European contact with Africa led to the development and evolution of African urban spaces. Even before the establishment of formal European control, the heterogeneous and cosmopolitan complexes that characterized port cities and other urban centers in Europe and the Americas were already evident in Africa. The institution of colonial administrative, political, economic, and social policies and structures hastened the pace of urbanization and, in the process, profoundly altered the lifestyles of those inhabiting the urban milieu and its environs.

The recent establishment of a Ministry of Urban Affairs in Cameroon represents official recognition of the growing influence of the urban formation on Cameroonian life. Yet, there remains a void in the historical research on the constantly changing urban environment in the country. This paper seeks to begin the process of filling this lacuna by focusing on the growth of the urban center of Victoria (now Limbe), one of Cameroon's oldest continually inhabited cities.

Indeed, Victoria's position is unique in several ways. Unlike other major towns, Victoria was founded as a religious rather than a trading or commercial center. Consequently, Victoria came to play a significant role in the spread of Christianity in Anglophone Cameroon. Its religious underpinnings notwithstanding, Victoria rapidly became the commercial hub and economic nerve center of Anglophone Cameroon, whether it was under German, English, or French rule.

The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine the major aspects that characterized Victoria's urban spaces during the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial periods. Consequently, the objectives are twofold: to trace the origin and evolution of Victoria during the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial eras, and to analyze the social and economic mutations in Victoria during the different periods.

The emergence of the settlement at Victoria confirms Chiabi's assertion that European influence was behind the creation of towns and cities in Cameroon. In this connection, Victoria originated as a religious haven for protestant missionaries driven from the island of Fernando Po following the suppression of Protestantism on that island by the Spaniards in the 1840s.