Timeline of Douala

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Douala, Cameroon.

Prior to 20th century

• 1472 - the Portuguese visit the area during the Age of Exploration
• 1845 - Alfred Saker of the British Baptist Missionary Society arrives in Douala.
• 1849 - Native Baptist Church of Douala built.
• 1859 (July 8) - Arrangement Anglo-douala signed.
• 1868 - The company Woermann-Linie in Cameroon
• 1881 - The company Woermann-Linie receives the authorization to build a factory (trading post) in Deido.
• 1884 - Germans in power (the treaty between the Douala and Germans is signed; Cameroon becomes a German protectorate.
• 1885 - Construction (1885-1890) of a prefabricate iron house for King Ndumbe Lobe.
• 1886 - The Protestant Mission of Basel takes the place of the Mission of London.
• 1887 (February) - Construction of the postoffice.
• 1888
  • (March) - Construction of a school in Joss (directed by Théodor Christaller arrived in Cameroon in 1887).
  • Construction of a brickyard (before, building materials were imported by Germans from Hamburg).
  • Fracture between the Protestant Mission of Basel and the "Natives". Construction of a new church by the natives and led by Josua Dibundu.
• 1890 - First documented plan of the city, Deutsches Kolonial Blatt.
• 1891 - German government headquarters built.
• 1893 - Revolt of the German troops composed of former slaves of Dahomey enrolled in the German army to pay back their liberation.
• 1896 - General Hospital built.
• The German Baptists Missioners of Berlin arrive in Cameroon.

20th century

• 1901 - Kamerunstadt renamed "Douala."[1]
• 1905 - Palace of the Kings Bell built.
• 1906 - Mwendi Ma Musango Baptist newspaper begins publication.[2]
• 1907
  • Capital of German Cameroon relocated from Douala to Buea.[3]
• 1908 - Elolombe Ya Cameroun Protestant newspaper begins publication.[2]
• 1909 - The railway line Bonaberi-Nkongsamba (160 km) is inaugurated.
• 1910
  • Villa Mandessi Bell (residence) built.
  • Robbery from Deutsch Westafrikanische Bank.[4]
  • Population: 22,000.[5]
• 1911 - The railway line Douala-Edea is inaugurated
• 1913
  • Eseka-Douala railway constructed.[4]
  • The German urban plan is implemented by moving the population to New Deido, New Akwa and New Bell and by creating a 1 km Freie Zone to separate those areas from the European city.
• 1914
  • September: British forces in Douala.[6][7]
  • New Bell established.[8]
• 1917 (February) Louis-Ferdinand Céline is hospitalized in Douala.
• 1919 - Town becomes part of French Cameroun.
• 1921 - Capital of French Cameroun relocated from Douala to Yaounde.[4]
• 1927 - Oryx Douala football club formed.
• 1928 - Chamber of Commerce building constructed.
• 1930 - Mbale newspaper begins publication.[2]
• 1931
  • Palace of Justice built.
  • Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Douala established.
• 1936 - Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Douala built.
• 1941 - Radio Douala begins broadcasting.[2]
• 1944 - Population: 37,751.[4]
• 1945 - Riots.[9]
• 1948 - Brasseries du Cameroun in business.
• 1949
  • Association des femmes de l'Union Francaise au Cameroun headquartered in Douala.[10]
  • Population: 67,925.[4]
• 1954 - Pont sur le Wouri (bridge) built to Bonabéri.
• 1955 - L'Effort Camerounais[11][12] and La Presse du Cameroun newspapers begin publication.[2]
• 1956 - Population: 124,703.[4]
• 1957 - Union Douala football club formed.
• 1958 - Stade Akwa built.
• 1959 - 31 December: Unrest.[13][14]
• 1960 - 1 January: City becomes part of the Republic of Cameroon.[13]
• 1963 - Centre Culturel Americain active.[15]
• 1964 - Centre Culturel Francais active.[15]
• 1965 - Pan African Institute for Development regional headquarters established in Douala.[16]
• 1970 - Population: 250,000 urban agglomeration.[17]
• 1972
  • Stade de la Réunification built.
  • February–March: City hosts 1972 African Cup of Nations.
• 1974
  • Commune Urbaine de Douala (urban council) established.[18]
  • Cameroon Tribune newspaper begins publication.
• 1978 - American School founded.[19]
• 1979 - Le Messager newspaper begins publication.[20]
• 1983 - Population: 708,000 urban agglomeration (estimate).[21]
• 1986 - Musée maritime de Bonanjo (museum) founded.
• 1987 - Communauté urbaine de Douala created.[18]
• 1990 - Population: 931,000 (urban agglomeration).[22]
• 1991
  • General strike.[23]
  • Doual'art (art centre) founded.[24]
• 1992 - Commune Urbaine d`Arrondissement Douala V created.[18]
• 1993 - University of Douala founded.[25]
• 1997 - Commercial Bank Cameroon and Commercial Bank Group headquartered in city.
• 1999 - Festival International de Voix de Femmes begins (women's fest).[26]
• 2000 - Population: 1,432,000 (urban agglomeration).[22]

