Cambodia in Brief - 1953- 1993
The Kingdom of Cambodia
Map of provinces of Cambodia
Capital City: Phnom Penh with population of 1,300,000
Population: 13,363,421 people
Religions: Theraveda Buddhist 95%, other 5%
Languages: Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
Economy: Tourism and clothing sector are Cambodia’s fastest growing industries. Cambodia expects 1 million foreign tourists in 2004.
Natural Resources: Oil and gas, timber, gemstones, and hydropower potential. Increased illegal logging and stripped mining for gems threatens Cambodia’s habitats.
Government: Multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy was established in September 1993.
Population: 13,363,421 people
Religions: Theraveda Buddhist 95%, other 5%
Languages: Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
Economy: Tourism and clothing sector are Cambodia’s fastest growing industries. Cambodia expects 1 million foreign tourists in 2004.
Natural Resources: Oil and gas, timber, gemstones, and hydropower potential. Increased illegal logging and stripped mining for gems threatens Cambodia’s habitats.
Government: Multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy was established in September 1993.
Provinces of Cambodia
Flag of Cambodia
Provinces of Cambodia: 20 provinces: Banteay Mean Chey, Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Spoe, Kampong Thum, Kampot, Kandal, Koh Kong, Kracheh, Mondol Kiri, Otdar Mean Chey, Pouthisat, Preach Vihear, Prey Veng, Rotanakir, Siem Reap, Stoeng Treng, Svay Rieng, and Takao.
4 municipalities: Keb, Pailin, Phnom Penh, and Preah Sihanouk. ( we will update some more new provinces soon)
Ankgor Wat is a symbol of Cambodia. Cambodia has the only flag that incorporates a building in its design
4 municipalities: Keb, Pailin, Phnom Penh, and Preah Sihanouk. ( we will update some more new provinces soon)
Ankgor Wat is a symbol of Cambodia. Cambodia has the only flag that incorporates a building in its design
What is the capital of Cambodia?
Royal palace in Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. It potrayed to Cambodia as the center for direct the country's economic grown to be the source of renewed domains after 1979 such as industrial, commercial, cultural, tourist and historical center.
Once known as the "Pearl of Asia" in the 1920s, Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap is a significant global and domestic tourist destination for Cambodia in addition to its traditional but modern revision surrounding the entire city has demonstrated the valuable resort to attract the majority to tourism experience.
Phnom Penh is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia. It is also the commercial, political and cultural hub of Cambodia and is home to more than 2 million of Cambodia's population of over 14 million.
Once known as the "Pearl of Asia" in the 1920s, Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap is a significant global and domestic tourist destination for Cambodia in addition to its traditional but modern revision surrounding the entire city has demonstrated the valuable resort to attract the majority to tourism experience.
Phnom Penh is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia. It is also the commercial, political and cultural hub of Cambodia and is home to more than 2 million of Cambodia's population of over 14 million.
The People of Cambodia
Cambodian Religion Celebration
According to the General Population Census of 1998 the total population of Cambodia is 11.4 million, with an annual growth rate of some 2.8 per cent. The population density is approximately 45 people per square kilometer.
An estimated 1.2 million people reside in the capital, Phnom Penh. Other major centres of population include Sihanoukville, Siem Reap, Battambang, Takeo, Kompong Cham and Kompong Thom.
Ethnic Khmers make up some 96 per cent of Cambodia's total population.
The largest single minority group is that of the Cham-Malays, who are settled mainly along the Mekong to the north of Phnom Penh. Descended from the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Champa in what is now southern coastal Việt Nam, they adopted their faith and script from the Malays who settled in Kampot at the invitation of Muslim Khmer King Chan in 1642.
Partly urbanised, often educated and much involved in trade and commerce, the Cham were severely persecuted during the Pol Pot years and their present population of just over 200,000 compares to a figure of over 800,000 during the 1950s and 1960s.
Numbering around 50,000, the ethnic Chinese constitute another important ethnic group in Cambodia, although, as in neighbouring Thailand, they have been assimilated to a greater degree than in many other parts of South East Asia. As such they may be contrasted with the community of some 95,000 ethnic Vietnamese, which mostly retains its cultural distinctiveness.
Cambodia is also home to some 20 culturally distinct hill tribes, most of which occupy the mountainous districts of the north east.
