Cambodia#Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian era

{{Main|Names of Cambodia}}

The Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge, which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer {{lang|km|កម្ពុជា}} ({{transliteration|km|Kâmpŭchéa}}, {{IPA|km|kampuciə|pron}}). Kâmpŭchéa is the shortened alternative to the country's official name in Khmer {{lang|km|ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា}} ({{transliteration|km|Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa}}, {{IPA|km|preah riəciənaːcak kampuciə|pron}}. The Khmer endonym {{lang|km|កម្ពុជា}} Kâmpŭchéa derives from the Sanskrit name {{lang|sa|कम्बोजदेश}} Kambojadeśa, composed of {{lang|sa|देश}} Deśa ("land of" or "country of") and {{lang|sa|कम्बोज}} (Kamboja), referring to the descendants of Kambu (a legendary Indian sage from the ancient Indian kingdom of Kamboja).{{cite journal |last1=Chad |first1=Raymond |title=Regional Geographic Influence on Two Khmer Polities |journal=Salve Regina University, Faculty and Staff: Articles and Papers |date=1 April 2005 |page=137 |url=http://digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=fac_staff_pub |access-date=1 November 2015 |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003111557/http://digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=fac_staff_pub |url-status=live }} The term Cambodia was already in use in Europe as early as 1524, since Antonio Pigafetta cites it in his work Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524–1525) as Camogia.{{cite web |title=Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo – Wikisource |url=https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Relazione_del_primo_viaggio_intorno_al_mondo |website=it.wikisource.org |access-date=26 September 2018 |archive-date=22 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122135516/https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Relazione_del_primo_viaggio_intorno_al_mondo |url-status=live }}

Scholar George Coedes refers to a 10th-century inscription of a Cambodian dynastic legend in which the hermit Kambu Swayambhuva and the celestial nymph Mera unite and establish the Cambodian Solar royal dynasty (Kambu-Mera), that begins with the Chenla ruler Srutavarman and his son Sreshthavarman. Coedes suggests that the Kambu Swayambhuva legend has its origins in southern India, as a version of the Kanchi Pallava dynasty creation myth.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDyJBFTdiwoC&q=KAMBU+SVAYAMBHUVA&pg=PA66 |title=The Indianized States of South-East Asia |author=George Coedès |year=1968 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824803681 |access-date=14 January 2018 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/people/faculty/Stark/pdfs/YoffeePages313332.pdf |title=9 Textualized Places, Pre-Angkorian Khmers and Historicized Archaeology by Miriam T. Stark - Cambodia's Origins and the Khok Thlok Story |author=Miriam T. Stark |author-link1=Miriam Stark |publisher=University of Hawaii |date=2006 |access-date=14 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923172439/http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/people/faculty/Stark/pdfs/YoffeePages313332.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|History of Cambodia}}

{{Main|Early history of Cambodia}}

File:Ewer from Cambodia, Angkorian era, 12th century, glazed stoneware, HAA.JPG

There exists evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of what later is Cambodia, which includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratié provinces, and in Kampot province.{{Cite book |author=Stark, Miriam |editor1-first=Ian |editor1-last=Glover |editor2-first=Peter S. |editor2-last=Bellwood |title=Southeast Asia: from prehistory to history |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-39117-7 |chapter=Pre-Angkorian and Angkorian Cambodia |chapter-url=http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/People/Faculty/Stark/pdfs/2004_PreAngkorian.pdf |access-date=18 November 2009 |archive-date=10 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610170734/http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/People/Faculty/Stark/pdfs/2004_PreAngkorian.pdf |url-status=dead }} Some archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during the Holocene: the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of Laang Spean, which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC.{{cite web |url=http://www.smartcambodia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=841%3Athe-second-prehistoric-archaeological-excavation-in-laang-spean-2009&catid=80&lang=en |title=The Second Prehistoric Archaeological Excavation in Laang Spean (2009) |first=Michel |last=Tranet |date=20 October 2009 |access-date=17 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101174655/http://www.smartcambodia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=841%3Athe-second-prehistoric-archaeological-excavation-in-laang-spean-2009&catid=80&lang=en |archive-date=1 January 2011 }} Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic, containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia.{{cite web |url=http://www.smartcambodia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=840%3Athe-oldest-ceramic-in-cambodias-laang-spean-1966-68&catid=80&lang=en |title=The Oldest Ceramic in Cambodia's Laang Spean (1966–68) |date=20 October 2009 |access-date=17 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101163727/http://www.smartcambodia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=840%3Athe-oldest-ceramic-in-cambodias-laang-spean-1966-68&catid=80&lang=en |archive-date=1 January 2011 }}

Archaeological records for the period between the Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. An event in prehistory was the penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the third millennium BC.{{Cite book |author=Higham, Charles |title=The civilization of Angkor |publisher=Phoenix |isbn=978-1-84212-584-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oZ52cuX8s4C |date=January 2002}}, pp.13–22 Prehistoric evidence are the "circular earthworks" discovered in the red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, and some of them possibly date from the second millennium BC.{{cite web |url=http://memotcentre.org/Earthwork.html |title=Research History |publisher=Memot Centre for Archaeology |access-date=6 February 2009 |archive-date=20 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320094402/http://memotcentre.org/Earthwork.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Albrecht |first1=Gerd |author2=Miriam Noel Haidle |author3=Chhor Sivleng |author4=Heang Leang Hong |author5=Heng Sophady |author6=Heng Than |author7=Mao Someaphyvath |author8=Sirik Kada |author9=Som Sophal|author10=Thuy Chanthourn |author11=Vin Laychour |year=2000 |title=Circular Earthwork Krek 52/62 Recent Research on the Prehistory of Cambodia |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=39 |issue=1–2 |issn=0066-8435 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/asian_perspectives/v039/39.1albrecht.pdf |access-date=15 November 2009 |display-authors=1 |archive-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422173620/https://muse.jhu.edu/demo/asian_perspectives/v039/39.1albrecht.pdf |url-status=dead }} Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of Oudong), where the first investigations began in 1875,{{Cite book |author=Higham, Charles |title=The Archaeology of Mainland Southeast Asia |year=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-27525-5}}, p.120 and Phum Snay, in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey.{{Cite journal |author1=O'Reilly, Dougald J.W. |author2=von den Driesch, Angela |author3=Voeun, Vuthy |year=2006 |title=Archaeology and Archaeozoology of Phum Snay: A Late Prehistoric Cemetery in Northwestern Cambodia |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=45 |issue=2 |issn=0066-8435 }}

Iron was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau, in what later is Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian temples while circular earthworks were discovered at the site of Lovea kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials testify to improvement of food availability and trade, and the existence of a social structure and labour organisation.Carter, A. K. (2011). Trade and Exchange Networks in Iron Age Cambodia: Preliminary Results from a Compositional Analysis of Glass Beads. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 30, 178–188. Kinds of glass beads recovered from sites, such as the Phum Snay site in the northwest and the Prohear site in the southeast, suggest that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about the 2nd–4th century AD, probably due to changes in socio-political powers.

{{Main|Kingdom of Funan|Chenla|Khmer Empire|Post-Angkor Period}}

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During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and its successor, Chenla, coalesced in what later is Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, what was to become Cambodia absorbed influences from India, passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilisations that later became Thailand and Laos.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/90520/Cambodia |title=History of Cambodia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=9 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309103737/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/90520/Cambodia |url-status=live }}

The Khmer Empire grew out of the remnants of Chenla, becoming firmly established in 802 when Jayavarman II (reigned {{Circa|790}} – {{Circa|835}}) declared independence from Java and proclaimed themselves a Devaraja. They and their followers instituted the cult of the God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the area from the 9th to the 15th centuries.{{cite web |url=http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/seasia/ppenh/khmer01.html |title=Khmer Empire Map |publisher=Art-and-archaeology.com |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927111756/http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/seasia/ppenh/khmer01.html |url-status=live }} During the rule of Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by the Mongol army of Kublai Khan; the king was able to buy peace.Cœdès, George. (1956) The Making of South East Asia, pp.127–128. Around the 13th century, Theravada missionaries from Sri Lanka reintroduced Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia, having sent missionaries previously in the 1190s.Gyallay-Pap, Peter. "Notes of the Rebirth of Khmer Buddhism", Radical Conservativism.{{cite web |url=http://asia.msu.edu/seasia/Cambodia/religion.html |title=Windows on Asia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521010839/http://asia.msu.edu/seasia/Cambodia/religion.html |archive-date=21 May 2007 }} The religion spread and eventually displaced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; it was not the official state religion until 1295 when Indravarman III took power.[http://www.cambodia-travel.com/khmer/angkor-era3.htm Angkor Era – Part III (1181–1309 A.D)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201053806/http://www.cambodia-travel.com/khmer/angkor-era3.htm |date=1 December 2012 }}, Cambodia Travel.

