Far North

According to UNESCO, the Sao city-states, present since antiquity around Lake Chad and which left more than 350 archaeological sites across Cameroon and Chad, declined from the fifteenth century onward. The Kotoko kingdoms, which claim Sao descent, succeeded them in the Cameroonian Chad basin and federated city-states such as Logone-Birni, Kousséri and Makari.

Official sourceUNESCO – General History of AfricaPublished 1 Jan 1989Verified 6 Sept 2026

Events tied to this region

Events tied to this region
Date	Event	Era	Source
c. 1500	Decline of the Sao and the rise of the Kotoko kingdoms	Precolonial Cameroon	Official sourceUNESCO – General History of Africa
2 March 2014	Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North	The Renouveau era (since 1982)	International organisationUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)