The majority of these hill tribes hail from the Mon-Khmer group of the Austro-Asiatic language family and their traditional homeland straddles the border with southern Laos and the central highlands of Việt Nam.
Most numerically significant of Cambodia’s hill tribe ethnicities are the Kui of Preah Vihear Province; the Pnong (or Mnong) of Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, eastern Kratie and south east Stung Treng Provinces; the Brau with their sub-groups the Kravet and the Krung of Ratanakiri and eastern Stung Treng Provinces; the Tampuan, Jarai and Rhade (or Ede) of Ratanakiri Province; and the Stieng of Kratie Province.
Nearly 85 per cent of the Cambodian people are involved in subsistence farming, living in small villages of stilted huts with exterior and partition walls made of palm mats and floors of woven bamboo strips resting on bamboo joists. Swidden ('slash-and-burn') farming techniques practiced by many of the hill tribes of the north east and illegal logging carried along on the border with Thailand continue to pose a serious threat to the environment, whilst landmines remain a serious hindrance to agricultural development. As in neighbouring Laos, poverty, disease and malnutrition are widespread amongst outlying rural communities, although in recent years the government has been making strenuous efforts to redress this situation.- (Cambodia Cultural Profile)
An estimated 1.2 million people reside in the capital, Phnom Penh. Other major centres of population include Sihanoukville, Siem Reap, Battambang, Takeo, Kompong Cham and Kompong Thom.
Ethnic Khmers make up some 96 per cent of Cambodia's total population.
The largest single minority group is that of the Cham-Malays, who are settled mainly along the Mekong to the north of Phnom Penh. Descended from the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Champa in what is now southern coastal Việt Nam, they adopted their faith and script from the Malays who settled in Kampot at the invitation of Muslim Khmer King Chan in 1642.
Partly urbanised, often educated and much involved in trade and commerce, the Cham were severely persecuted during the Pol Pot years and their present population of just over 200,000 compares to a figure of over 800,000 during the 1950s and 1960s.
Numbering around 50,000, the ethnic Chinese constitute another important ethnic group in Cambodia, although, as in neighbouring Thailand, they have been assimilated to a greater degree than in many other parts of South East Asia. As such they may be contrasted with the community of some 95,000 ethnic Vietnamese, which mostly retains its cultural distinctiveness.
Cambodia is also home to some 20 culturally distinct hill tribes, most of which occupy the mountainous districts of the north east.
The majority of these hill tribes hail from the Mon-Khmer group of the Austro-Asiatic language family and their traditional homeland straddles the border with southern Laos and the central highlands of Việt Nam.
Most numerically significant of Cambodia’s hill tribe ethnicities are the Kui of Preah Vihear Province; the Pnong (or Mnong) of Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, eastern Kratie and south east Stung Treng Provinces; the Brau with their sub-groups the Kravet and the Krung of Ratanakiri and eastern Stung Treng Provinces; the Tampuan, Jarai and Rhade (or Ede) of Ratanakiri Province; and the Stieng of Kratie Province.
Nearly 85 per cent of the Cambodian people are involved in subsistence farming, living in small villages of stilted huts with exterior and partition walls made of palm mats and floors of woven bamboo strips resting on bamboo joists. Swidden ('slash-and-burn') farming techniques practiced by many of the hill tribes of the north east and illegal logging carried along on the border with Thailand continue to pose a serious threat to the environment, whilst landmines remain a serious hindrance to agricultural development. As in neighbouring Laos, poverty, disease and malnutrition are widespread amongst outlying rural communities, although in recent years the government has been making strenuous efforts to redress this situation.- (Cambodia Cultural Profile)
Cambodian History in Brief
Independence Monument
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From the time of its independence from French occupation in 1953, to the 1970s Khmer Rouge Communist Regime, to today’s UN-mandated democratic coalition government, Cambodia continues to struggle for peace and unity amid a tumultuous political playground.
1955-1969 - Sangkum Reastr Niyum, King Sihanouk Head of State After the French withdrew from Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk became the country’s new political leader of the Popular Socialist Party. Throughout the 1960s, King Sihanouk struggled to keep Cambodia neutral as the neighboring countries of Laos and South Vietnam came under increasing Communist attack during the Vietnam War. |
King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Monineath Sihanouk
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King Norodom Sihanouk gave considerable power to his defense minister and supreme commander of the army; Lt. Gen. Lon Nol who later overthrew King Norodom Sihanouk as Head of State. King Norodom Sihanouk went into exile in Beijing, China. Soon after the coup, South Vietnam and U.S. used Cambodia as another battleground against the Communists. Cambodia was no longer a neutral state.
