Overview
The city is located on the banks of the Wouri River, the two sides linked by Bonaberi Bridge. Its population in 2008 was recorded at close to 3,000,000. The climate is tropical.
The first Europeans to visit the area were the Portuguese in about 1472. By 1650, it had become the site of a town formed by immigrants from the interior who spoke the Douala language and during the eighteenth century it was center of the transatlantic slave trade. Before coming under German rule in 1884, the town was also known as Cameroons Town; thereafter it became Kamerunstadt ("Camaroon City"), the capital of German Kamerun. It was renamed Douala in 1907 and became part of the French Cameroons in 1919. From 1940 to 1946, it was the capital of Cameroon.
The city is divided into quarters with Akwa and Bonanjo being the most important with Akwa being Douala's nightlife center and Bonanjo its center of commerce and administration. Along the city's main thoroughfare lie some of Cameroon's best restaurants, coffee houses and French-style patisseries; along the waterfront, many bars and bistros may be found, commanding views of the Gulf of Guinea and nearby mangrove swamps. Many of these are frequented by the city's large expatriate population, mainly French or Lebanese, most of whom work in the petroleum industry.
Douala is the 27th most expensive city in the world and the most expensive in Africa, overtaking Lagos, Nigeria at 32nd. It is ranked 27th for 2009, up from 34th in 2008. In 2007 it was ranked 24th in the world and 1st in Africa. Douala is the first city in tropical Africa to have a piped natural gas supply (presently serving only industrial customers).
Douala is the hometown of FC Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, and Wrexham FC goalkeeper Joslain Mayebi.
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