Bertoua is the capital of the Eastern Region of Cameroon and of the Lom-et-Djerem Department. It has a population of 88,462, and is the traditional home of the Gbaya people. It is home to an airport and Mission Cameroon of Polish Dominican Order.

The East Region occupies the southeastern portion of the Republic of Cameroon. It is bordered to the east by the Central African Republic, to the south by Congo, to the north by the Adamawa Region, and to the west by the Centre and South Regions. With 109,002 km2 of territory, it is the largest region in the nation as well as the most sparsely populated. Historically, the peoples of the East have been settled in Cameroonian territory for longer than any other of the country's many ethnic groups, the first inhabitants being the Baka pygmies.