Douala << du AH lah >> is the chief seaport of Cameroon. About 3 million people live in the city. It lies along the Wouri River, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from where the river flows into the Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
Busy docks line parts of Douala’s waterfront. A bridge that is 5,910 feet (1,800 meters) long spans the Wouri River in Douala. The city has open squares, a cathedral, and a museum. Shipping and related businesses are the chief economic activities. Other activities in the Douala area include banking, cacao processing, and the production of beer, cement, fertilizer, leather, matches, shoes, tobacco goods, and textiles.
The city is named for the Douala people, who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. The Douala established a number of villages there. The Germans, who ruled the area from 1884 to 1916, built the city on the site of the villages. Douala was enlarged by the French, who governed it from 1919 to 1960.