The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power was Angkor, where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of {{convert|2,980|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=off}}.{{cite journal |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |title=A comprehensive archaeological map of the world's largest pre-industrial settlement complex at Angkor, Cambodia |doi=10.1073/pnas.0702525104 |pmid=17717084 |volume=104 |issue=36 |pages=14277–14282 |year=2007 |last1=Evans |first1=Damian |pmc=1964867 |bibcode=2007PNAS..10414277E |doi-access=free |first2=Christophe |last2=Pottier |first3=Roland |last3=Fletcher |first4=Scott |last4=Hensley |first5=Ian |last5=Tapley |first6=Anthony |last6=Milne |first7=Michael |last7=Barbetti |display-authors=1 }} The city could have supported a population of up to 1 million people.{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/metropolis-angkor-the-worlds-first-megacity-461623.html |title=Metropolis: Angkor, the world's first mega-city |work=The Independent |date=15 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605004646/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/metropolis-angkor-the-worlds-first-megacity-461623.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}

After a series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown.{{ cite book |author-link=David P. Chandler |last=Chandler |first=David P. |date=1991 |title=The Land and the People of Cambodia |publisher=HarperCollins |place=New York |page=77 |isbn=0060211296 }}{{ cite news |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040613-0915-fallenangkor.html |title=Scientists dig and fly over Angkor in search of answers to golden city's fall |agency=The Associated Press |date=13 June 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041225132009/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040613-0915-fallenangkor.html |archive-date=25 December 2004 }}

File:Vietnam 1760.jpg in 1760]]

The hill tribe people were "hunted incessantly and carried off as slaves by the Siamese (Thai), the Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians".Colquhoun, Archibald Ross (1885). Amongst the Shans (p. 53). London: Field & Tuer; New York: Scribner & Welford. https://books.google.com/books?id=3wQPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA53"[https://web.archive.org/web/20101009132129/http://kyotoreviewsea.org/slavery4.htm Slavery in Nineteenth-Century Northern Thailand (Page 4 of 6)]". Kyoto Review of South East Asia; (Colquhoun 1885:53).

Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the Mekong Delta had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698,{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Noelle |title=Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places |date=12 November 2012 |isbn=9781136639791 |pages=354 |publisher=Routledge |quote=In 1691, the Vietnamese occupied Prey Nokor, renaming it Gia Dinh; in 1698 they annexed the remainder of the Mekong Delta and created two provinces, Tran Bien and Phien Tran }} with King Chey Chettha II granting the Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before.{{Cite book |last=Kamm |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Kamm |title=Cambodia Report from a Stricken Land |publisher=Arcade Publishing |year=1998 |location=New York |page=23 |isbn=1-55970-507-8 }}

In 1863, King Norodom signed a treaty of protection with France. The protectorate of France period lasted until 1953, with a brief interruption while the kingdom was occupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945 and simultaneously existing as the puppet state of Kingdom of Kampuchea in 1945. Between 1874 and 1962, the total population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million."[http://countrystudies.us/cambodia/40.htm Cambodia – Population] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629180423/http://countrystudies.us/cambodia/40.htm |date=29 June 2011 }}". Library of Congress Country Studies. After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on the throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk, a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control.{{Cite book |last=Kamm |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Kamm |title=Cambodia: report from a stricken land |url=https://archive.org/details/cambodiareportfr00kamm |url-access=registration |publisher=Arcade Publishing |year=1998 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambodiareportfr00kamm/page/27 27] |isbn=1-55970-433-0 }} Under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953.

{{Main|Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)}}

In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father to participate in politics and was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War. Sihanouk allowed the Vietnamese communists to use Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces fighting in South Vietnam. In December 1967 Washington Post journalist Stanley Karnow was told by Sihanouk that if the US wanted to bomb the Vietnamese communist sanctuaries, he would not object unless Cambodians were killed.Washington Post, 29 December 1967

File:Mao Sihanouk.jpg and Mao Zedong in 1956]]

The same message was conveyed to US President Johnson's emissary Chester Bowles in January 1968.Morris, p. 44, {{ISBN|0804730490}}. In public Sihanouk refuted the right of the U.S. to use air strikes in Cambodia, and on 26 March he said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop". On 28 March a press conference was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media: "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand of Cambodia—that is, I will, in any case, oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext." Nevertheless, the bombing continued.Bombing in Cambodia: Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, 93d Cong., 1st sess., July/August 1973, pp. 158–160, the primary source on the "secret bombings".

{{Main|Khmer Republic|Cambodian Civil War}}

While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak.Clymer, K. J., The United States and Cambodia, Routledge, 2004, p.22 Once the coup was completed, the new regime, which demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, desperate to retain their sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam, launched armed attacks on the new government. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war.{{Cite book |author=Norodom Sihanouk |author-link=Norodom Sihanouk |title=My War with the CIA, The Memoirs of Prince Norodom Sihanouk as related to Wilfred Burchett |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=1973 |isbn=0-394-48543-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/mywarwithcia00noro }}

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| caption1 = Tens of thousands of people were killed during the US bombing of Cambodia between 1970 and 1973.{{cite journal |last1=Owen |first1=Taylor |last2=Kiernan |first2=Ben |title=Bombs Over Cambodia |journal=The Walrus |date=October 2006 |url=http://www.yale.edu/cgp/Walrus_CambodiaBombing_OCT06.pdf |pages=32–36 |quote=The evidence of survivors from many parts of [Cambodia] suggests that at least tens of thousands, probably in the range of 50,000 to 150,000 deaths, resulted from the US bombing campaigns ..." |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420220434/http://www.yale.edu/cgp/Walrus_CambodiaBombing_OCT06.pdf |archive-date=20 April 2016}} See {{cite web |author-link1=Ben Kiernan |last1=Kiernan |first1=Ben |last2=Owen |first2=Taylor |url=http://apjjf.org/2015/13/16/Ben-Kiernan/4313.html |title=Making More Enemies than We Kill? Calculating U.S. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications |work=The Asia-Pacific Journal |date=26 April 2015 |access-date=19 September 2016 |archive-date=12 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912002843/http://www.yale.edu/cgp/Walrus_CambodiaBombing_OCT06.pdf |url-status=live }}

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Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. From 1970 until 1972, the Cambodian conflict was largely between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge.Morris, pp. 48–51.

Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot's then second in command, Nuon Chea.{{cite book |last=Mosyakov |first=Dmitry |date=2004 |chapter-url=http://www.yale.edu/gsp/publications/Mosyakov.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309074636/http://www.yale.edu/gsp/publications/Mosyakov.doc |archive-date=9 March 2013 |access-date=13 April 2015 |chapter=The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Communists: A History of Their Relations as Told in the Soviet Archives |editor-last=Cook |editor-first=Susan E. |title=Genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda |series=Yale Genocide Studies Program Monograph Series No. 1 |pages=54 ff |quote=In April–May 1970, many North Vietnamese forces entered Cambodia in response to the call for help addressed to Vietnam not by Pol Pot, but by his deputy Nuon Chea. Nguyen Co Thach recalls: 'Nuon Chea has asked for help and we have liberated five provinces of Cambodia in ten days.' }} NVA units overran Cambodian army positions while the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North Vietnamese invasion, US President Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in a campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see Cambodian Incursion).Short, Philip (2004) Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare, Henry Holt & Co.: New York, p. 204, {{ISBN|0805080066}}.

On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days, led to the collapse of the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, 5 days after the US mission evacuated Cambodia.Short, Philip (2004) Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare, Henry Holt & Co.: New York, p. 4, {{ISBN|0805080066}}.

{{Main|Democratic Kampuchea|Cambodian genocide}}

File:TuolSlang3.jpg contain thousands of photos taken by the Khmer Rouge of their victims.]]

File:Buddhist Stupa at Choeung Ek killing fields, Cambodia.JPG, a known site of mass grave for genocide victims during the Khmer Rouge era]]

Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately 1 to 3 million; a cited figure is 2 million (about a quarter of the population).{{cite journal |last=Locard |first=Henri |title=State Violence in Democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979) and Retribution (1979–2004) |journal=European Review of History |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=121–143 |date=March 2005 |doi=10.1080/13507480500047811 |citeseerx=10.1.1.692.8388 |s2cid=144712717 |url=http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/cambodia/locard.pdf |access-date=23 September 2019 |archive-date=31 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031164305/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/cambodia/locard.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |author-link=Ben Kiernan |last=Kiernan |first=Ben |title=The Demography of Genocide in Southeast Asia: The Death Tolls in Cambodia, 1975–79, and East Timor, 1975–80 |journal=Critical Asian Studies |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=585–597 |year=2003 |doi=10.1080/1467271032000147041 |s2cid=143971159 |quote=We may safely conclude, from known pre- and post-genocide population figures and from professional demographic calculations, that the 1975–79 death toll was between 1.671 and 1.871 million people, 21 to 24 per cent of Cambodia's 1975 population. }}{{cite book |last=Heuveline |first=Patrick |chapter=The Demographic Analysis of Mortality Crises: The Case of Cambodia, 1970–1979 |title=Forced Migration and Mortality |publisher=National Academies Press |year=2001 |pages=102–105 |isbn=978-0-309-07334-9 |quote=As best as can now be estimated, over two million Cambodians died during the 1970s because of the political events of the decade, the vast majority of them during the mere four years of the 'Khmer Rouge' regime. This number of deaths is even more staggering when related to the size of the Cambodian population, then less than eight million. ... Subsequent reevaluations of the demographic data situated the death toll for the [civil war] in the order of 300,000 or less.}} cf. {{cite web |url=https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/cambodia-u-s-bombing-civil-war-khmer-rouge/ |title=Cambodia: U.S. bombing, civil war, & Khmer Rouge |publisher=World Peace Foundation |date=7 August 2015 |access-date=9 August 2019 |archive-date=14 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714181839/https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/cambodia-u-s-bombing-civil-war-khmer-rouge/ |url-status=live }} This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields, and the prison Tuol Sleng became known for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. The Cham Muslims underwent purges with as much as half of their population exterminated.Stanton, Gregory H. (22 February 1992) [https://web.archive.org/web/20081011031122/http://www.genocidewatch.org/aboutgenocide/stantoncambodianlaw.htm The Cambodian Genocide and International Law], Yale Law School. Pol Pot was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people.[http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~amamendo/KhmerRouge.html ""The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's Regime] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714104451/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~amamendo/KhmerRouge.html |date=14 July 2018 }}. Mount Holyoke University.

Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. Most of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were not ethnic minorities but ethnic Khmer. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, were targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan, "eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star" as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism.Kaplan, Robert D. (1996) The Ends of the Earth, Vintage, 1996, p. 406, {{ISBN|0679751238}}.

Religious institutions were targeted by the Khmer Rouge. The majority of Khmer architecture, 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, were destroyed.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=la4kBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=The Worst World Disasters of All Time |author=Kevin Baker |page=23 |isbn=978-1-4566-2343-2 |date=3 November 2014 |publisher=eBookIt.com }}

{{Main|People's Republic of Kampuchea|Cambodian–Vietnamese War|Cambodian conflict (1979–1998)|United Nations Administered Cambodia}}

In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge{{cite web |url=https://cambodiangenocide.org/definition-of-genocide |title=A Brief History of the Cambodian Genocide |publisher=cambodiangenocide.org |access-date=17 January 2018 |archive-date=18 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118064702/https://cambodiangenocide.org/definition-of-genocide |url-status=dead }} and conquered it. The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) was established as a pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to avoid being purged by Pol Pot and Ta Mok.Morris, p. 220 It was fully beholden to the occupying Vietnamese army and under the direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam and the Soviet Union.Bultmann, Daniel (2015) Inside Cambodian Insurgency. A Sociological Perspective on Civil Wars and Conflict, Ashgate: Burlington, VT/Farnham, UK, {{ISBN|9781472443076}}.

In opposition to the newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from three factions. This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front. Its credentials were recognised by the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge representative to UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained, and he had to work in consultation with representatives of the noncommunist Cambodian parties.{{cite web |url=http://gsp.yale.edu/autobiography-thiounn-prasith |title=Autobiography of Thiounn Prasith – Cambodian Genocide Program – Yale University |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=17 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217234908/http://gsp.yale.edu/autobiography-thiounn-prasith |url-status=live }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20110511225016/http://disarmament.un.org/Library.nsf/d7ae8ea134b27b838525755c00537cf2/f5b3eb8b58ae67c7852575a100632a27/%24FILE/A-40-PV69.pdf Provisional verbatim record of the sixty-ninth meeting]. United Nations, General Assembly, New York, 8 November 1985. The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia led to economic sanctions.{{cite news |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/dsptch5&div=58&id=&page= |title=Lifting the US embargo against Cambodia |publisher=Department of State Dispatch 54 |date=20 January 1992 |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010190623/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/dsptch5&div=58&id=&page= |url-status=live }}

Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement. The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm |title=Country Profile of Cambodia |publisher=State.gov |date=13 June 2012 |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=22 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122194345/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Modern Cambodia}}

In 1993, the monarchy was restored with Norodom Sihanouk reinstated as King, and the first post-war election was coordinated by UNTAC. The election was won by FUNCINPEC led by Sihanouk's son Ranariddh in a hung parliament. A power-sharing agreement was agreed with Ranariddh and Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party both simultaneously being co-Prime Ministers after the CPP threatened to secede part of the country if power was fully transferred to FUNCINPEC. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a coup d'état led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ousted Ranariddh and other parties represented in the government and consolidated power for CPP.{{Cite web |date=7 December 2020 |title=A coup in Cambodia {{!}} Asia {{!}} The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/1997/07/10/a-coup-in-cambodia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205032510/https://www.economist.com/asia/1997/07/10/a-coup-in-cambodia |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 December 2021 |access-date=17 July 2021 |website=archive.is }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20070627054853/http://cambodia.ohchr.org/Documents/Statements%20and%20Speeches/English/40.pdf STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR THOMAS HAMMARBERG, SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN CAMBODIA]. UN OHCHR Cambodia (9 July 1997) After its government was able to stabilize under Sen, Cambodia was accepted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 30 April 1999.{{cite book |title=ASEAN Enlargement: impacts and implications |author1=Carolyn L. Gates |author2=Mya Than |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2001 |isbn=978-981-230-081-2 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.asean.org/3338.htm |title=Statement by the Secretary-General of ASEAN Welcoming the Kingdom of Cambodia as the Tenth Member State of ASEAN: 30 April 1999, ASEAN Secretariat |year=2008 |work=ASEAN Secretariat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511153639/http://www.asean.org/3338.htm |archive-date=11 May 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=28 August 2009 }} Norodom Sihamoni was crowned Cambodia's king in 2004 after his father Sihanouk's abdication.{{Cite news |date=29 October 2004 |title=In Pictures: King Sihamoni's coronation |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/3964277.stm |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=27 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327171226/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/3964277.stm |url-status=live }}

During the 1990s and 2000s, reconstruction efforts progressed which led to some political stability through a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy although Sen's rule has been marred by human rights abuses and corruption.{{cite book |last1=Strangio |first1=Sebastian |title=Hun Sen's Cambodia |date=2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-19072-4 }} Cambodia's economy grew rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s,{{Cite web |last=Sarath |first=Sorn |title=IMF: Cambodia's economic growth to be highest in Asean |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/imf-cambodias-economic-growth-be-highest-asean |access-date=17 July 2021 |website=www.phnompenhpost.com |language=en |archive-date=17 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717102325/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/imf-cambodias-economic-growth-be-highest-asean |url-status=live }} and it received considerable investment and infrastructure development support from China as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.{{Cite web |title=How Chinese money is changing Cambodia |url=https://www.dw.com/en/how-chinese-money-is-changing-cambodia/a-50130240 |access-date=17 July 2021 |website=DW |language=en-GB |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624101808/https://www.dw.com/en/how-chinese-money-is-changing-cambodia/a-50130240 |url-status=live }}File:CNRP protesters raise flags.jpg supporting opposition party CNRP followed the 2013 general election.]]A UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal sought out to investigate crimes committed during the Democratic Kampuchea period and prosecute its leaders. Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials or investigations of former Khmer Rouge officials.{{cite web |author=Carmichael, Robert |title=Cambodian Premier says No More Khmer Rouge Trials | News |date=26 October 2010 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/cambodian-premier-says-no-more-khmer-rouge-trials-105873293/129117.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108230947/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Cambodian-Premier-says-No-More-Khmer-Rouge-Trials-105873293.html |archive-date=8 November 2011 |access-date=15 March 2013 |publisher=Voice of America }} In July 2010, Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp and he was sentenced to life in prison.{{Cite news |last=De Launey |first=Guy |date=26 July 2010 |title=Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Duch Found Guilty |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10757320 |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=26 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826171640/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10757320 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/world/asia/cambodia-duch-appeal/index.html |title=Leader of Khmer Rouge torture prison gets life sentence |work=CNN |date=3 February 2012 |access-date=3 February 2012 |archive-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203110117/http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/world/asia/cambodia-duch-appeal/index.html |url-status=live }}

After the 2013 Cambodian general election, allegations of voter fraud from opposition party Cambodia National Rescue Party led to widespread anti-government protests that continued into the following year. The protests ended after a crackdown by government forces.{{Cite news |last=Fuller |first=Thomas |date=5 January 2014 |title=Cambodia Steps Up Crackdown on Dissent With Ban on Assembly |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/world/asia/cambodia-crackdown-on-dissent.html |access-date=17 July 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217030845/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/world/asia/cambodia-crackdown-on-dissent.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }} The Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved ahead of the 2018 Cambodian general election and the ruling Cambodian People's Party also enacted tighter curbs on mass media.{{Cite web |date=2 November 2020 |title=Cambodia's Government Should Stop Silencing Journalists, Media Outlets |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/02/cambodias-government-should-stop-silencing-journalists-media-outlets |access-date=16 April 2021 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512020512/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/02/cambodias-government-should-stop-silencing-journalists-media-outlets |url-status=live }} The CPP won every seat in the National Assembly without major opposition, effectively solidifying de facto one-party rule in the country.{{Cite web |date=29 July 2018 |title=Cambodia: Hun Sen re-elected in landslide victory after brutal crackdown |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/29/cambodia-hun-sen-re-elected-in-landslide-victory-after-brutal-crackdown |access-date=17 July 2021 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725073131/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/29/cambodia-hun-sen-re-elected-in-landslide-victory-after-brutal-crackdown |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Authoritarian rule shedding its populist skin in rural Cambodia |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/authoritarian-rule-shedding-its-populist-skin-in-rural-cambodia/ |access-date=16 April 2021 |website=openDemocracy |language=en |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416030602/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/authoritarian-rule-shedding-its-populist-skin-in-rural-cambodia/ |url-status=live }}

