History

President Paul Biya wins a seventh term in a vote marked by low turnout and voter intimidation.

Two soldiers are killed in clashes with separatists in Anglophone areas, the latest of several deadly incidents in an insurgency related to the campaign for greater autonomy.

Unrest as Anglophone minority in north- and south-west regions continue protest action against perceived marginalisation.

Violent protests against the imposition of French in Anglophone parts of Cameroon.

Chad pledges military support for Cameroon against Boko Haram.

Twenty-seven hostages kidnapped by Boko Haram in Cameroon earlier in the year, including 10 Chinese workers and the wife of the deputy prime minister, are freed.

Cameroon deploys about 1,000 troops to the border with northern Nigeria to counter a rising threat of incursions and kidnappings by Boko Haram.

A French priest kidnapped by Islamist gunmen in the far north of Cameroon in November is freed.

A French family of seven is kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram near the Nigerian border, and released two months later.

Paul Biya wins a landslide re-election as president, officially taking 78% of the vote. His opponents reject the result, alleging widespread fraud.

Cameroon secures Chinese loan to build deep sea port at Kribi, terminal of an oil pipeline from Chad.

Parliament amends the constitution to allow President Biya to run for a third term in 2011. The opposition condemns the move as a "constitutional coup".

A nationwide transport strike in protest at fuel costs turns into a series of anti-government demonstrations in the capital, Yaounde, leaving at least 17 dead.

Suspected Nigerian militants kill 21 Cameroon soldiers in Bakassi Peninsula.

Nigeria agrees to withdraw its troops from the Bakassi Peninsula to settle its long-running border dispute with Cameroon.

The Paris Club of major lending nations agrees to cancel almost all of Cameroon's $3.5bn debt.

Ruling by International Court of Justice gives sovereignty of oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon. But Nigeria, whose forces occupy the area, rejects the ruling.

Growing tension between government and separatists lobbying on behalf of country's five million English-speakers. Unrest results in three deaths, several arrests.

Fears for Cameroon's environment increase, with Global Forest Watch reporting that 80% of the country's indigenous forests have been allocated for logging.

Catholic Church in Cameroon denounces corruption, saying it has permeated all levels of society.

World Bank approves funding for oil and pipeline project in Cameroon and Chad, despite strong criticism from environmental and human rights activists.

Cameroon classed as the most corrupt country in the world by business monitor Transparency International.

President Biya re-elected in ballot boycotted by main opposition parties.

President Biya's party, the Cameroon National Democratic Movement (formerly the National Cameroonian Union), wins a majority of seats in parliament amid allegations of irregularities.

Cameroon and Nigeria agree to UN mediation over Bakassa Peninsula.

Further Cameroonian-Nigerian border clashes.

Fighting between Cameroon and Nigeria flares up over disputed oil-rich Bakassa Peninsula.

Paul Biya re-elected in Cameroon's first multi-party presidential election

Discharge of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos kills about 1,700 people.

President Biya elected to his first full term as president, changes the country's name to the Republic of Cameroon.

Mr Ahidjo goes into exile after President Biya accuses him of masterminding a coup.

Prime Minister Paul Biya succeeds President Ahidjo, who resigns.

Cameroon becomes a unitary state following a national referendum and is renamed the United Republic of Cameroon.

National Cameroonian Union formed out of six major parties and becomes the sole legal party.

Britain's Cameroons colonies divide between Cameroon and Nigeria after a referendum. A large-scale insurrection mars the country's first years of independence until it is put down in 1963 with the help of French forces.

French Cameroon granted independence and becomes the Republic of Cameroon with Ahidjo as president.

London Declaration divides Cameroon into French (80%) and British administrative zones (20%). The British zone is divided into Northern and Southern Cameroons.

British and French troops force Germans to leave Cameroon.

Under the Treaty of Fez - signed to settle the Agadir Crisis Franco-German conflict over Morocco - France cedes territories to the east and south to Cameroon.

Cameroon becomes the German colony of Kamerun.

Dutch take over slave trade from Portuguese.

Portuguese set up sugar plantations and begin slave trade in Cameroon.