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Douala (German: Duala) is the largest city in Cameroon, the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region and the richest city in the whole CEMAC region of six countries. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country. Consequently, it handles most of the country's major exports, such as oil, cocoa and coffee, timber, metals and fruits. As of 2010 the city and its surrounding area had an estimated population that surpassed 3,000,000 inhabitants. The city sits on the estuary of the Wouri River and its climate is tropical. Settlements had already existed on present-day Douala prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, British, and Germans; however, it was during the German colonization that the city began to develop rapidly as a commercial and political hub of the German colonial administration. During World War I a bitter battle was fought for control of Douala. The City surrendered to British and French forces on September 27, 1914. A joint Anglo-French condominium governed the city until a comprehensive agreement ceded it (and much of Cameroon) to the French. After the independence of Cameroon, Douala has grown rapidly. Local industries, trade, and other opportunities have attracted an unprecedented influx of migrants, especially from the western region of Cameroon. People from other countries in the region have also permanently settled in the city; they include Nigerians, Chadians, and Malians. In recent times city authorities have been overwhelmed by rapidly increasing population; services are stretched and there is an urgent need to enhance the city's ability to cope with the rapid growth. Douala is the 27th most expensive city in the world and the most expensive in Africa, overtaking Lagos. It is ranked 27th for 2009, up from 34th in 2008. In 2007 it was ranked 24th in the world and 1st in Africa. Douala is the first city in tropical Africa to have a piped natural gas supply (presently serving only industrial customers). ==History== (詳細はEuropeans to visit the area were the Portuguese in about 1472. At the time the estuary of the Wouri River is known as the ''Rio dos Camarõns''. By 1650, it had become the site of a town formed by immigrants from the interior who spoke the Douala language. And during the 18th century it was center of the transatlantic slave trade. In 1826〔Notes from Richard Mother Jackson published in R.-P. Bouchaud 1948 and 1952.〕 Douala appears to be made of four different villages located in four specific locations: the village of Deido (Dido), of Akwa, of Njo and Hickory-town (today Bonaberi located on the other side of the Wouri river). Between 1884 and 1895 the city was under the German protectorate. The colonial politics focused on commerce and some explorations of the unoccupied territories. In 1885, Alfred Saker organized the first mission of the British Baptist Church and in the same year the city known as Kamerun was renamed Douala and became the capital of the protectorate until 1902, when the capital was moved to Buéa. In 1907 the Ministry of Colonies was established and Douala had 23,000 citizens.〔Diwouta-Kotto, Danièle (2010). ''Suites architecturales: Kinshasa, Douala, Dakar''. Épinal: Association VAA, p. 42.〕 After World War I, in 1919, the German colonial territories became French and British colonies. France received a mandate to administer Douala; a treaty is signed with the local chiefs. From 1940 to 1946, it was the capital of Cameroon. In 1955 the city had over 100,000 inhabitants.〔 In 1960 Cameroon became independent and it becomes a federal republic, with its capital in Yaoundé. Douala comes the major economic city. In 1972 the federal republic became a unified State. Douala then had a population of around 500,000 inhabitants.〔 In the 1980s, in Cameroon the struggle for liberalization and multi-partitism grew; between May and December 1991, Douala was at the center of the civil disobedience campaign called the ghost town operation (''ville morte'') during which economic activities shut down to make the country ungovernable and to force the government to allow multi-partitiesm and freedom of expression.〔Edmond Kamguia Koumchou (2003) ''Le Journalisme du Carton Rouge''. Douala: Editions l'Etincelle d'Afrique.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Douala」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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