Northern Cameroon, where a third of the country's population lives, comprises three administrative regions: Adamawa, North and Far North. There is a high degree of ethnic and linguistic diversity there, particularly in the Far North region where sixty local languages have been identified. Since 1982, the year when Paul Biya came to power, population mobility and mixing has accelerated considerably throughout the country. Fulfulde, which was already an important trade language at the time, has gained ground, despite the appearance of conciousness movements among some ethnic groups.