Prime Minister Hun Sen assumed office {{Time ago|1984-12-26}} and is one of the world's longest-serving leaders. He has been accused of crackdowns on opponents and critics. In December 2021, Hun Sen announced his support for his son Hun Manet to succeed him after the next general election in 2023.{{cite news |title=Hun Sen, Cambodian leader for 36 years, backs son to succeed him |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/2/cambodian-leader-hun-sen-says-he-backs-eldest-son-to-succeed-him |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |access-date=16 November 2022 |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116183518/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/2/cambodian-leader-hun-sen-says-he-backs-eldest-son-to-succeed-him |url-status=live }} A July 2023 Human Rights Watch report showed election fraud and vote tampering in the June 2022 commune elections.{{Cite web |date=3 July 2023 |title=Cambodia: Past Vote Irregularities Foreshadow July Election |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/03/cambodia-past-vote-irregularities-foreshadow-july-election |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703133413/https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/03/cambodia-past-vote-irregularities-foreshadow-july-election |url-status=live }} In the July 2023 election, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won by a landslide in an election, after the disqualification of a Cambodia's opposition, Candlelight Party.{{cite news |last1=Jazeera |first1=Al |title=Cambodia PM Hun Sen's party claims 'landslide' in flawed election |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/23/cambodia-votes-in-one-sided-election-with-pm-hun-sen-win-expected |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |access-date=21 September 2023 |archive-date=21 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921053857/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/23/cambodia-votes-in-one-sided-election-with-pm-hun-sen-win-expected |url-status=live }} On 22 August 2023, Hun Manet was sworn in as the new Cambodian prime minister.{{cite news |last1=Petty |first1=Martin |title=Cambodia's new leader Hun Manet, strongman or reformer? |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/cambodias-new-leader-hun-manet-strongman-or-reformer-2023-08-22/ |work=Reuters |date=22 August 2023 |language=en |access-date=21 September 2023 |archive-date=13 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913183707/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/cambodias-new-leader-hun-manet-strongman-or-reformer-2023-08-22/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Geography of Cambodia}}

File:Cambodia Geographic map en.svg

File:Cambodia Regions Map.png

Cambodia has an area of {{convert|181,035|km2|0|abbr=off}} and lies entirely within the tropics, between latitudes 10° and 15°N, and longitudes 102° and 108°E. It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. It has a {{convert|443|km|mi|adj=mid|abbr=off}} coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.

Cambodia's landscape is characterised by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about {{convert|650|ft|m|abbr=off}} above sea level.{{cite web |url=https://www.mrcmekong.org/geographic-regions/ |title=Geographic Regions |website=Mekong River Commission |accessdate=2025-05-25}}{{cite web |url=https://country-studies.com/cambodia/topography.html |title=Topography of Cambodia |website=Country Studies |accessdate=2025-05-25}} In Cambodia forest cover is around 46% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,068,370 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 11,004,790 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 7,464,400 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 603,970 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 4% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |title=Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2023 |archive-date=11 September 2024 |access-date=27 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911122341/https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Cambodia |url=https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/KHM/home/overview |website=Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |access-date=27 September 2024 |archive-date=30 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130191625/https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/KHM/home/overview/ |url-status=live }}

To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=off}} from west to east and rising abruptly above the plain to heights of {{convert|600|to(-)|1,800|ft|m|abbr=off}}. This cliff marks the southern limit of the Dângrêk Mountains.{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Dangrek-Mountains |title=Dângrêk Mountains |author=Encyclopaedia Britannica |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |accessdate=2025-05-25}}{{cite web |url=https://www.mongabay.com/2016/09/cambodias-dangrek-mountains/ |title=Cambodia’s Dângrêk Mountains |website=Mongabay |accessdate=2025-05-25}}{{cite web |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/geography/cambodia |title=Cambodia Geography |website=World Atlas |accessdate=2025-05-25}}

Flowing south through Cambodia's eastern regions is the Mekong River.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/mekong-river |title=Mekong River |website=World Wildlife Fund |accessdate=2025-05-25}} East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam.{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cambodia/Geography |title=Geography of Cambodia |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |accessdate=2025-05-25}} In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks, the Krâvanh Mountains and the Dâmrei Mountains, form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand.{{cite web |url=https://www.cambodiangeography.com/cambodia-mountains-and-plateaus/ |title=Cambodia Mountains and Plateaus |website=Cambodian Geography |accessdate=2025-05-25}}

In this largely uninhabited area, Phnom Aural, Cambodia's highest peak rises to an elevation of {{convert|5,949|ft|m|abbr=off}}.{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/cambodia/khland.htm |title=Geography of Cambodia – World Atlas |website=www.worldatlas.com |language=en |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-date=11 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711022148/https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/cambodia/khland.htm |url-status=live }} The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands.{{cite web |url=https://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/cambodia/GEOGRAPHY.html |title=Geography of Cambodia |website=Mongabay |accessdate=2025-05-25}}

The most distinctive geographical feature is the inundations of the Tonle Sap, measuring about {{convert|2,590|km2|0|abbr=off}} during the dry season and expanding to about {{convert|24,605|km2|0|abbr=off}} during the rainy season. This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice cultivation, is the heartland of Cambodia. Much of this area has been designated as a biosphere reserve. [https://www.unesco.org/en/mab/tonle-sap Tonle Sap -Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB)] . UNESCO.

File:Koppen-Geiger Map KHM present.svg map of Cambodia]]

Cambodia's climate, like that of the rest of Southeast Asia, is dominated by monsoons, which are known as tropical wet and dry because of the distinctly marked seasonal differences.{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cambodia/Climate |title=Climate of Cambodia |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |accessdate=2025-05-25}}

Cambodia has a temperature range from {{convert|21|to|35|°C|°F|0}} and experiences tropical monsoons. Southwest monsoons blow inland bringing moisture-laden winds from the Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October.{{cite web |url=https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/Cambodia.htm |title=Climate of Cambodia |website=Weather Online |accessdate=2025-05-25}} The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from November to April.{{cite web |url=https://www.countrystudies.us/cambodia/ |title=Country Studies: Cambodia |website=Country Studies |accessdate=2025-05-25}} The country experiences the heaviest precipitation from September to October with the driest period occurring from January to February.{{cite web |url=https://www.weather2travel.com/climate-guides/cambodia/ |title=Climate Guide for Cambodia |website=Weather2Travel |accessdate=2025-05-25}}

According to the International Development Research Centre and The United Nations, Cambodia is considered Southeast Asia's most vulnerable country to the effects of climate change, alongside the Philippines.{{Cite web |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/11754/climate-change--rainy-season-wild-card-/ |title=Climate Change Hits Coastal Cambodia Hard |last=Laurenson |first=Jack |website=Khmer Times |date=27 May 2015 |access-date=22 June 2017 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.camclimate.org.kh/en/documents-and-media/climate-change-in-the-news/211-un-reports-cambodia-at-high-risk-from-climate-change.html |title=UN Reports: Cambodia At High Risk From Climate Change – Cambodia's Official Climate Change Website |last=Reaksmey |website=www.camclimate.org.kh |access-date=18 August 2017 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811010051/http://www.camclimate.org.kh/en/documents-and-media/climate-change-in-the-news/211-un-reports-cambodia-at-high-risk-from-climate-change.html |url-status=live }} Nearly all provinces in Cambodia are affected by climate change.Overland, Indra et al. (2017) [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320622312 Impact of Climate Change on ASEAN International Affairs: Risk and Opportunity Multiplier] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728061128/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320622312_Impact_of_Climate_Change_on_ASEAN_International_Affairs_Risk_and_Opportunity_Multiplier |date=28 July 2020 }}, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Myanmar Institute of International and Strategic Studies (MISIS). Rural coastal populations are particularly at risk. Shortages of clean water, extreme flooding, mudslides, higher sea levels and potentially destructive storms are of particular concern, according to the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance. Climate change has also had a major impact on water levels, ecology and productivity of the Tonlé Sap in recent years, affecting the food security and agriculture of a large proportion of Cambodia's population.{{Cite web |last=@NatGeoUK |date=17 August 2020 |title=Cambodia's biggest lake is running dry, taking forests and fish with it |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conservation/2020/08/cambodias-biggest-lake-is-running-dry-taking-forests-and-fish |access-date=10 December 2020 |website=National Geographic |language=en-gb |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926232915/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment-and-conservation/2020/08/cambodias-biggest-lake-is-running-dry-taking-forests-and-fish |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Osborne |first=Zoe |date=16 December 2019 |title=Mekong basin's vanishing fish signal tough times ahead in Cambodia |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/16/mekong-basins-vanishing-fish-signal-ill-times-ahead-for-cambodia-aoe |access-date=10 December 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111182015/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/16/mekong-basins-vanishing-fish-signal-ill-times-ahead-for-cambodia-aoe |url-status=live }}

Cambodia has two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from May to October, can see temperatures drop to {{convert|22|°C|0}} and is generally accompanied with high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can rise up to {{convert|40|°C}} around April. Disastrous flooding occurred in 2001 and again in 2002, with some degree of flooding almost every year.{{cite book |last=Nobleman |first=Marc Tyler |title=Cambodia |year=2003 |publisher=Bridgestone Books |location=Mankato, Minn |isbn=978-0-7368-1370-9 |page=7 }} Severe flooding also affected 17 provinces in Cambodia during the 2020 Pacific typhoon season.{{Cite news |last1=Dara |first1=Mech |last2=Leakhena |first2=Khan |date=14 October 2020 |title=Rising Rivers Flood Schools, Prisons, Over 180,000 Hectares of Farms |url=https://vodenglish.news/rising-rivers-flood-schools-prisons-over-180000-hectares-of-farms/ |access-date=10 December 2020 |newspaper=VOD |archive-date=2 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102081539/https://vodenglish.news/rising-rivers-flood-schools-prisons-over-180000-hectares-of-farms/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Wildlife of Cambodia}}{{see also|List of protected areas of Cambodia}}

File:Monkey Mother and Child - Phnom Pros (Man Hill) - Outside Kampong Cham - Cambodia (48354787692).jpg at Phnom Pros, Kampong Cham Province]]

Cambodia's biodiversity is largely founded on its seasonal tropical forests, containing some 180 recorded tree species, and riparian ecosystems. There are 212 mammal species, 536 bird species, 240 reptile species, 850 freshwater fish species (Tonle Sap Lake area), and 435 marine fish species recorded by science. Much of this biodiversity is contained around the Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding biosphere.[https://archive.today/20110728131701/http://www.tsbr-ed.org/english/online_catalogue/textual_detail.asp?ref=141 Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve: perspective 2000], Mekong River Commission (MRC), 1 March 2003.

