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Cameroon · Mountains

Highest Mountains in Cameroon

Mont Cameroun is the highest of the 4 mountains recorded for Cameroon, at 4,040 m, ahead of Mount Oku at 3,011 m. The full list follows.

How this list is built: Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries. It covers the mountains indexed in YearMaps, drawn from open geospatial data, and is not an exhaustive national register.

Mountains Listed
4
Top Ranked
4,040 m
Mont Cameroun
Second
3,011 m
Mount Oku
Profiled Below
4
Photo, encyclopedia text and figures
Highest Mountains in Cameroon
#NameElevation
1Mont Cameroun4,040 m
2Mount Oku3,011 m
3Chappal Wadi2,419 m
4Mont Ngaoui1,410 m

The Mountains of Cameroon in Detail

The 4 mountains above that have an encyclopedia article, in the same order, each with its photograph, figures and the places around it.

Mont Cameroun
Image via Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page).

Mont Cameroun

Mountain · 4,040 m

Mont Cameroun is a mountain rising to 4,040 metres (13,255 ft) in Cameroon, in the Africa region. From PeakBagger.com, with kind permission..

Mount Cameroon is an active stratovolcano in the Southwest Region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous name Mongo ma Ndemi ("Mountain of Greatness"). Mount Cameroon is ranked 22nd by topographic isolation.

It is the highest point in sub-Saharan western and central Africa, the fourth-most prominent peak in Africa, and 31st-most prominent in the world.

The mountain is part of the area of volcanic activity known as the Cameroon Volcanic Line, which also includes Lake Nyos, the site of a disaster in 1986. The eruption of 28 April-June 1909 caused the German colonial government of Kamerun to temporarily move from Buea to Douala. The most recent eruption occurred on February 3, 2012.

Adapted from Wikipedia: Mount Cameroon (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Elevation
4,040 m (13,255 ft)
Global rank
#121 of 641 indexed
Region
Africa (#11)
Country
Cameroon
Coordinates
4.2200°, 9.1700°

Of the 641 named summits indexed in YearMaps, Mont Cameroun ranks #121 by elevation, below Cerro San Valentín (4,058 m) and above Dombai-Ulgen (4,038 m).

Ranges:
Marrah Mountains (Africa), Guinea Highlands (Africa)
Neighbouring summits:
Pico de Santa Isabel (3,008 m), Mount Oku (3,011 m), Chappal Wadi (2,419 m)
Settlements below:
Buea (10 km), Limbe (21 km), Kumba (56 km)

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More about Mont Cameroun

Geology

Mount Cameroon lies on the Cameroon Volcanic Line, a 1,600 km (990 mi) NE–SW belt of oceanic and continental volcanoes stretching from Pagalu Island in the Gulf of Guinea to northern Cameroon. The volcano forms an elliptical stratovolcano about 50 km × 35 km with a volume of roughly 1,200 km3. It sits on a horst of Precambrian granite and gneiss overlain by Cretaceous to Quaternary sediments. The summit is cut by several tectonic axes, notably the Debundscha axis (N60–70°), Limbe axis (N140–150°) and Batoke axis (N30–40°), inherited from basement shear zones. Gravity and wavelet-analysis studies reveal dense mantle intrusions rising into the crust and suggest that the Tiko and Ekona faults focus magma ascent to depths of at least 25 km.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Mount Cameroon (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Mont Cameroun: Key Facts

Key facts about Mont Cameroun
Topographic prominence3,901 m
Mountain rangeCameroon line

Facts from Wikidata Q190562 (CC0).

Mount Oku
Image via Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page).

Mount Oku

Mountain · 3,011 m

Mount Oku is a mountain rising to 3,011 metres (9,879 ft) in Cameroon, in the Africa region.

Mount Oku, or Kilum Mountain, is the largest volcano in the Oku Massif, in the Cameroon Volcanic Line, located in the Oku region of the Western High Plateau of Cameroon.

It is the second highest mountain in mainland Central Africa.

The stratovolcano rises to 3,011 metres (9,879 ft) above sea level, and is cut by a large caldera.

Adapted from Wikipedia: Mount Oku (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Elevation
3,011 m (9,879 ft)
Global rank
#231 of 641 indexed
Region
Africa (#27)
Country
Cameroon
Coordinates
6.1835°, 10.5166°

Of the 641 named summits indexed in YearMaps, Mount Oku ranks #231 by elevation, below Pico da Neblina (3,014 m) and above Pico de Santa Isabel (3,008 m).

Ranges:
Marrah Mountains (Africa), Guinea Highlands (Africa)
Neighbouring summits:
Chappal Wadi (2,419 m), Mont Cameroun (4,040 m), Dimlang (2,042 m)
Settlements below:
Kumbo (19 km), Bamenda (48 km), Wum (55 km)

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Geology

Some of the rocks have ages starting from 24.9 to 22.1 million years ago, but much more recent activity has occurred.