21st century

• 2001
  • 9 April: Political protest.[27]
  • Douala Stock Exchange and Accueil Femmes Francophones de Douala founded.[28]
• 2002
  • World Bank Douala Infrastructure Project launched.[29]
  • Astres Football Club formed.
• 2004 - March: Taxi strike.[30]
• 2005
  • City website online (approximate date).[31]
  • Art biennale begins.
  • Population: 1,907,479.[32]
• 2007
  • Salon Urbain de Douala (art fair) begins.[33]
  • 5 May: Airplane crash near city.
• 2008
  • February: Anti-government protest.[34]
  • City becomes capital of Littoral Region (Cameroon).
• 2010 - Drinking water shortage.[35]
• 2016 - Population: 2,948,464 (estimate).[36]
• 2019 - Part of 2019 Africa Cup of Nations football contest to be played in Douala.

See also

• Douala history (fr)
• Neighborhoods of Douala
• Timeline of Yaoundé

References

1. Derrick 1980.
2. Muluh Henry; Ndoh Bertha (2002), "Evolution of the Media in Cameroon", in Festus Eribo; Enoh Tanjong (eds.), Journalism and mass communication in Africa: Cameroon, Lanham, Maryland, US: Lexington Books, ISBN 0739103776
3. Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon 1920.
4. Ralph A. Austen; Jonathan Derrick (1999), Middlemen of the Cameroons Rivers: the Duala and their hinterland, c.1600-c.1960, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521562287
5. "Cameroon", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424
6. Paul G. Halpern (1994), A naval history of World War I, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0870212664
7. Stephen Pope; Elizabeth-Anne Wheal (1995). "Select Chronology". Dictionary of the First World War. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-85052-979-1.
8. Schler 2002.
9. Joseph 1974.
10. Meredith Terretta (2013). Petitioning for Our Rights, Fighting for Our Nation: The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960. Bamenda: Langaa. ISBN 9789956728053.
11. "L'Effort Camerounais in Brief". Douala: National Bishop's Conference of Cameroon. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
12. "Cameroon: News". Africa South of the Sahara. US: Stanford University. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
13. Victor T. Le Vine (1968). "The Trauma of Independence in French-Speaking Africa". Journal of Developing Areas. 2 (2): 211–224. JSTOR 4189457.
14. "Terrorists Raid Cameroons Port", New York Times, 1 January 1960
15. World Guide to Libraries (25th ed.), De Gruyter Saur, 2011, ISBN 9783110230710
16. "IPD-AC". Institut Panafricain pour le Développement Afrique Centrale. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
17. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office (1976). "Population of capital city and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1975. New York. pp. 253–279.
18. "Historique" (in French). Ville de Douala. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
19. "About Us". American School of Douala. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
20. "Douala (Cameroon) Newspapers". WorldCat. US: Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
21. United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division (1997). "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". 1995 Demographic Yearbook. New York. pp. 262–321.
22. "The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequalities and Urban Land Markets". United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 2010. Archived from the original on 2013-06-17.
23. "Strike Aims to Bleed Cameroon's Economy to Force President's Fall". New York Times. 5 August 1991.
24. "Doual'art". Douala. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
25. "Presentation generale de l'Université de Douala" (in French). L'Université de Douala. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
26. "Historique du festival" (in French). Massao. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
27. "Cameroon". Political Chronology of Africa. Political Chronologies of the World. Europa Publications. 2001. p. 58+. ISBN 0203409957.
28. "Accueil Femmes Francophones de Douala" (in French). Fédération Internationale des Accueils Français et francophones à l'Etranger. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
29. "Cameroon - Douala Infrastructure Project". Washington, DC: World Bank. 2010.
30. Piet Konings (2011). Politics of Neoliberal Reforms in Africa: State and Civil Society in Cameroon. Langaa. ISBN 978-9956717415.
31. "Site officiel de la Communauté Urbaine de Douala" (in French). Archived from the original on June 2005 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
32. "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2011. United Nations Statistics Division. 2012.
33. "Public Art and Urban Change in Douala". Domus. 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
34. Mark D. DeLancey; et al. (2010), Historical dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon (4th ed.), Lanham, Maryland, US: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 9780810858244
35. Fanny Pigeaud (2011). "Cameroon". In Andreas Mehler; et al. (eds.). Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2010. Koninklijke Brill. pp. 211–220. ISBN 978-90-04-20556-7.
36. "Table 8 - Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants", Demographic Yearbook – 2018, United Nations

This article incorporates information from the French Wikipedia and the German Wikipedia.