The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve is a reserve surrounding the Tonle Sap lake. It encompasses the lake and nine provinces: Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Battambang, Pursat, Kampong Chhnang, Banteay Meanchey, Pailin, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear. In 1997, it was successfully nominated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090318002520/http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/brs/BRlist2008.pdf Complete list of biosphere reserves. Publication Date: 3 November 2008, retrieved from UNESCO website]. (PDF) . Retrieved on 5 July 2015. Other key habitats include the evergreen and dry Dipterocarp forests of Mondolkiri province, protected by Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, and Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as Ratanakiri province, and the Cardamom Mountains ecosystem, including Preah Monivong National Park, Botum-Sakor National Park, and the Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary and Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Worldwide Fund for Nature recognises six distinct terrestrial ecoregions in Cambodia – the Cardamom Mountains rain forests, Central Indochina dry forest, Southeast Indochina dry evergreen forest, Southern Annamite Range tropical forest, Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forest, and Tonle Sap-Mekong peat swamp forest.Eric Wikramanayake, Eric Dinerstein, Colby J. Loucks et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC, {{ISBN|1559639237}}.

File:Cascade de la rivière sacrée (Phnom Kulen) (6825025205).jpg]]

File:Prey Lang Forest Aerial.jpg Forest]]

The rate of deforestation in Cambodia is one of the highest in the world and it is often perceived as the most destructive, singular environmental issue in the country.{{cite news |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-ranks-low-global-green-list |title=Kingdom ranks low on global green list |newspaper=The Phnom Penh Post |author=Handley, Erin |date=18 February 2016 |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=15 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915044232/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-ranks-low-global-green-list |url-status=live }} Cambodia's primary forest cover fell from over 70% in 1969 to just 3.1% in 2007. Since 2007, less than {{cvt|3220|km2|sqmi|0}} of primary forest remain with the result that the future sustainability of the forest reserves of Cambodia is under severe threat.{{cite web |url=http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20049/story.htm |title=Logging threatens Cambodian tragedy – UN |publisher=Planet Ark |date=6 March 2003 |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-date=14 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014012856/http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20049/story.htm |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20cambodia.htm |title=Cambodia |publisher=Mongabay |author=Butler, Rhett |date=15 August 2014 |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917105241/http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20cambodia.htm |url-status=live }} In 2010–2015, the annual rate of deforestation was 1.3%. The environmental degradation also includes national parks and wildlife sanctuaries on a large scale and many endangered and endemic species are now threatened with extinction due to loss of habitats. Reasons for the deforestation in Cambodia range from opportunistic illegal loggings to large scale clearings from big construction projects and agricultural activities. The deforestation involves the local population, Cambodian businesses and authorities as well as transnational corporations from all over the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.illegal-logging.info/regions/cambodia |title=Cambodia |publisher=Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International affairs |date=2015 |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=21 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221223049/http://www.illegal-logging.info/regions/cambodia |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.globalwitness.org/en-gb/archive/cambodian-government-authorises-clear-cutting-national-park/ |title=Cambodian Government Authorises Clear-Cutting in National Park |publisher=Global Witness |date=9 July 2004 |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=28 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928001051/https://www.globalwitness.org/en-gb/archive/cambodian-government-authorises-clear-cutting-national-park/ |url-status=live }}

Plans for hydroelectric development in the Greater Mekong Subregion, by Laos in particular, pose a "real danger to the food supply of Vietnam and Cambodia. Upstream dams will imperil the fish stocks that provide the vast majority of Cambodia's protein and could also denude the Mekong River of the silt Vietnam needs for its rice basket." The rich fisheries of Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, largely supply the impoverished country's protein. The lake all but disappears in the dry season and then expands massively as water flow from the Mekong backs up when the rains come. "Those fish are so important for their livelihoods, both economically and nutritionally", said Gordon Holtgrieve, a professor at the University of Washington; he points out that none of the dams that are either built or being built on the Mekong river "are pointing at good outcomes for the fisheries".{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/06/06/cambodia_sleeps_with_the_fishes |title=Cambodia Sleeps With the Fishes |date=6 June 2014 |work=Foreign Policy |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=28 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028144449/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/06/06/cambodia_sleeps_with_the_fishes |url-status=live }}

In the 2010s, the Cambodian government and educational system has increased its involvement and co-operation with both national and international environmental groups.{{cite web |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/18498/mother-nature---s-youthful-ambassadors-get-to-work/ |title=Mother Nature's Youthful Ambassadors Get to Work |work=Khmer Times |last=LalinDuch |date=9 December 2015 |access-date=6 September 2016}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic }}{{cite web |url=http://www.illegal-logging.info/content/cambodia-environmental-groups-given-chance-address-pm-hun-sen-forum |title=Cambodia: Environmental groups given chance to address PM Hun Sen at forum |publisher=chatham House |date=22 August 2016 |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917222216/http://www.illegal-logging.info/content/cambodia-environmental-groups-given-chance-address-pm-hun-sen-forum |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://unu.edu/publications/articles/boosting-research-capacity-for-environmental-management-in-cambodia.html |title=Environmental management: Boosting research in Cambodia |publisher=United Nations University |date=17 January 2012 |author=Otsuki, Kei |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=3 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203223243/http://unu.edu/publications/articles/boosting-research-capacity-for-environmental-management-in-cambodia.html |url-status=live }} A new National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) for Cambodia is to be implemented from late 2016 to 2023 and contains new ideas for how to incite a green and environmentally sustainable growth for the country.{{cite web |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17414/charting-the-next-seven-years-of-environmental-policy/ |title=Charting the Next Seven Years of Environmental Policy |work=Khmer Times |last=Cox |first=Jonathan |date=2 November 2015 |access-date=6 September 2016 |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916040005/http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17414/charting-the-next-seven-years-of-environmental-policy/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Administrative divisions of Cambodia}}

The autonomous municipality ({{transliteration|km|reach thani}}) and provinces ({{transliteration|km|khaet}}) of Cambodia are first-level administrative divisions. Cambodia is divided into 25 provinces including the autonomous municipality.

Municipalities and districts are the second-level administrative divisions of Cambodia. The provinces are subdivided into 159 districts and 26 municipalities. The districts and municipalities in turn are further divided into communes ({{transliteration|km|khum}}) and quarters ({{transliteration|km|sangkat}}).

!center

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{{Clear}}

{{Main|Politics of Cambodia|List of political parties in Cambodia|}}

File:Norodom king of Cambodia.jpg, King of Cambodia]]

Legislative powers are shared by the executive and the bicameral Parliament of Cambodia ({{lang|km|សភាតំណាងរាស្ត្រ}}, {{transliteration|km|sâphéa tâmnang réastrâ}}), which consists of a lower house, the National Assembly ({{lang|km|រដ្ឋសភា}}, {{transliteration|km|rôdthâsâphéa}}) and an upper house, the Senate ({{lang|km|ព្រឹទ្ធសភា}}, {{transliteration|km|prœ̆tthôsâphéa}}). Members of the 123-seat National Assembly are elected through a system of proportional representation and serve for a maximum term of five years. The Senate has 61 seats, two of which are appointed by the king and two others by the National Assembly, and the rest elected by the commune councillors from the 24 provinces of Cambodia. Senators serve six-year terms.{{cite web |title=Cambodia 1993 (rev. 2008) |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cambodia_2008?lang=en |website=Constitute |access-date=17 April 2015 |archive-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223131618/https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Cambodia_2008?lang=en |url-status=live }}

Officially a multiparty democracy, in reality, "the country remain[ed] a one-party state dominated by the Cambodian People's Party and Prime Minister Hun Sen, a recast Khmer Rouge official in power since 1985. The open doors to new investment during his reign have yielded the most access to a coterie of cronies of his and his wife, Bun Rany", according to Megha Bahree, a writer on Forbes.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghabahree/2014/09/24/who-you-know-inc-in-cambodia-a-close-friendship-with-the-pm-leads-to-vast-wealth-for-one-power-couple/ |title=In Cambodia, A Close Friendship With The PM Leads To Vast Wealth For One Power Couple |author=Bahree, Megha |date=24 September 2014 |work=Forbes |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=28 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028121604/http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghabahree/2014/09/24/who-you-know-inc-in-cambodia-a-close-friendship-with-the-pm-leads-to-vast-wealth-for-one-power-couple/ |url-status=live }} Cambodia's government has been described by Human Rights Watch's Southeast Asian director, David Roberts, as a "relatively authoritarian coalition via a superficial democracy".{{cite book |author=David Roberts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnYWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR9 |title=Political Transition in Cambodia 1991–99: Power, Elitism and Democracy |date=29 April 2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-85054-7 |access-date=12 September 2017 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210165717/https://books.google.com/books?id=SnYWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR9 |url-status=live}} (section XI, "Recreating Elite Stability, July 1997 to July 1998")

Prime Minister Hun Sen vowed to rule until he turned 74.{{cite news |last=NEOU |first=VANNARIN |title=Hun Sen Reveals Plan to Win 3 More Elections, Retire at Age 74 |url=http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/hun-sen-reveals-plan-to-win-3-more-elections-retire-at-age-74-22700/ |access-date=16 February 2014 |newspaper=The Cambodia Daily |date=7 May 2013 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222040413/http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/hun-sen-reveals-plan-to-win-3-more-elections-retire-at-age-74-22700/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last=Thul |first=Prak Chan |title=As protest looms, Cambodia's strongman Hun Sen faces restive, tech-savvy youth |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cambodia-youth-idUKBRE98500G20130906 |access-date=14 February 2014 |newspaper=Reuters UK |date=6 September 2013 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809223926/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cambodia-youth-idUKBRE98500G20130906 |url-status=dead }} His government was regularly accused of ignoring human rights and suppressing political dissent. The 2013 election results were disputed by the opposition, leading to demonstrations in the capital. Demonstrators were injured and killed in Phnom Penh where a reported 20,000 protesters gathered, with some clashing with riot police.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130926161920/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/cambodia-protest-clashes/814406.html Cambodia protest clashes leave one dead, several wounded]. Channel Asia. 16 September 2013 From a humble farming background, Hun Sen was 33 when he took power in 1985, and was by some considered a long-ruling dictator.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-hunsen-analysis-idUSBRE98H04K20130918 |title=Analysis: Punished at the polls, Cambodia's long-serving PM is smiling again |work=Reuters |date=18 September 2013 |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=18 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018093328/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/18/us-cambodia-hunsen-analysis-idUSBRE98H04K20130918 |url-status=live }} Hun Sen was succeeded by his son Hun Manet as Prime Minister in August 2023 following an election that was deemed by independent and foreign media and politicians to be neither free nor fair. Hun Sen remains the de facto ruler of Cambodia through his continued leadership of the Cambodian People's Party.{{cite news |last1=Cai |first1=Derek |last2=Head |first2=Jonathan |title=Cambodia: PM's son Hun Manet appointed next ruler in royal formality |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66391334 |access-date=25 August 2023 |work=BBC News |date=7 August 2023 |quote=Hun Sen will however retain leadership of the ruling Cambodian People's Party - a position political analysts say still gives him ultimate control. |archive-date=8 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230808005737/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66391334 |url-status=live }} Following the 2024 Senate election, Hun Sen became president of the Senate, a role which gives him the power to sign off on laws in the King's absence.{{Cite web |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240403-cambodia-ex-leader-hun-sen-unanimously-voted-senate-president |title=Cambodia's ex-leader Hun Sen unanimously voted in as senate president |work=France 24 |date=3 April 2024 |access-date=4 April 2024 |archive-date=4 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404023604/https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240403-cambodia-ex-leader-hun-sen-unanimously-voted-senate-president |url-status=live }}

Since the 2017 crackdowns on political dissent and free press, Cambodia has been described as a de facto one-party state.{{Cite news |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/cambodian-parliament-launches-era-of-one-party-rule |title=Cambodian Parliament launches era of one-party rule |website=The Straits Times |date=5 September 2018 |access-date=15 July 2019 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715015515/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/cambodian-parliament-launches-era-of-one-party-rule |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.voacambodia.com/a/cambodia-set-to-become-one-party-state/4505605.html |title=Cambodia Set to Become One Party State |first=David |last=Boyle |work=Voice of America |publisher=VOA Cambodia |date=30 July 2018 |access-date=15 July 2019 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715015317/https://www.voacambodia.com/a/cambodia-set-to-become-one-party-state/4505605.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/28/cambodian-pm-hun-sen-fully-fledged-military-dictator-says-report |title=Cambodian PM now 'fully fledged military dictator', says report |first=Hannah |last=Ellis-Petersen |work=The Guardian |date=28 June 2018 |access-date=15 July 2019 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715015317/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/28/cambodian-pm-hun-sen-fully-fledged-military-dictator-says-report |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Cambodia}}

File:President Biden met with Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia at the margins of 2022 ASEAN Summit.jpg during the 2022 ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh.]]

Cambodia has established diplomatic relations with other countries; the government reports 20 embassies in the countryRoyal Government of Cambodia.{{cite web |url=http://www.cambodia.gov.kh/unisql1/egov/english/country.foreign_embassy.html |title=Foreign Embassies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212040416/http://www.cambodia.gov.kh/unisql1/egov/english/country.foreign_embassy.html |archive-date=12 February 2007 }} including some of its Asian neighbours and those of "important players" during the Paris peace negotiations, including the US, Australia, Canada, China, the European Union (EU), Japan, and Russia.{{cite web |author1=Dalpino, Catharin E. |author2=Timberman, David G. |url=http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/cambodia_policy.html |title=Cambodia's Political Future: Issues for U.S. Policy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051028015243/http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/cambodia_policy.html |archive-date=28 October 2005 |work=Asia Society |date=26 March 1998 }}

File:Japan-Cambodia Summit Meeting on May 30, 2025.jpg, 30 May 2025]]

While the violent ruptures of the 1970s and 1980s have passed, several border disputes between Cambodia and its neighbours persist. There are disagreements over some offshore islands and sections of the boundary with Vietnam and undefined maritime boundaries. Cambodia and Thailand have border disputes, with troops clashing over land immediately adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple in particular, leading to a deterioration in relations. Most of the territory belongs to Cambodia, and a combination of Thailand disrespecting international law, Thai troops upbuild in the area and lack of resources for the Cambodian military have left the situation unsettled since 1962.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24897805 |title=Preah Vihear temple: Disputed land Cambodian, court rules |work=BBC News |date=11 November 2013 |access-date=11 November 2013 |archive-date=11 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111162842/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24897805 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/151/17704.pdf |title=Judgment: Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) |date=11 November 2013 |others=Recorded by L.Tanggahma |publisher=International Court of Justice |location=The Hague, Netherlands |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111173337/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/151/17704.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2013 }}

Cambodia and China have cultivated ties in the 2010s. A Chinese company with the support of the People's Liberation Army built a deep-water seaport along {{cvt|90|km}} stretch of Cambodian coastline of the Gulf of Thailand in Koh Kong province; the port is sufficiently deep to be used by cruise ships, bulk carriers or warships. Cambodia's diplomatic support has been invaluable to Beijing's effort to claim disputed areas in the South China Sea. Because Cambodia is a member of ASEAN, and because under ASEAN rules "the objections of one member can thwart any group initiative", Cambodia is diplomatically useful to China as a counterweight to southeast Asian nations that have closer ties to the United States.{{cite web |url=https://www.ft.com/content/23968248-43a0-11e6-b22f-79eb4891c97d?mhq5j=e2 |title=Investigation: How China bought its way into Cambodia |website=Financial Times |author=James Kynge, Leila Haddou and Michael Peel |date=8 September 2016 |access-date=24 September 2022 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811010559/https://www.ft.com/content/23968248-43a0-11e6-b22f-79eb4891c97d?mhq5j=e2 |url-status=live }}

Cambodia is the 70th most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.{{Cite web |title=2024 Global Peace Index |url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf |access-date=16 August 2024 |archive-date=19 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819091540/https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Royal Cambodian Armed Forces}}

File:Royal Cambodian Army soldiers, 2014.jpg

Hun Sen has accumulated highly centralised power in Cambodia, including a praetorian guard that 'appears to rival the capabilities of the country's regular military units', and is allegedly used by Hun Sen to quell political opposition.'Fuller, Thomas (6 January 2014) [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/world/asia/cambodia-crackdown-on-dissent.html Cambodia Steps Up Crackdown on Dissent With Ban on Assembly] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217030845/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/world/asia/cambodia-crackdown-on-dissent.html?_r=0 |date=17 February 2020 }}. New York Times Cambodia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.{{Cite web |url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |title=Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons |publisher=United Nations Treaty Collection |date=7 July 2017 |access-date=14 September 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806220546/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26&clang=_en |url-status=live }}

File:Hun Manet on May 30, 2025 (cropped).jpg succeeded his father Hun Sen as prime minister in August 2023.]]

Hun Sen was a former Khmer Rouge commander who was originally installed by the Vietnamese and, after the Vietnamese left the country, maintains his strong man position by violence and oppression when deemed necessary.{{cite web |author=Adams, Brad |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/31/10000-days-hun-sen |title=Adams, Brad, 10,000 Days of Hun Sen, International Herald Tribune, reprinted by Human Rights Watch.org |publisher=Hrw.org |date=31 May 2012 |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310114803/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/31/10000-days-hun-sen |url-status=live }} In 1997, fearing the growing power of his co-prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Hun launched a coup, using the army to purge Ranariddh and his supporters. Ranariddh was ousted and fled to Paris while other opponents of Hun Sen were arrested, tortured, and some summarily executed.{{cite web |url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/54/060.html |title=Open letter to Second Prime Minister Hun Sen from Amnesty International |publisher=Hartford-hwp.com |date=11 July 1997 |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=5 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105035426/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/54/060.html |url-status=live }}

In addition to political oppression, the Cambodian government has been accused of corruption in the sale of areas of land to foreign investors resulting in the eviction of thousands of villagers{{cite news |author1=Levy, Adrian |author2=Scott-Clark, Cathy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/26/cambodia |title=Country for Sale |newspaper=Guardian |date=26 April 2008 |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902062008/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/26/cambodia |url-status=live }} as well as taking bribes in exchange for grants to exploit Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources.{{cite web |url=http://www.globalwitness.org/library/country-sale |title=Country for Sale |publisher=Global Witness |access-date=16 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306234201/http://www.globalwitness.org/library/country-sale |archive-date=6 March 2013 }} Cambodia is consistently listed as one of the most corrupt governments in the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?sec=1&id=24490 |title=Coverage of Transparency International's Corruption Report by Rasmei Kampuchea Daily carried on Asia News Network, 2 December 2011 |publisher=Asianewsnet.net |access-date=15 March 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810104123/http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?sec=1&id=24490 |archive-date=10 August 2012 }}Perrin, C.J. (30 March 2011) [https://web.archive.org/web/20110403225719/http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/128461/20110330/corruption-australia-signapore-china-cambodia-philippines-hong-kong-based-political-economic-risk-co.htm Australia, Singapore: Least Tainted with Corruption—survey], International Business Times.{{cite web |url=http://www.transparency.org/country#KHM |title=Transparency International's latest index |publisher=Transparency.org |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=24 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524182350/https://www.transparency.org/country#KHM |url-status=live }} Amnesty International recognises one prisoner of conscience in the country: 33-year-old land rights activist Yorm Bopha.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/convictions-activists-cambodia-demonstrates-dire-state-justice-2012-12-27 |title=Convictions of activists in Cambodia demonstrates dire state of justice |date=27 December 2012 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=2 January 2013 |archive-date=1 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101163441/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/convictions-activists-cambodia-demonstrates-dire-state-justice-2012-12-27 |url-status=live }}

Journalists covering a protest over disputed election results in Phnom Penh on 22 September 2013 say they were deliberately attacked by police and men in plain clothes, with slingshots and stun guns. The attack against the president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia, Rick Valenzuela, was captured on video.

The violence came amid political tensions as the opposition boycotted the opening of Parliament due to concerns about electoral fraud. Seven reporters sustained minor injuries while at least two Cambodian protesters were hit by slingshot projectiles and hospitalised.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-24/an-cambodia-attacks-reax/4978738 |title=Overseas Press Club of Cambodia condemns violent attack on journalists in Phnom Penh |work=Australia Network News |date=24 September 2013 |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=26 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126212245/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-24/an-cambodia-attacks-reax/4978738 |url-status=live }}

In 2017, Cambodia's Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition party, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), paving the way for a return to a yet more authoritarian political system.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/cambodia-strongman-leader-thousands-stability-ceremony-angkor-hun-sen |title=Guardian report on Hun Sen as strongman |newspaper=Guardian |date=3 December 2017 |access-date=6 December 2017 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206153240/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/cambodia-strongman-leader-thousands-stability-ceremony-angkor-hun-sen |url-status=live }}

{{Further|Corruption in Cambodia}}

Corruption affects the judiciary, the police, and other state institutions. There is favoritism. Lack of a distinction between the courts and the executive branch of government makes for a politicisation of the judicial system.[http://www.globalwitness.org/campaigns/corruption/oil-gas-and-mining/cambodia Retrieved November-14-2015] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010033539/http://www.globalwitness.org/campaigns/corruption/oil-gas-and-mining/cambodia |date=10 October 2014 }}. Globalwitness.org. Retrieved on 5 July 2015.

Examples of areas where people encounter corrupt practices in their everyday lives include obtaining medical services, dealing with alleged traffic violations, and pursuing fair court verdicts. Companies deal with extensive red tape when obtaining licenses and permits, especially construction-related permits, and the demand for and supply of bribes exist in this process. The 2010 Anti-Corruption Law provided no protection to whistle-blowers, and whistle-blowers can be jailed for up to 6 months if they report corruption that cannot be proven.

The Cambodian legal profession was established in 1932. By 1978, due to the Khmer Rouge regime, the entire legal system was eradicated. Judges and lawyers were executed after being deemed "class enemies" and only 6–12 legal professionals actually survived and remained in the country.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/assets/pdf/court-filings/e51_7_1_en-1.pdf |title=CO-PROSECUTORS' SUBMISSION ON STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR NATIONAL CRIMES |date=2 May 2011 |access-date=27 December 2017 |archive-date=26 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026043730/http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/assets/pdf/court-filings/e51_7_1_en-1.pdf |url-status=live }} Lawyers did not reappear until 1995 when the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia was created.{{Cite book |title=Introduction to CAMBODIAN LAW |publisher=Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Cambodia |year=2012 |isbn=978-99950-982-1-6 |editor-last=Peng |editor-first=Hor |pages=7–8, 15–16 |editor-last2=Phallack |editor-first2=Kong |editor-last3=Menzel |editor-first3=Jörg }}{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Chin |last2=Falt |first2=Jeffrey L. |date=1996 |title=LAW OF THE BAR: KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA (STATUTORY UNDERPINNINGS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT BAR IN CAMBODIA: CODE OF ETHICS; INTERNAL REGULATIONS) |journal=California Western International Law Journal |volume=27: 2, Art. 5 |pages=357–387 |via=CWSL Scholarly Commons }}

{{Main|Human rights in Cambodia}}

File:Kem Sokha with Sam Rainsy.jpg (left) has been arrested in September 2017, while opposition leader Sam Rainsy (right) has lived in exile since November 2015.]]

A US State Department report says "forces under Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party have committed frequent and large-scale abuses, including extrajudicial killings and torture, with impunity".World Report 2014: Cambodia Human Right Watch According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 256,800 people are enslaved in modern-day Cambodia, or 1.65% of the population.{{cite web |last1=Bales |first1=Kevin |display-authors=et al |title=Cambodia |url=https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/cambodia/ |website=The Global Slavery Index 2016 |publisher=The Minderoo Foundation Pty Ltd |access-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314004151/https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/cambodia/ |archive-date=14 March 2018 |url-status=dead }}

There are forced land evictions by senior officials, security forces, and government-connected business leaders.{{cite news |title=Amid land grabs and evictions, Cambodia jails leading activist |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-landactivist/amid-land-grabs-and-evictions-cambodia-jails-leading-activist-idUSKBN164009 |work=Reuters |date=25 February 2017 |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107105411/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-landactivist/amid-land-grabs-and-evictions-cambodia-jails-leading-activist-idUSKBN164009 |url-status=live }} Land has been confiscated from hundreds of thousands of Cambodians over more than a decade for the purpose of self-enrichment and maintaining power of various groups of special interests.{{cite news |title=Cambodia police arrest women protesting against forced evictions |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/02/cambodia-forced-evictions-land-grabs |work=The Guardian |date=2 February 2012 |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=17 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917205136/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/02/cambodia-forced-evictions-land-grabs |url-status=live }} Credible non-governmental organisations estimate that "770,000 people have been adversely affected by land grabbing covering at least four million hectares (nearly 10 million acres) of land that have been confiscated", says Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).{{cite web |url=http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/complaint-10072014181216.html |title='Ruling Elite' in Cambodia Face ICC Complaint Over Land Grabs |work=Radio Free Asia |date=7 October 2014 |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=18 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018152313/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/complaint-10072014181216.html/ |url-status=live }}

On 14 March 2018, the UN expert on the human rights situation in Cambodia "expressed serious concerns about restrictions on the media, freedom of expression and political participation ahead of a national election in July".{{cite news |title="Cambodia at a crossroads": UN expert calls on Government to choose path of human rights |url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22820&LangID=E |publisher=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) |date=14 March 2018 |access-date=14 September 2019 |archive-date=18 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318140942/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22820&LangID=E |url-status=live }} Some critics of the government have been arrested for allegedly spreading fake news about the COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia.{{cite news |title=Cambodia accused of political clampdown amid coronavirus outbreak |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/cambodia-accused-political-clampdown-coronavirus-outbreak-200324063233803.html |work=Al Jazeera |date=24 March 2020 |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401131124/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/cambodia-accused-political-clampdown-coronavirus-outbreak-200324063233803.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Cambodia: Covid-19 Spurs Bogus 'Fake News' Arrests |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/29/cambodia-covid-19-spurs-bogus-fake-news-arrests |work=Human Rights Watch |date=29 April 2020 |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504204515/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/29/cambodia-covid-19-spurs-bogus-fake-news-arrests |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Economy of Cambodia}}

File:GPD per capita development of Cambodia.jpg

File:Siem Reap Art Center Night Market, 2018 (06).jpg]]

