Tea growing is an important local industry, especially in Tole.
The
city hosts the University of Buea, the first Anglophone university of
Cameroon. The city still has a handful of colonial era buildings,
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. About 150,000
people live in Buea (including Muea; Bomaka; Tole; Miles 17, 16, 15, 14;
Bova; and surrounding villages). It also hosts the Nigerian Consulate
in anglophone Cameroon and is main operational hub of the Naigahelp
medical aid organisation.
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 a significant number
of other ethnic groups.
Because of its location at the foot of Mount
Cameroon, the climate in Buea tends to behumid, with the neighbourhoods
at higher elevations enjoying cooler temperatures while the lower
neighbourhoods experience a hotter climate. Extended periods of
rainfall, characterized by incessant drizzle, which can last for weeks,
are common during the rainy season as are damp fogs, rolling off the
mountain into the town below
