Abong-Mbang is the seat of the Abong-Mbang sub-division and the
Haut-Nyong division. The town is headed by a mayor. Gustave Mouamoss�
has held the post since August 2002. Abong-Mbang is site of one of the
East Province's four Courts of First Instance and a prefectural prison.
The population was estimated at 18,700 in 2001.
According to oral
traditions of the Kwassio and Bakola peoples, Abong-Mbang was settled
when the Maka-Njem peoples moved northwest from the Great Lakes region
of the Congo River. They encountered Pygmy hunter-gatherers and
requested their aid as guides through the region. Some of the migrants
settled in the vicinity, which they called Bung-Ngwang ("bathing area in
the Nyong River"). When Europeans arrived in the 19th century, this
name was changed to Abong-Mbang. Some migrants continued westward in
search of salt; they became the Kwassio and Bakola of Cameroon's coast.
German colonisers moved into the area in the late 19th century. They
used the Nyong River as a means to reach the wild rubber growing farther
inland. The Germans built a fort and other military and administrative
buildings in the town. The fort is today a prefectural prison, and the
other buildings serve similar administrative functions. The French took
over in 1919 following Germany's defeat in World War I.
Abong-Mbang
is the main settlement of the Maka people, a group who speak a
Bantulanguage of the same name. Much of the population farms; important
crops include bananas, cocoa, corn, groundnuts, tomatoes, and tubers.
Shifting cultivation with no fertiliser is the primary method of
agriculture. Baka hunter-gatherers live in the surrounding forests.
Since colonial times, the government has attempted to better integrate
this group into Cameroonian society. Abong-Mbang is part of the
Doum�-Abong-Mbang diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. The church
estimates that 46.7% of the population is Roman Catholic
