From the Maryland suburbs of Washington to Houston and Minnesota, Cameroonians abroad call family in Douala, Yaoundé, Bamenda and Buea, dialing a nine-digit number that since 2014 starts with 6 for a mobile and 2 for a landline, with no zero to drop and no area code to add.
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Rates updated October 31, 2026
To reach a Cameroon number from the United States, dial these three parts in order.
011 237 6 71 23 45 67
From any mobile, anywhere in the world, you can dial +237 6 71 23 45 67 instead. Press and hold 0 to type the +, and the phone picks the right access code for wherever you are.
Numbers in Cameroon carry no leading trunk digit, so there is nothing to strip. 6 71 23 45 67 is dialed exactly as written, with +237 in front. Removing a digit here is what makes the call fail.
A Cameroon mobile number is 9 digits after +237. If a call does not connect, count the digits first.
Only the first part changes. Your access code replaces the 011, then 237 and the number stay exactly the same.
A ~ means wait for the second dial tone before dialing the rest. It is not a digit you press.
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The 2024 American Community Survey counts about 98,000 Cameroon-born residents - US Census Bureau, and the five-year estimates show a striking concentration: more than a quarter live in Maryland, led by Prince George's County (about 11,300) and Montgomery County (about 6,600) in the Washington suburbs, followed by Texas, where Harris County (Houston), Dallas and Tarrant counties together hold nearly 9,500, and then Minnesota and Georgia - US Census Bureau. A family in Bowie calling a mother in Bafoussam, or a student in Houston checking on siblings in Buea, is the everyday Cameroon call.
Conflict has shaped part of this corridor. The US designated Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status in June 2022 because of armed conflict, then ended it effective 4 August 2025, affecting about 5,200 Cameroonians - Federal Register. Beyond the US, the largest Cameroon-born communities are in France (about 128,000), Nigeria (56,000), Gabon (55,000), Canada (44,000), Chad (40,000) and Belgium (31,000) - UN DESA, so a family in Yaoundé may hear from Paris or Canada as well as from Maryland. Remittances reached about US$690 million in 2024 - World Bank.
Dialing out of Cameroon starts with the international prefix 00 - ITU, so a relative in Douala calling a US number dials 00 1 and the 10 digits, while on a mobile most people save numbers with a +. The busiest destinations follow the diaspora: France (+33), neighboring Nigeria (+234), Gabon (+241) and Chad (+235), then Canada, Belgium (+32) and the US - UN DESA.
The regulator's figures show how lopsided that traffic is. In 2024 Cameroonian mobile networks carried about 49 million minutes of outgoing international calls and 57 million minutes of incoming ones, against 27.8 billion minutes of calls within the same network - ART. International calling is a thin slice of the total, and more of it arrives than leaves, which suggests that relatives abroad place more of the calls than people at home do. For you, the dialing never changes: 011 237 or +237, then all 9 digits.
Dial the US exit code 011, or press + if you are on a mobile or using a browser dialer.
Enter Cameroon's country code, 237.
Dial all 9 digits exactly as written, for example 6 71 23 45 67 for a mobile or 222 23 03 80 for a Yaoundé landline. Nothing is added or removed.
If your saved number has only 8 digits, it predates the November 2014 reform: add a 6 in front of an old mobile number or a 2 in front of an old landline.
Cameroon has no trunk prefix, so the 9 digits you see are the 9 digits you dial after +237 - Telephone numbers in Cameroon, Wikipedia. Mobiles begin with 6 and landlines with 2. A personal number with only eight digits predates the 2014 reform and needs its missing first digit put back: 6 for mobiles, 2 for fixed lines. Numbers beginning 88 are special service lines that may not accept calls from abroad. Cameroon's own exit code is 00, which only matters to people calling out of the country - ITU.
Old contacts may be missing a digit. On 21 November 2014 Cameroon moved from 8 to 9 digits by putting a 6 in front of every mobile number and a 2 in front of every fixed number, the third expansion since 2001, when numbers went from 6 to 7 digits, and 2007, when they went from 7 to 8 - Telephone numbers in Cameroon, Wikipedia. A number saved before then, such as an old 8-digit MTN line beginning 7 or Orange line beginning 9, will not connect until you add the 6 in front. A personal number with only eight digits after the country code predates the reform.
Unidentified SIMs are switched off. Under the 2010 electronic communications law, every subscriber must register their SIM with an ID, and since 3 September 2015 unidentified SIMs have been deactivated until the owner registers in person; one person may hold at most three SIMs per operator - ART. If a relative's line goes dead, a lapsed identification is a likely cause, and if the SIM was replaced, the number may have changed too.
Not every network is equally healthy. In 2024 Orange had about 15.5 million active mobile subscriptions, MTN 13.8 million and Camtel's Blue 2.1 million, while Viettel, which trades as Nexttel, had not sent the regulator any subscriber data since 2022 and was described as lethargic - ART. If a relative relies on a Nexttel number, ask for an MTN or Orange backup.
The English-speaking regions have their own disruptions. From 17 January 2017, internet access was blocked in the North-West and South-West, cutting off around 20 percent of the population - MIT Technology Review, until it was restored in April 2017 - DW. The armed conflict there is still active, as US authorities noted in 2025 - Federal Register, so network disruptions and lockdown days can make a relative in Bamenda or Buea hard to reach.
