Naming

 

The name Cameroon is derived from the term used for the Wouri River by Portuguese explorers. Reaching the country’s littoral near the port of Douala around 1472, those explorers named the Wouri River Rio dos Camaroes (“River of Prawns”) after the variety of crayfish they found there. This name later was applied to the coastal area between Mount Cameroon and Rio Muni.