Is Maroua safe?
Cameroon · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Maroua is a city in Cameroon, home to about 527k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,831 of 6,168, with a safety score of 39.7 out of 100 - in the lower part of the ranking, and the numbers below explain why.
Emergency Ambulance 112 · Fire 119 · Police 117
- Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 1,148 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (392 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country13 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Elevated homicide rate6.76 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 2× the global city median.
- Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Cameroon as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Degbawa, a reclusive location within the Mandara Mountains in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State60 deaths · 1 event
- Bama Local Government Area in Borno state The axis of Darajamal and Mayenti Around the axis of Bula Ngufdoye, Ngori, kote and Tangalanga, kulo Gomna, Bulamarwaye, Garje, Wuta and Mordo villages in the ceneroonian border town.40 deaths · 1 event
- Mandara, mountains, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State40 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Maroua, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Bakassi Peninsula
- Cameroon-Central African Republic border
- Cameroon-Chad border
- Cameroon-Nigeria border
- Far-North Region
- North-West Region
- South-West Region
- Limbé
- North Region, Adamawa Region and Maroua
- Adamawa Region
- a 20km radius to the north, east and west of Maroua
- 30km south of Maroua
- the 35km stretch of the N3 road connecting Limbé to the Littoral Region in Fako Division
Named in the official UK travel advice for Cameroon (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Maroua.
How safe is Maroua really?
No published homicide figure exists for Maroua itself, so the national rate stands in: Cameroon recorded 6.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022 - roughly 2 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Cameroon's income inequality is middling (Gini 42.2) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 1,148 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Maroua across 392 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Degbawa, a reclusive location within the Mandara Mountains in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State (60 deaths), Bama Local Government Area in Borno state The axis of Darajamal and Mayenti Around the axis of Bula Ngufdoye, Ngori, kote and Tangalanga, kulo Gomna, Bulamarwaye, Garje, Wuta and Mordo villages in the ceneroonian border town. (40 deaths), Mandara, mountains, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State (40 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Cameroon at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-05-14). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 13 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Cameroon
Terrorism in Cameroon · Bomb attacks · Armed robbery · Burglary and petty theft · Unofficial taxis · Violent crime near borders and roads · Criminal kidnapping · Adoption scams · Personal ID · Camouflage clothing · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Using cameras in secure areas · LGBT+ travellers · Wildlife, animal products and souvenirs · +5 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Cameroon — country-level, not specific to Maroua. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 6.8 /100knational rate, 2022 · ~2× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 1,148within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 42.2country, 2021
- Human development
- HDI 0.588country, 2023
- Income
- $5,700/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 527kurban centre · 7,524/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 30.2 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 39/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 35/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 26/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.45Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 55.6 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 0.1 doctors /1k2.7 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 261 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Cameroon
- Flood
- 6.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Cameroon as a whole, not Maroua specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Cameroon (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Cameroon; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Maroua that gives 39.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Maroua compared with Mora
| Measure | Maroua | Mora | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 39.7 | 37.8 | +1.9 — better for Maroua |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 6.8 /100k | 6.8 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 1,148 | 2,351 | −1,203 — better for Maroua |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Cameroon, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Mora →
Nearby cities
- Mora 37.8
- Kaélé 47.7
- Mokolo 37.8
- Guider 45.0
- Gwoza, Nigeria 35.6
- Michika, Nigeria 36.8
- Yagoua 52.1
- Bongor, Chad 62.9
See Maroua on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →