Cambodia

A Cambodian boy in the ruins of Angkor Wat, the heart of an ancient empire in South East Asia in which Cambodia has its main root. Picture by Albeiro Rodas.

The modern history of Cambodia has called the attention of the international community due to the several wars that started in 1970, when general Lon Nol took the power from the hands of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and aligned Cambodia with the USA and South Vietnam in the Vietnamese War. A communist guerrilla, the Khmer Rouge (Red Khmers), conducted by Salot Sar (known by his war nickname as Pol Pot), took the country on April 1975 and founded a closed Maoist state known as Democratic Kampuchea. When the Khmer Rouge regime was defeated in 1979 by a Vietnamese invasion, the population had lost about 1.7 million persons that gave cause to what is known as the "Cambodian Genocide".

Political instability was the rule throughout the 1980's since the Vietnamese control to the full independence. In 1997 Cambodia opened its economy and foreign investment improved its infrastructure and society undermined by long years of wars. Between 1999 and 2005 the economy grew, but social differences were stablished between a rich and middle class living in the cities and a poor farmer class in countryside.

The majority of the Cambodians practice Theravada Buddhism, a sort of Buddhism that is mixed in this country with Hinduism. The Cham ethnic, a group of Malay origin, is Muslim. Catholicism has a great influence in the history of the country since it came at the end of the 16th century and there are several Christian churches that came after the wars' periods.   

Geography

Cambodia is located in the Indochina Peninsula with an extension of 69.898 square miles (181,040 sq km). It longest international border is with Vietnam to its East (1,228 kms) that comes from the Gulf of Thailand in the Kompot Province to the mountainous northern province of Ratanakiri. In the north, Cambodia meets Laos at the East part and Thailand at the West. The 541 kilometers border with Laos is of mountains and the Mekong River comes into Cambodia from this country. The Thai border goes to the West and surrounds Cambodia until the Gulf in 800 kilometers. The south Cambodia has a coastline of 443 kilometers.

The Cambodian Plain

Cambodia is rather flat, but there are some important mountain ranges. The Mekong and the Tonle Sap rivers are the main water system and they joined in Phnom Penh to form the Bassac River. The Tonle Sap comes from Tonle Sap (Great Lake) at the center of the country and near the Archaeological Complex of Angkor Wat. The country is rich in lakes and rivers and therefore fishing is one of the main economic activities of Cambodia. The center of Cambodia is made by the Cambodian Plain that gives space to the meeting of the two big rivers, the Mekong coming straight from the northern Laos and the Tonle Sap from the lake. During the raining season the Cambodian Plain becomes the natural withdrawal of the river giving fertility to the land, especially for the rice fields and fishing. The lake grows its extension during the raining season (May - October) from 2,590 sq.km to 24,605 sq km.[1] The excess of water creates also a unique phenomenon when the body of the Mekong and Tonle Sap runs back. The natural floodings of the Cambodian Plains are actually of great benefit for the population economy and most of the Cambodians live in this central area where it is located Phnom Penh, the national capital. 

Mountains

The Cardamom Mountains divided the Cambodian Plain from the south of the country and from Thailand. They come from that western country toward south of Vietnam. At the south of the Cardamom Mountains is the sea coast with the Gulf. The highest elevation is 1,813 meters on the sea level (5,948 feet) in Phnom Oral (Pursat Province). Other important mountain is Bokou between Kompung Som and Kompot.

The provinces of Ratanakiri, Mondolokiri and Stung Treng to the Vietnamese and Laotian borders have several mountains that make a distinctive region. Several tribe groups with their own culture live in the area. These provinces were not much affected by the wars keeping intact their natural environment that are becoming nowadays tourist attractions.  

Political division

Cambodia is a Constitutional Kingdom divided by 21 provinces. There are also four special municipalities (Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Kep and Pailin) with their own administration as provinces. The provinces are divided by districts and there are 183 districts. Every district is divided by communes (1,621) and these ones by villages (13,406). Normally every province has a head village that has the same name of the province with few exceptions.

The Cambodian provinces and municipalities are: Phnom Penh City, Sihanoukville, Pailin and Kep that are municipalities with their own administration. The provinces: Siem Riep, Kampong Speu, Koh Kong, Kampot, Takeo, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Kampong Cham, Kratie, Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kampong Chhnang, Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Oudor Meanchey, Kandal, Kampong Thom and Preah Vihear.[2] The largest city is Phnom Penh (more than 1 million inhabitants).

Climate

Cambodia is located on the Tropic, at 11° 31' North and 104° 49' East. The average temperature is 30°C (86°F) thoughout the year. However, the mountains can be cooler. There are only two weathers in Cambodia: raining and dry season that are influenced by the monsoons. Raining season goes from May to October (rains, humidity, strong wings). Dry season goes from November to April but it is divided in two periods: from November to February is cool and dry due to the northerm monsoon and March and April are hot months.

Culture and identity

The majority of Cambodians belong to the Khmer ethnic, however the influence of minority groups are very important to describe the national culture. The official language is Khmer spoken by most of the people, but there are also some languages of the tribe groups, the Cham ethnic and the Cambodian Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotians and Thais.

The Cambodians are descendants of the ancient Angkor Empire that lasted from the 9th to the 14th century and that included all the Indochina Peninsula. However, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam have also Khmer minorities and their national cultures are related in a certain way to the Ankgor Empire. Language, dances, customs, mentality, architecture and many other cultural manifestations are inspired in that Golden Period of its history called in Cambodia as "Nokor" (the Old Kingdom).

Economy

The recent history of the Cambodian development can be divided in three periods: the first is the destruction of its economy throughout the 1970s; the second was the implementation of a socialist state where all the population was at the same condition during the 1980s and the third period comes when Cambodia opened its economy in the early 1990s to pursuit democracy and investment.[4]

The opening of the economy got a great advantange for those living in cities, especially Phnom Penh and for those at leading positions. At the same time, farmers where out of such benefits, bringing as a consequence a great current inequality.

The economy began to grow especially after 1999 when the Cambodian goverment signed different international agreements with countries like USA to establish tail factories. It attracts farmers to the cities and gave more capacity to the country to improve infrastructures like roads, airports, ports and electricity. At the same time, tourism became one of the first industries of the country attracting visitors from around the world to see the Archaeologic Complex of Angkor Wat and the traces of the recent Cambodian history, especially the regime of the Khmer Rouge.

Related articles

• History of Cambodia.
• Phnom Penh.
• Tourism in Cambodia.
• The Cambodian Genocide.
• Camboya (Español).
  

Bibliography

1. Cambodia in the Early 21st Century, Published by Media Business Network International and Promo Khmer under the Auspices of the Royal Government of Cambodia. Phnom Penh, February 2004. ISBN 2-9513524-0-9
   
2. Cambodian Economic Review, Cambodian Economic Association, Issue 3, Phnom Penh, June 2007.