On January 1, 1960, French-administered Cameroon gained independence — only the second French-speaking territory in sub-Saharan Africa to do so, two years after Guinea.
But the partition inherited from German Kamerun was not yet resolved. A UN-supervised referendum was held on February 11, 1961, in British Cameroons: the north chose to join Nigeria, the south chose Cameroon. On October 1, 1961, the Federal Republic of Cameroon was born — a second birth date now known as "reunification."
Sources: Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikipedia (1961 referendum).
