Garoua

Garoua
Coordinates	9 ° 18 ' N , 13 ° 24' E Coordinates: 9 ° 18 ' N , 13 ° 24' E
Basic data
Country	Cameroon
region	North
district	Bénoué
ISO 3166-2	CM-NO
height	195 m
Residents	287,586

Garoua (German: Garua ) is the third largest city in Cameroon with 287,586 inhabitants .

The capital of the northern province and the Bénoué district on the banks of the Benue is a center of inland shipping and a transhipment point for trade in the agricultural north of Cameroon. Garoua also has an international airport and textile industry.

Since 1947 the city has also been the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Garoua .

history

Garoua emerged in the first half of the 19th century as a fortified settlement of the Fulbe conquerors against the attacks of the autochthonous Bata and Fali societies originally located in the Benuë valley . As such it was the seat of a Fulbe Subamirate dependent on the Amir Fombina in Yoola under the reign of an Ardo . However, the residence was relocated under Ardo Bakari Mayha (1851–1863) to the healthier and more strategically located Laynde (Leinde) and did not return to Garoua until 1870. Laynde remained a secondary residence and was the more important town at the beginning of the German occupation of the country.

The first more intensive relationships with a European power existed in the form of a trading post of the British Royal Niger Company , which maintained a Hulk on the Benuë near Garoua from 1889 to 1892 . In October 1893, the German explorers Edgar von Uechtritz and Siegfried Passarge visited the city.

Fixed camp Garua, 1902

German troops in a defensive position near Garua, 1914/15

In 1901, the ruling Ardo Mal Dayfourou (1897-1901) was defeated by the German protection force in the fighting between the German colonial power and Amir Fombina, who had been dethroned by the British shortly before, and was replaced by a cooperative successor (Ardo Buuba Dewa, 1901-1921). Due to its strategically important location at the end of the navigability of the Benuë, Garua was determined to be the administrative seat of the Adamaua residence and the location of a company of the Schutztruppe - the Seventh Company (1914). Under German rule a massive upswing of the city began, which soon overtook other historical central places of the Fulbe like Maroua , Ray, Ngaundere , Banyo or Tibati and developed into the regional center for the northern part of Cameroon.

By February 1902, the construction of a military station was completed, which was further expanded in later years. In 1905/06 an up to eight meter high fortification wall flanked by two towers with loopholes was built. Reduits and a circumferential trench completed the military installations. The core area of the station area finally comprised an area of approx. 2000 m². During World War I Garua was the target of British and French attacks from neighboring colonies several times in 1914 and 1915. During the war, in addition to the seventh, parts of the eighth and twelfth companies were brought together here. In defense Garuas the German protection force and African workers elaborate built fortified redoubts with pitfalls in the foreland. Only after several skirmishes and persistent sieges could Garua be captured by the Entente in the second year of the war .

Climate table

Garoua

Climate diagram

J	F.	M.	A.	M.	J	J	A.	S.	O	N	D.
0 34 18th	0 37 21st	2 40 25th	44 40 26th	108 37 25th	135 33 23	205 31 22nd	248 31 22nd	190 32 22nd	63 34 22nd	2 36 19th	0 35 17th
Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
Source: wetterkontor.de

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Garoua

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	34.4	37.3	39.8	39.5	36.5	33.2	31.1	30.7	31.5	34.2	36.0	34.8	O	34.9
Min. Temperature (° C)	17.5	20.5	24.7	26.4	24.9	23.2	22.2	22.0	21.9	22.2	19.2	17.3	O	21.8

Precipitation ( mm )	0	0	2	44	108	135	205	248	190	63	2	0	Σ	997

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	8.9	9.0	8.4	8.2	8.3	7.5	6.3	6.0	6.8	8.5	9.3	9.3	O	8th

Rainy days ( d )	0	0	0	4th	7th	9	12	15th	13	4th	0	0	Σ	64

Humidity ( % )	30th	27	29	49	62	75	78	81	80	72	50	37	O	56

Source: wetterkontor.de

Sports

Garoua is home to the very successful Cotonsport Garoua football club, which has won the top Cameroonian football league several times .

sons and daughters of the town

Ahmadou Ahidjo (1924-1989), first President of Cameroon (1960-1982)
Eldridge Mohammadou (1934-2004), scientist, historian
Issa Hayatou (* 1946), FIFA official
Nicolas Alnoudji (* 1979), football player
Annabel Laure Ali (* 1985), wrestler
Henri Bienvenu (* 1988), football player
Jacques Zoua (born 1991), football player
Edgar Salli (* 1992), soccer player

Individual evidence

↑ Hans Surén : Battle for Cameroon - Garua. Scherl, Berlin 1934.
^ Journal des Africanistes , accessed March 19, 2018