Is Nkongsamba safe?
Cameroon · Africa · data updated 2026-09-04
Nkongsamba is a city in Cameroon, home to about 177k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,569 of 6,168, with a safety score of 44.6 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency Ambulance 112 · Fire 119 · Police 117
- 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
- Batibo; in the villages of Enyo, Ewai, Bossom /// in Enyoh and Ewah villages, located in Batibo district15 deaths · 1 event
- Ashong10 deaths · 1 event
- Mbonge town (SW) /// Bombanda village9 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Nkongsamba, 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 Nkongsamba.
How safe is Nkongsamba really?
No published homicide figure exists for Nkongsamba 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.
Nkongsamba also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 187 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 68 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Batibo; in the villages of Enyo, Ewai, Bossom /// in Enyoh and Ewah villages, located in Batibo district (15 deaths), Ashong (10 deaths), Mbonge town (SW) /// Bombanda village (9 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 Nkongsamba. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 6.8 /100knational rate, 2022 · ~2× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 187within 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
- 177kurban centre · 8,405/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 Nkongsamba 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 Nkongsamba that gives 44.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Nkongsamba compared with Douala
| Measure | Nkongsamba | Douala | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 44.6 | 45.1 | −0.4 — better for Douala |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 6.8 /100k | 6.8 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 187 | 159 | +28 — better for Douala |
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 Douala →
Nearby cities
See Nkongsamba on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Africa → · Full travel briefings →