Buéa

Buea Gbea
Town and commune
Buea from the foot of Mount Cameroon
Buea
Coordinates: 4°10′0″N 9°14′0″E / 4.16667°N 9.23333°E / 4.16667; 9.23333Coordinates: 4°10′0″N 9°14′0″E / 4.16667°N 9.23333°E / 4.16667; 9.23333
Country	Cameroon
Region	Southwest Region
Division	Fako
Elevation	870 m (2,850 ft)
Population (2005)
• Total	90,088 (Census)
Climate	Cwb

Buea (Bakweri | Gbea) is the capital of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. The town is located on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon and has a population of 90,088 (at the 2005 Census). About 150,000 people live in Buea (including the towns of Bokwaongo, Muea; Bomaka; Tole; Mile 16 (Bolifamba); Mile 17; Mile 15; Mile 14 (Dibanda); Bova; Bonjongo; Likombe; Buasa; and surrounding villages).

Buea, originally spelled "Gbea," was founded by Njia Tama Lifanje a hunter who came from the Bomboko Area. Coming from the Bomboko side of the Mountain, he exclaimed in amazement of the new found land "Ebe'eya" meaning literally a "place of happenings". A prominent King of the Bakweri whose headquarters is Buea was chie Kuva Likenye, whose clashes with German troops during the Bakweri resistance remain popular folklore; currently ruled by the Endeleys. Tea growing is an important local industry, especially in Tole. Buea was the colonial capital of German Kamerun from 1901 to 1919, the capital of the Southern Cameroons from 1949 until 1961 and the capital of West Cameroon until 1972, when Ahmadou Ahidjo abolished the Federation of Cameroon. The German colonial administration in Buea was temporarily suspended during the eruption of Mount Cameroon from 28 April – June 1909. Originally, Buea's population consisted mainly of the Bakweri people. However, due to its position as a university town and the regional capital, there are significant numbers of other ethnic groups.

Buea hosts the University of Buea, Cameroon's first anglophone university. It is the site of several other higher institutes of learning including St Francis schools of Nursing and Midwifery presently known as Biaka University Institute of Buea (BUIB) and one of Cameroon's three Catholic universities.

A handful of colonial era buildings are surviving, notably the palatial former residence of the German governor, Jesko von Puttkamer. Other German colonial buildings are still standing, but some of them suffer from lack of maintenance and old age.