Country Profiles: Cambodia

Cambodia is located in Asia. Cambodia has a rich and complicated history.

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire that extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. The king placed the country under French protection in 1863 and it became part of French Indochina in 1887. Following Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia gained full independence from France in 1953. In April 1975, after a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh and evacuated all cities and towns. At least 1.5 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. (CIA World Factbook)

With an area of 181,035 sq km, it is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Oklahoma.

Cambodia shares a border with Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is mostly low, flat plains, with mountains in southwest and north.

People who live in Cambodia are called Cambodians, which is also an adjective used to describe something from this country. As of July 2012, there are 14,952,665 people in Cambodia. The ethnic groups that reside in Cambodia are mostly Khmer (90%) with some Vietnamese (5%) and Chinese (1%). Khmer is the official language, but French and English are both spoken there as well. Buddhism is the official religion (96.4%), while Muslims make up an additional 2.1%.

The country's official name is Kingdom of Cambodia. The capital is Phnom Penh, and the country is made up of 23 provinces and 1 municipality. A constitution was promulgated on September 21, 1993. The constitution can be found here through Constitution Finder. The current leader is King Norodom Sihamoni. Information about the leaders of COUNTRY's government can be found here. The currency is the riels (abbreviated KHR), which stands at 4,058.5 KHR per USD as of 2011.

All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Kingdom of Cambodia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Cambodia, CIA World Factbook

U.S. Relations with Cambodia, U.S. Department of State

2011 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Cambodia, U.S. Department of State.

You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.




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