone Cameroon.In recent years, trading in kumba has attracted the interest of many foreigners mostly Nigerians who now control a greater percentage of the kumba main Market

Geography

Although it is the largest city in the southwest province of Cameroon, it is not the provincial capital; which is located in Buea, the former German colonial capital. Because of its size, most major roads to the provincial interior radiate from Kumba, running to the Nigerian border at Mamfe, the Korup National Park at Mundemba, and Mt. Koupe to the east. The premier geographical attraction in Kumba is Barombi Mbo, a large crater lake located two kilometers northwest of Kumba's city center.

Transport

Kumba is the terminus of a branch railway of the western system of Camrail.

Government

Local politics have been divided between a government-appointed mayor (called the Government Delegate) and a local chief, Mukete. There has been something of a power struggle between the two in recent years, which has occasionally spilled over into local violence.

People

Most people speak some French, some English or Pidgin, and at least one of a variety of indigenous languages including Bafaw or Bakossi.

The indigenes of Kumba are the Bafaw, an ethnic group who speak the Bafaw language,a language similar to Duala, Mboh and Bakossi, and certainly Bantoid. Due to its cosmopolitan nature, the Bafaw now form just a percentage of the general population of the city, and have in most part lost many aspects of their culture, except for their language which is spoken mostly by the elderly and some of the younger generation.

Kumba is the birthplace of French international rugby union great Serge Betsen.

References