In 1970, the U.S. supported the South Vietnamese fighting in Cambodia through air strikes that destroyed villages and killing thousands of civilians. This angered many Cambodians leading them to support the growing communist regime in Cambodia; the Khmer Rouge. |
1970-1974 Republican of Cambodia: Lon Nol Regime
Lon Nol
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With the withdrawal of U.S., North, and South Vietnamese troops from Cambodia a civil war ensued. Fighting broke out between Lon Nol’s troops and the Khmer Rouge communists, which grew to 30,000.
Lon Nol fled to Hawaii when the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975 thus beginning Cambodia’s reign of terror. |
1975-1979 - Democratic Kampuchea: Khmer Rouge Communist
Pol Pot
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Following the takeover in 1975, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot renamed the country “Democratic Kampuchea”. He then proceeded to force entire urban populations, such as those in Phnom Penh, to the rural areas to work in agriculture.
About one and a half million people were executed by the Khmer Rouge during this four year period. Members of the upper, middle, and educated classes, along with suspected enemies of the Khmer Rouge, were all victims of the genocide. |
1979-1991 - Civil War: Heng Samren Regime
Heng Samrin
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In 1978 the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia. By 1979 they had seized Phnom Penh pushing the Khmer Rouge into the jungles, ending the genocide.
That same year, with the success of the Vietnamese invasion a former Khmer Rouge leader, Heng Samrin, led a successful revolt against Pol Pot taking over as Cambodia’s President and Communist leader. Throughout the 1980’s Cambodia civil war raged with fighting among a Sihanouk-led guerrilla group, Heng Samrin’s army, Hun Sen’s army, Vietnamese troops and Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Heng Samrin lost power to Hun Sen (the new Vietnamese-backed premier) but remained Head of State until Sihanouk’s return in 1991. In 1987, peace talks among the warring leaders began in Paris, and in 1989, Vietnam agreed to withdraw all its troops. On Oct. 23, 1991, a Paris Peace treaty was signed by all the warring leaders: Sihanouk, Hun Sen and Pol Pot. However, the Khmer Rouge did not disarm as agreed and continued guerrilla fighting. Sihanouk criticized the Khmer Rouge and joined forces with Hun Sen to become Head of State again in 1991. The United Nations began working for democratic elections in Cambodia. |
The Royal Government of Cambodia
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Supervised by a large UN-peace keeping mission called UNTAC, Cambodia held its first democratic elections in May of 1993. The Khmer Rouge boycotted the elections and continued to fight in the large |
territories they controlled in the northern and western parts of the country. The Royalist party won the largest number of seats and Hun Sen’s party came in second. A two party coalition government was formed with co-premiers, Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen sharing powers. A new constitution reestablished the monarchy with Sihanouk becoming King.
The Royal Government of Cambodia has a constitutional monarchy headed by a king along with a parliament headed by a premier. The parliament has of a popularly elected National Assembly consisting of at least 120 members and a Senate with no more than half the number of members of the National Assembly.
Members of parliament serve five-year terms. The premier must have the support of two thirds of the members of the National Assembly.
In July 1998, Prince Ranariddh returned to Cambodia and ran against Hun Sen again in the legislative elections. Hun Sen's party (the Cambodian People's party) was the official winner of the controversial election and he became the only premier. Prince Ranariddh became the president of the National Assembly. Hun Sen has since further strengthened his control of the country.
The Royal Government of Cambodia has a constitutional monarchy headed by a king along with a parliament headed by a premier. The parliament has of a popularly elected National Assembly consisting of at least 120 members and a Senate with no more than half the number of members of the National Assembly.
Members of parliament serve five-year terms. The premier must have the support of two thirds of the members of the National Assembly.
In July 1998, Prince Ranariddh returned to Cambodia and ran against Hun Sen again in the legislative elections. Hun Sen's party (the Cambodian People's party) was the official winner of the controversial election and he became the only premier. Prince Ranariddh became the president of the National Assembly. Hun Sen has since further strengthened his control of the country.
