of Cameroon's earliest political parties were located there. The biggest of these were the Union Camerounaise, with large constituencies in the Centre and North (led by Ahmido Ahidjo), and the Democrats Camerounais (DC), with support from the Yaoundé region and headed by André-Marie Mbida. Most of these parties offered a pro-independence platform. The capital was also the natural site of early political protests. When the colony's most vocal political party, Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), rioted there over raised prices at Yaoundé market stalls, for example, the government outlawed the group. This led to multiple clashes between pro- and anti-UPC factions in Yaoundé, which continued even after independence in 1960. Post-independence Under Cameroon's first president, Amadou Ahidjo, Cameroon was split into seven provinces. The present-day Centre and South Provinces were at this time combined into one Centre-South Province. It would remain this way until Cameroon's second president, Paul Biya, split the Centre-South into the present Centre and South Provinces on 22 August 1983. Under Ahidjo, the railway was pushed northeast, reaching Bélabo in the East Province in 1974. In an effort to better unify the north and south portions of the country, Ahidjo also ordered a road built north from Yaoundé to Ngaoundéré (National Road 1). Ahidjo also paved major roads, including the stretches between Douala and Yaoundé and Bafoussam and Yaoundé, beginning in 1966. Education also experienced improvement. The University of Yaoundé was founded in 1962 for a student body of 7,500. After large student protests in 1973 and 1980 against overcrowding of the facilities, that institution was decentralised, and other universities were opened in other regions of the country. Notes References Fanso, V.G., Cameroon History for Secondary Schools and Colleges, Vol. 1: From Prehistoric Times to the Nineteenth Century. Hong Kong: Macmillan Education Ltd, 1989. Gwanfogbe, Mathew, Ambrose Meligui, Jean Moukam, and Jeanette Nguoghia, Geography of Cameroon. Hong Kong: Macmillan Education Ltd, 1983. Neba, Aaron, Ph.D., Modern Geography of the Republic of Cameroon, 3rd ed. Bamenda: Neba Publishers, 1999. Ngoh, Victor Julius, History of Cameroon Since 1800. Limbé: Presbook, 1996. Regions of Cameroon States and territories established in 1983