Also known as “city of seven hills” the city was founded in 1889 by the German officer and explorer Richard Kund. Yaoundé has played an important role in the occupation of Cameroon by German colonial forces. The city of Yaoundé became in 1922 the capital of French Cameroon. Today, with an area of 304 km² and a population of 2,440,462 inhabitants (2012), it is the political capital of Cameroon and the capital of the Central Region. Yaoundé, Cameroon’s second largest city has a tropical climate year round, due to the altitude, it is not as hot as the cities near the equator.