This progressive development is tempered by the strong traditional culture that persists among the Bamileke and the province's other major ethnic group, the Bamum (sometimes Bamoum, Bamun, Bamoun).

The province's western half, on the other hand, is a haphazard mixture of raw minerals, granite, ferrallitic patches of red dirt, and other types.

The West's mountainous terrain and active tectonics create many fast-moving rivers with picturesque falls and isolated crater lakes.

This man-made lake is created by a dam on the Noun River, which helps regulate the Sanaga at Edéa in the Littoral Province and is thus an important component in Cameroon's supply of hydroelectric power.

Such an eruption at Lake Monoun killed 37 villagers near Foumbot on 15 and 16 August 1984.The Bamboutos Mountains are the West's primary land feature.

These mountains lie along the Cameroon Fault, dating from the Cretaceous, which runs roughly parallel to the border with the Northwest Province and through the capital of Bafoussam.

This is particularly evident on the Western High Plateau, where poor soil and less rainfall have exacerbated the effects of deforestation, turning the area into grassland.

East of the Noun River, the terrain is primarily covered in woodland savanna of the Sahel type, which forms a transitional zone to the lowly vegetated northern provinces.

The region experiences significant out-migration, particularly when the vast plantations of the Southwest Province hire workers for annual harvests.

Bamileke homes are traditionally made of dried earth placed on a bamboo frame and covered by a thatched roof.

The typical layout places a central audience chamber in front of other rooms for individuals of progressively lower rank.

The West is one of Cameroon's soundest economic areas due primarily to its agricultural prosperity and the enterprising traditions of the Bamileke people.

Due to increasing population density, however, they use the land almost continuously today; the loss in fertility is partially countered through extensive use of fertilisers and manure.

Some rice cultivation takes place under the Upper Noun Development Company (UNVDA) in the southeast, largely due to government projects.

Still, some herders drive cattle using transhumance methods in the northwestern half of the province, and the Kounden area is home to some modern ranching.

Smallholder farmers, especially women, keep domestic cavies in their homesteads that may provide more protein to family nutrition than any other meat source.

The area's few factories are almost all devoted to food processing, with plants in Bafoussam (beer, instant coffee), Foumbot, Dschang, and Kékem.

These include intricately decorated ceramics made from Foumban's high-quality clay, woodworking, brass and bronze casting, and cotton textiles, often featuring elaborate embroidery.

However, Cameroon's government and state-run media, largely run by President Paul Biya's numerically inferior Beti-Pahuin tribal group, are often accused of anti-Bamileke bias.

The Bamileke thus stand to gain a great deal from a more free and transparent government, and the West harbors many sympathisers for the presidential party's main opponents, the Social Democratic Front.

Students must often travel to nearby towns in order to pursue higher levels of education, since most villages do not have secondary schools.

However, most scholars today place this migration as late as the 19th century, likely the result of population pressures caused by the same Fulbe jihads that had earlier pushed the Bamileke south.

The king Mbwe-Mbwe extended Bamum holdings from the Mbam to the Noun Rivers, subjugating numerous local rulers in the process.

The area had only indirect contact with European powers (mostly due to slave raids by tribes further south) before the German annexation of the Cameroons in 1884.

The area's cool temperatures drew many German settlers, and the colonisers established great coffee plantations, which they forced the natives to work.

Sultan Njoya welcomed the first German emissary to the Bamum kingdom in 1902 after hearing of the ruthless treatment given rebellious tribes further to the northwest.

In 1956, France granted self-rule to its colony, and the West proved one of Cameroon's more politically influential areas due to groups such as Paysans Independants and the Assemblée Traditionnale Bamoun.

The powerful Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) party, including many Bamileke, considered him a French puppet and opposed him.

He outlawed the party's "terrorist" wing on 30 October 1963, leading to more strikes in Bamileke population centres and subsequent military retribution.

When the president resigned in 1982, his replacement, Paul Biya, sent his representative, Moussa Yaya, to reassure the West's businessmen that he would not prove unfriendly to their interests.