Southwest

The Southwest Region or South-West Region is a region in Cameroon. Its capital is Buea. , its population was 1,553,320. Along with the Northwest Region, it is one of the two Anglophone (English-speaking) regions of Cameroon. Various Ambazonian nationalist and separatist factions regard the Sud-Ouest region as being distinct as a polity from Cameroon. History In 1884, the region was colonized by Germany under the Protectorate regime until 1916 when it became a condominium administered jointly by the United Kingdom and the France. In 1919, the administration of the South West region became solely British. In 1961, the region joined Cameroon. Ambazonian separatism At the end of 2017, an Ambazonian separatist movement in the two English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West initiated a wave of violence affecting the military, police, business leaders and workers. The separatist militiamen are trying in particular to prevent children from returning to school. Between 2016 and 2019, separatists reportedly ransacked, destroyed or burned more than 174 schools Separatists from the Ambazonia administration regard both the Nord-Ouest (Northwest) and Sud-Ouest (Southwest) regions as being constituent components of their envisaged breakaway state. Administration The region is divided into seven divisions or departments: Fako, Koupé-Manengouba, Lebialem, Manyu, Meme, Wazani and Ndian. These are in turn broken down into subdivisions. Presidentially appointed senior divisional officers and subdivisional officers govern each respectively.