Bibliography

in English

• D. Gardinier (1969). "Urban Politics in Douala, Cameroun". African Urban Notes. 4.
• Joyce Sween; Remi Clignet (1969). "Urban Unemployment as a Determinant of Political Unrest: The Case Study of Douala, Cameroon". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 3.
• Remi Clignet; Frank Jordan (1971). "Urbanization and Social Differentiation in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the Ecological Structures of Douala and Yaoundé". Cahiers d'Études africaines. 11 (42): 261–297. doi:10.3406/cea.1971.2803 – via Persee.fr.
• Richard A. Joseph (1974). "Settlers, Strikers and Sans-Travail: The Douala Riots of September 1945". Journal of African History. 15 (4): 669–687. doi:10.1017/S0021853700013931. JSTOR 180996.
• Jonathan Derrick (1980). "The 'Germanophone' Elite of Douala under the French Mandate". Journal of African History. 21 (2): 255–267. doi:10.1017/S002185370001820X. JSTOR 182138.
• Lynn Schler (2002). "Looking through a Glass of Beer: Alcohol in the Cultural Spaces of Colonial Douala, 1910-1945". International Journal of African Historical Studies. 35 (2/3): 315–334. doi:10.2307/3097616. JSTOR 3097616.
• Lynn Schler (2003). "Ambiguous Spaces: The Struggle over African Identities and Urban Communities in Colonial Douala, 1914-45". Journal of African History. 44.
• Lynn Schler (2003). "Bridewealth, Guns and Other Status Symbols: Immigration and Consumption in Colonial Douala". Journal of African Cultural Studies. 16.
• Paul Tiyambe Zeleza; Dickson Eyoh, eds. (2003). "Douala, Cameroon". Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History. Routledge. ISBN 0415234794.
• Poverty and Urban Mobility in Douala, World Bank, 2004
• Abdou Maliqalim Simone (2004), "The Spectral: Assembling Douala, Cameroon", For the City Yet to Come: Changing African Life in Four Cities, Duke University Press, ISBN 9780822334347
• Lynn Schler (2005). "History, the Nation-State, and Alternative Narratives: An Example from Colonial Douala". African Studies Review. 48.
• Kevin Shillington, ed. (2005). "Douala". Encyclopedia of African History. Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-57958-245-6.
• Lucia Babina and Marilyn Douala Bell, ed. (2007). Douala in Translation: A View of the City and its Creative Transformative Potentials. Rotterdam: Episode.
• Marta Dorenda-Zaborowicz (2011). "Douala: A City of Lost Hopes? Consequences of Decolonisation in Africa Versus Sustainable Development". Problemy Ekorozwoju - Problems of Sustainable Development. 6.
• Michaela Alejandra Oberhofer (2012), "Fashioning African Cities: The Case of Johannesburg, Lagos and Douala", Streetnotes (20), ISSN 2159-2926 – via California Digital Library

in French

• René Gouellain (1973). "Douala: formation et développement de la ville pendant la colonisation". Cahiers d'Études africaines (in French). 13 – via Persee.fr.
• R. Gouellain (1975). Douala: Ville et Histoire (in French). Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie, Musee de l'Homme.
• Lourdes Diaz Olvera; et al. (2010). "Quand tout ne tient qu'à un pont! Réfection d'ouvrage et dysfonctionnements urbains à Douala" [Rehabilitation of a bridge and urban dysfunction in Douala]. Belgeo (in French) (1–2). doi:10.4000/belgeo.6763 – via Revues.org.
• Adrien Bitond (2012). "Les foyers socioculturels a Douala, 'villages en ville' ou espaces publics de proximite?". In Thomas Atenga, Georges Madib (ed.). La communication au Cameroun (in French). Archives contemporaines. ISBN 9782813000927.
• "Douala". Cameroun. Le Petit Futé (in French). 2012.

in German

• Ernst Vollbehr (1912), "Duala", Mit Pinsel und Palette durch Kamerun (in German), Leipzig: List & von Bressensdorf, OCLC 9352214
• "Duala". Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon (in German). Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer. 1920. hdl:2027/wu.89005273230.
• Andreas Eckert (1999). Grundbesitz, Landkonflikte und kolonialer Wandel: Douala 1880 bis 1960 (in German). Stuttgart: Steiner.

External links

• "(Douala)". Directory of Open Access Journals. UK. (Bibliography of open access articles)
• "(Douala)" – via Europeana. (Images, etc.)
• "(Douala)" – via Digital Public Library of America. (Images, etc.)
• "(Douala)". Internet Library Sub-Saharan Africa. Germany: Frankfurt University Library. (Bibliography)
• "(Douala)". Connecting-Africa. Leiden, Netherlands: African Studies Centre. (Bibliography)
• "(Douala)". AfricaBib.org. (Bibliography)
• University of Southern California. Old photos of Douala, various dates
• German Federal Archives. Photos of Douala