Every Cameroonian number is 9 digits after +237, with no trunk prefix: you dial it exactly as written, and the same digits work inside the country and from abroad - Telephone numbers in Cameroon, Wikipedia. That closed format is the result of three expansions in thirteen years, and it means the first digit is now a reliable guide: 6 means a mobile, and every landline begins with 2.
Landlines use two prefixes that grew out of the old fixed ranges 22 and 33. Yaoundé numbers such as the telecom regulator's own switchboard, +237 222 23 03 80, begin 222 - ART. Douala numbers such as the Port of Douala's line, +237 233 43 55 00, begin 233 - Port Autonome de Douala. You will see them grouped in different ways, such as 222 23 03 80 or 233 435 500, and the grouping does not matter when you dial.
Mobiles carry the history of the operators. When the 2014 reform prepended a 6, MTN's old 7x numbers became 67x and Orange's old 9x numbers became 69x - Telephone numbers in Cameroon, Wikipedia, so those two prefixes are the classic MTN and Orange ranges, while other 6 ranges such as 65x and 68x are also valid mobile numbers. Numbers beginning 88 are special service lines rather than people.
Four operators hold mobile licenses. Orange Cameroun overtook MTN in active subscriptions, with 15.5 million in 2024 against 13.8 million for MTN Cameroon; the state operator Camtel runs a mobile service called Blue with 2.1 million, after moving its old CDMA fixed-wireless users onto it; and Viettel Cameroun trades as Nexttel - ART. Altogether Cameroon counted 31.3 million active mobile subscriptions in 2024, up 15 percent in a year.
A practical tip for anyone helping relatives: someone with a new SIM does not always know their own number by heart. The regulator publishes the codes that display it: 1358# on MTN, #99# on Orange and *600# on Viettel's Nexttel - ART. Asking a relative to dial one of these and read out the nine digits is faster than guessing from an old contact card.
The fixed network is small and shrinking. Camtel reported 67,507 active wired subscriptions in 2024, down 12.5 percent in a year - ART, so a 222 or 233 number is more likely to belong to an office or institution than to a household. Families are reached on mobiles.
Cameroon has two official languages, French and English - Cameroon, Wikipedia, and English speakers make up about a fifth of the population, concentrated in the North-West and South-West regions - DW. A call to Bamenda or Buea is likely to be in English or Cameroonian Pidgin, while a switchboard in Yaoundé or Douala is more likely to answer in French.
Those two English-speaking regions are also where calling is hardest. Separatist groups have enforced "ghost town" days, and in 2018 the mayor of Buea had to warn businesses not to obey calls to stay closed on Mondays - Africanews. When a ghost town is observed, offices and shops shut, so a Monday call to a business there may go unanswered even though the person you want is safe at home.
The Far North faces a separate insurgency near Lake Chad - Federal Register. In all three regions, build in patience: agree on a regular call time, keep more than one number for each relative, and treat a day of silence as a likely network problem before assuming the worst.
Mobile money is the everyday wallet for millions of Cameroonians. The two licensed services, MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money, had 11.4 million active registered subscriptions in 2024, up 7 percent in a year - ART. Because each wallet is tied to an MTN or Orange mobile number, a relative's phone number is also where diaspora support lands.
That shapes how calls from abroad go. A transfer from Maryland or Paris is often followed by a call to confirm it arrived, and a relative who has changed SIMs will need the new line identified before it works. Checking the exact 9-digit number, and the network it is on, avoids sending money to the wrong wallet.
Identification is also meant to protect callers: the regulator says it aims to curb phone theft, threats, scams and blackmail by tying every line to a registered holder - ART. Even so, a short call to a number you already know before a large transfer is a sensible habit on both sides.
Cameroon's country code is +237, and every number has exactly 9 digits after it - Telephone numbers in Cameroon, Wikipedia. From the US you dial 011 237 followed by the nine digits, such as 011 237 6 71 23 45 67, or +237 6 71 23 45 67 on a mobile. Mobiles start with 6 and landlines with 2.
The first digit. On 21 November 2014 Cameroon expanded from 8 to 9 digits by adding a 6 in front of mobile numbers and a 2 in front of fixed numbers - Telephone numbers in Cameroon, Wikipedia. So an old MTN number that began with 7 now begins 67, an old Orange number that began with 9 now begins 69, and an old landline gains a 2.
No. Cameroon has no trunk prefix, so numbers are written and dialed as the same nine digits inside the country and from abroad - ITU. Dial +237 and the number exactly as your contact wrote it. Personal numbers begin with 6 (mobile) or 2 (landline), so a number that looks different should be checked with your contact first.
Cameroon uses West Africa Time (UTC+1) all year and has never observed daylight saving time - Time in Cameroon, Wikipedia. It is 5 hours ahead of US Eastern and 8 ahead of Pacific while US daylight saving time is in effect (8 March to 1 November in 2026) - NIST, and 6 and 9 hours ahead the rest of the year. Noon in New York is 5pm or 6pm in Douala.
Dial 011 237 (or +237) and the full nine-digit number. Yaoundé landlines begin 222, like the regulator's +237 222 23 03 80 - ART, and Douala landlines begin 233, like the Port of Douala's +237 233 43 55 00. There is no separate city code, and nothing is removed from the number.
The North-West and South-West are the heart of an armed conflict that US authorities described as still active in 2025 - Federal Register, and they lost internet access for about three months in 2017. Network outages, lockdown days and SIMs deactivated for missing identification all play a part. Try again later, and keep a second number for the person.
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