The Wouri (also Vouri or Vuri) is a river in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

. Cameroon has two major rivers, the Sanaga, the longest at about 525 km (325 miles) long and the Wouri, the largest. The Wouri forms at the confluence of the rivers Nkam and Makombé, northeast of the city of Yabassi. It then flows about southeast to the

Wouri estuary The Wouri estuary, or Cameroon estuary is a large tidal estuary in Cameroon where several rivers come together, emptying into the Bight of Biafra. Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, is at the mouth of the Wouri River where it enters the est ...

at Douala, the chief port and industrial city in the southwestern part of Cameroon on the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...

. The river is navigable about upriver from Douala.

Exploration

The Portuguese navigator and explorer

Fernão do Pó Fernão do Pó (; ''fl.'' 1472), also known as Fernão Pó, Fernando Pó or Fernando Poo, was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer of the West African coast. He was the first European to see the islands in the Gulf of Guinea aroun ...

or Fernando Pó, is believed to be the first European to explore the estuary of the Wouri, around the year 1472. The explorers noted an abundance of the mud lobster ''

Lepidophthalmus turneranus ''Lepidophthalmus turneranus'' (formerly ''Callianassa turnerana''), the Cameroon ghost shrimp, is a species of " ghost shrimp" or "mud lobster" that lives off the coast of West Africa. It occasionally erupts into dense swarms, one of which resul ...

'' in the Wouri River and named it "''Rio dos Camarões"'', Portuguese for "River of Prawns", and the phrase from which the name Cameroon derived. The phrase "''Rio dos Camarões"'' later became Camarones when the Spanish arrived in the region. Then, during the German

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

in the country which started in 1884, the country's name changed to Kamerun before the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

placed the country under French and British authority in 1919 which led to the final name "Cameroon". Seme beach limbe Cameroon

Bridges

First bridge

In the 1950s, during the colonial period, the French built a bridge of 1 km across the river, the longest in the central African sub-region. It connects Douala with the city of Bonabéri and is not only of great economic importance to western Cameroon, carrying auto, truck, and train traffic but also a central tool for international exchanges with

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...

countries like

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. Since 2004 the bridge has been undergoing a major rehabilitation. With an initial capacity of 2,000 vehicles per day, this bridge now supports more than 45,000 vehicles everyday creating monstrous traffic at the entrance of Douala's heart.

Second bridge

With a cost of almost CFA 141,6 billion, the second bridge on the Wouri river is 756 m long and 34 m width and has a 746 m long railway. Constructed by the multinational road construction company SOGEA SATOM and financed by the Cameroonian government and a loan from the French government, this bridge will help decongest traffic on the first bridge. The construction of this bridge is important for Cameroon's economy and will facilitate exchanges in the central African region which opens to the world through Cameroon and its proximity to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The bridge is meant to be commissioned before the end of 2018. GedNgondoMessager

River Wouri.jpg, Bonaberi from the Wouri River Canoe riding.jpg, Boats on Wouri (2020) Couché du soleil.jpg, Couché du soleil at Bonendale (2013) Mangrove Bonabéri.jpg, Bonaberi

mangrove swamp Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

Berges du Wouri 05.jpg Berges du Wouri 06.jpg Berges du Wouri 01.jpg Berges du Wouri 07.jpg Berges du Wouri 02.jpg Berges du Wouri 08.jpg Berges du Wouri 04.jpg Berges du Wouri 03.jpg Nouveau pont sur le Wouri 01.jpg Nouveau pont sur le Wouri 02.jpg Nouveau pont sur le Wouri 03.jpg Nouveau pont sur le Wouri 04.jpg File:Compétition de Canoë Kayak sur le Wouri.jpg, Kayak competition File:Compétition de Canoë Kayak sur le Wouri2.jpg File:Compétition de Canoë Kayak sur le Wouri5.jpg File:Compétition de Canoë Kayak sur le Wouri4.jpg File:Course de pirogue pendant le Ngondo.jpg, Canoe Race during Ngondo Festival File:Course de pirogue pendant le Ngondo4.jpg File:Course de pirogue pendant le Ngondo7.jpg File:Animation pendant le Ngondo.jpg File:WL-Cameroun-Douala-Pecheurs de sable dans le Wouri.jpg,

Sand extraction Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in concre ...

in the Wouri River File:Fleuve Wouri à Douala 05.jpg, A view of how the Wouri banks looks like during the Ngondo File:WikiAfr20 MarcJP46 05.jpg, Fishermen on the Wouri File:Fleuve Wouri à Douala 08.jpg, A view of Wouri banks during Ngondo festival File:Fleuve Wouri à Douala 10.jpg File:Fleuve Wouri à Douala 06.jpg File:Pirogues sur les eaux du Wouri 06.jpg File:Activités du Ngondo 15.jpg, Dance group during Ngondo festival File:Activités du Ngondo 11.jpg, Swimming Competition File:Activités du Ngondo 14.jpg File:Activités du Ngondo 10.jpg, Traditional rights done along the Wouri Banks File:Activités du Ngondo 17.jpg, Cultural Dance Performance File:Activités du Ngondo 12.jpg, Dance performance at the Wouri banks during Ngondo File:Activités du Ngondo 9.jpg File:Activités du Ngondo 03.jpg File:Activités du Ngondo 02.jpg File:Activités du Ngondo 7.jpg, Ngondo activities at the Wouri banks File:Fleuve Wouri à Douala 01.jpg File:GedNgondo00.JPG File:Le message pendant la cérémonie du Ngondo.jpg File:Nageur riverain du fleuve WOURI dans le Littoral camerounais.jpg, A man swimming in the Wouri River

Sources

Encyclopædia Britannica

References

{{Coord, 4.08333, N, 9.7, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Wouri River Littoral Region (Cameroon)