The mountain is built of basaltic and hawaiitic lavas, succeeded by trachytes, and then by large volumes of trachytic and rhyolitic ignimbrites with a thickness of up to 1,000 m.

Further trachytic lavas, tuffs and breccias were produced, and the most recent phase produced pyroclastic cones and explosion craters.

One of these craters holds Lake Oku, from which flows of basalt issued in the north, and of rhyolitic and phonolitic lavas in the south.

Ecology

A small sphagnum community with associated wetland plant species was discovered at 2,900 m in 1997, near the summit of the volcano, the highest sphagnum bog in West Africa. This site includes several plant species endemic to the Kilum-Ijim area, and is of extremely high conservation importance.

The 200 km2 of forests of the Kilum-Ijim area around the mountain form the largest remaining patch of montane forest in West Africa, an important habitat for endemic species of animals and plants.

The forest is at risk, since it is surrounded by a high density of human settlements.

BirdLife International and the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry are jointly operating the Kilum-Ijim Forest Project, which aims to conserve the forest biome, maintain biodiversity and ensure sustainable reuse.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Mount Oku (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Mount Oku: Key Facts

Key facts about Mount Oku
Topographic prominence2,491 m
Mountain rangeCameroon line

Facts from Wikidata Q3322001 (CC0).

Chappal Wadi
Image via Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page).

Chappal Wadi

Mountain · 2,419 m

Chappal Wadi is a mountain rising to 2,419 metres (7,936 ft) in Nigeria and Cameroon, in the Africa region. The summit stands on the border between them. From PeakBagger.com, with kind permission..

Chappal Waddi (also known as the Mountain of Death) is located in Nigeria and, at 2,419 m (7,936 ft), is the country's highest point and the highest in West Africa. This peak, whose original and indigenous name is "Gang Peak" is steeped in enthralling ancient Mambilla mythologies. It represents the headquarters of some ancient mythological organizations. It is located in Taraba State, near the border with Cameroon, on the edge of the Gashaka Gumti Forest Reserve and the Gashaka-Gumti National Park on the Mambilla Plateau. It is a part of the Bamenda-Alantika-Mandara Mountain chain of Nigeria and Cameroon. According to local Mambilla legends, good fortunes or poor harvests in the agricultural cycles of the Mambilla Plateau were determined at Gang Mountain.

Adapted from Wikipedia: Chappal Waddi (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Elevation
2,419 m (7,936 ft)
Global rank
#350 of 641 indexed
Region
Africa (#47)
Countries
Nigeria, Cameroon
Coordinates
7.0600°, 11.7200°

Of the 641 named summits indexed in YearMaps, Chappal Wadi ranks #350 by elevation, below Serra Namúli (2,419 m) and above Shimbiris (2,414 m).

Ranges:
Marrah Mountains (Africa), Ruwenzori Range (Africa)
Neighbouring summits:
Mount Oku (3,011 m), Mont Ngaoui (1,410 m), Mont Cameroun (4,040 m)
Settlements below:
Tibati (120 km), Kumbo (148 km), Foumban (173 km)

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Chappal Wadi: Key Facts

Key facts about Chappal Wadi
Mountain rangeMambilla Plateau

Facts from Wikidata Q976055 (CC0).

Mont Ngaoui
Image via Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page).

Mont Ngaoui

Mountain · 1,410 m

Mont Ngaoui is a mountain rising to 1,410 metres (4,626 ft) in the Central African Republic and Cameroon, in the Africa region. The summit stands on the border between them. From PeakBagger.com, with kind permission..

Mont Ngaoui is the highest mountain in the Central African Republic. It is located on the border with Cameroon and has a summit elevation of 1,410 metres (4,626 ft).

Adapted from Wikipedia: Mont Ngaoui (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Elevation
1,410 m (4,626 ft)
Global rank
#508 of 641 indexed
Region
Africa (#73)
Countries
Central African Republic, Cameroon
Coordinates
6.5901°, 14.9001°

Of the 641 named summits indexed in YearMaps, Mont Ngaoui ranks #508 by elevation, below Balsam Beartown Mountain (1,436 m) and above Masif des Bongos (1,400 m).

Ranges:
Marrah Mountains (Africa), Ruwenzori Range (Africa)
Neighbouring summits:
Chappal Wadi (2,419 m), Mount Oku (3,011 m), Mont Cameroun (4,040 m)
Settlements below:
Meiganga (68 km), Ngaoundéré (167 km), Batouri (247 km)

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More about Mont Ngaoui

Mont Ngaoui: Key Facts

Key facts about Mont Ngaoui
Mountain rangeAdamawa Plateau

Facts from Wikidata Q2422162 (CC0).

More on Cameroon

Quick Answers

What is the highest mountain in Cameroon?
Mont Cameroun, at 4,040 m. Mount Oku is second at 3,011 m. Rankings cover the mountains indexed in YearMaps.
How many mountains are there in Cameroon?
YearMaps lists 4 mountains for Cameroon. This is the number mapped in the atlas, not an official national count.