Oil and natural gas deposits found beneath Cambodia's territorial waters in 2005 yield potential and remain mostly untapped, due in part to territorial disputes with Thailand.{{cite news |title=The struggle between Thailand and Cambodia over oil and gas resources |date=17 September 2010 |agency=CLC Asia |url=http://www.clc-asia.com/the-struggle-between-thailand-and-cambodia-over-oil-and-gas-resources-2/ |access-date=29 December 2013 |archive-date=31 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231002359/http://www.clc-asia.com/the-struggle-between-thailand-and-cambodia-over-oil-and-gas-resources-2/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Cambodia Aims for Offshore Production Next Year |author=Gronholt-Pedersen, Jacob |date=26 September 2012 |agency=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443507204578020023711640726 |access-date=29 December 2013 |archive-date=9 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709063357/http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443507204578020023711640726 |url-status=live }}

File:Cambodia's rice fields.jpg in Siem Reap Province]]

In 2012, Credit Bureau Cambodia was established with direct regulatory oversight by the National Bank of Cambodia.{{cite web |url=http://www.creditbureaucambodia.com/about-us/credit-bureau-cambodiacom.html |title=CBC's Mission |publisher=Creditbureaucambodia.com |access-date=15 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613093221/http://www.creditbureaucambodia.com/about-us/credit-bureau-cambodiacom.html |archive-date=13 June 2013 }}

Fear of renewed political instability and corruption within the government discourage foreign investment and delay foreign aid, while there has been aid from bilateral and multilateral donors. Donors pledged $504 million to the country in 2004,[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cambodia/ Cambodia] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610095311/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cambodia/ |date=10 June 2021 }}. CIA World FactBook. while the Asian Development Bank alone has provided $850 million in loans, grants, and technical assistance.{{cite web |url=http://www.adb.org/Documents/Fact_Sheets/CAM.asp |title=A Fact Sheet: Cambodia and Asian Development Bank |publisher=Adb.org |date=25 February 2013 |access-date=16 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404015954/http://www.adb.org/Documents/Fact_Sheets/CAM.asp |archive-date=4 April 2007 }} Bribes are sometimes demanded from companies operating in Cambodia when obtaining licences and permits, such as construction-related permits.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159794/bribes-hamper-business-in-cambodia |title=Bribes hamper business in Cambodia – Asia-Pacific – Worldbulletin News |work=World Bulletin |access-date=9 September 2015 |archive-date=26 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726105732/http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159794/bribes-hamper-business-in-cambodia |url-status=usurped }}

File:Battambang Provinz 01.jpg]]

Cambodia ranked among the worst places in the world for organised labour in the 2015 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index, landing in the category of countries with "no guarantee of rights".'Teehan, Sean (16 June 2015) [http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-ranked-low-labour-rights-index Kingdom ranked low in labour rights index] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706042351/http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-ranked-low-labour-rights-index |date=6 July 2015 }}. Phnompenh Post.

In April 2016, Cambodia's National Assembly has adopted a Law on Trade Unions. "The law was proposed at a time when workers have been staging sustained protests in factories and in the streets demanding wage increases and improvements in their working conditions".[https://thediplomat.com/2016/04/the-trouble-with-cambodias-new-law-on-trade-unions The Trouble With Cambodia's New Law on Trade Unions] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224183746/https://thediplomat.com/2016/04/the-trouble-with-cambodias-new-law-on-trade-unions/ |date=24 February 2021 }}. The Diplomat. Retrieved on 20 December 2016. The concerns about Cambodia's new law are shared not only by labour and rights groups but international organisations more generally. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, has noted that the law has "several key concerns and gaps".[http://www.ilo.org/asia/info/public/pr/WCMS_466553/lang--en/index.htm ILO's statement on Trade Unions law in Cambodia] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826011835/http://www.ilo.org/asia/info/public/pr/WCMS_466553/lang--en/index.htm |date=26 August 2016 }}. Ilo.org (4 April 2016). Retrieved on 20 December 2016.

The garment industry represents the largest portion of Cambodia's manufacturing sector, accounting for 80% of the country's exports. In 2012, the exports grew to $4.61 billion up 8% over 2011. In the first half of 2013, the garment industry reported exports worth $1.56 billion.{{cite web |url=http://investvine.com/cambodias-textile-industry-grew-32/ |title=Cambodia's textile industry grew 32% |first=Arno |last=Maierbrugger |work=Inside Investor |date=11 July 2013 |access-date=11 July 2013 |archive-date=2 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002063558/http://investvine.com/cambodias-textile-industry-grew-32/ |url-status=live }}

Better Factories Cambodia was created in 2001 as a partnership between the ILO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The programme engages with workers, employers, and governments to improve working conditions and boost the competitiveness of the garment industry.{{cite web |title=Better Factories Cambodia Annual Report 2018: An Industry and Compliance Review |url=https://betterwork.org/blog/portfolio/better-factories-cambodia-annual-report-2018-an-industry-and-compliance-review/ |website=betterwork.org |access-date=22 December 2018 |archive-date=8 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008220104/https://betterwork.org/blog/portfolio/better-factories-cambodia-annual-report-2018-an-industry-and-compliance-review/ |url-status=live }} On 18 May 2018, the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) of the ILO Better Factories Cambodia Programme met in Phnom Penh to provide input into the draft conclusions and recommendations of the BFC's independent mid-term evaluation, as well as to discuss options on how to further strengthen the programme's transparent reporting initiative. The members of the PAC concurred with the findings of the evaluation related to the impact the programme has had on the Cambodian garment sector and workers, including:

a. contributing to sustained overall growth of the garment industry

b. improving the lives of at least half a million Cambodian workers of factories in the BFC

programme and many more of their family members;

c. ensuring that workers receive correct wages and social protection benefits

d. virtually eliminating child labour in the sector

e. making Cambodia's garment factories safer overall

f. creating a "level playing field" for labour across garment sector

g. influencing business practices through (1) using factory data to highlight areas for

improvement and (2) being a core part of risk management strategies of international

brands/buyers.{{cite web |title=Statement from the Project Advisory Committee of Better Factories Cambodia on its 47th Meeting – Better Work |url=https://betterwork.org/blog/2018/06/20/statement-from-the-project-advisory-committee-of-better-factories-cambodia-on-its-47th-meeting/ |website=betterwork.org |date=20 June 2018 |access-date=1 November 2018 |archive-date=1 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101135945/https://betterwork.org/blog/2018/06/20/statement-from-the-project-advisory-committee-of-better-factories-cambodia-on-its-47th-meeting/ |url-status=live }}

{{Update|section|date=August 2019}}

{{Main|Tourism in Cambodia}}

File:Angkor Wat Tourists.jpg in Siem Reap, Cambodia.]]

The tourism industry is the country's second-greatest source of hard currency after the textile industry. International visitor arrivals in 2018 topped six million, a ten-fold increase since the beginning of the 21st century.{{cite web |title=Tourism Statistics Report Year 2018 |url=https://www.tourismcambodia.com/img/resources/cambodia_tourism_statistics_2018.pdf |website=Ministry of Tourism |access-date=1 August 2019 |archive-date=1 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801084450/https://www.tourismcambodia.com/img/resources/cambodia_tourism_statistics_2018.pdf |url-status=live }} Tourism employs 26% of the country's workforce, which translates into roughly 2.5 million jobs for Cambodians.{{Cite web |date=6 April 2021 |title=This Is Why Cambodia Is the BEST Place to Visit Post Coronavirus Pandemic! |url=https://thegotofamily.com/2021/04/this-is-why-cambodia-is-the-best-place-to-visit-post-coronavirus-pandemic/ |access-date=8 April 2021 |website=The Go To Family |language=en-US |archive-date=6 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406123810/https://thegotofamily.com/2021/04/this-is-why-cambodia-is-the-best-place-to-visit-post-coronavirus-pandemic/ |url-status=live }}

Besides Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat, other tourist destinations include Sihanoukville in the southwest which has beaches, and Battambang in the northwest, both of which are stops for backpackers.{{cite web |url=http://www.myfunkytravel.com/backpacking-route-south-east-asia.html |title=Popular Backpacking Destinations in Southeast Asia |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=30 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030075251/http://www.myfunkytravel.com/backpacking-route-south-east-asia.html |url-status=live }} The area around Kampot and Kep including the Bokor Hill Station are also of interest to visitors. Tourism has increased steadily each year in the relatively stable period since the 1993 UNTAC elections.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110304011512/http://www.cambodia-tourism.org/download/Cambodia_Touris_Statistics_2010.pdf Tourism Statistics Report March 2010]. cambodia-tourism.org.

File:Boats at the sandy beach of the Rabbit Island Koh Tonsay Cambodia.jpg in Cambodia]] Most international arrivals in 2018 were Chinese. Tourism receipts exceeded US$4.4 billion in 2018, accounting for almost ten percent of the kingdom's gross national product. The Angkor Wat historical park in Siem Reap Province, the beaches in Sihanoukville, the capital city Phnom Penh, and Cambodia's 150 casinos (up from just 57 in 2014){{cite book |title=Transnational Organized Crime in Southeast Asia: Evolution, Growth, and Impact, 2019 |url=https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2019/SEA_TOCTA_2019_web.pdf |date=2019 |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) |location=Bangkok |page=20 |access-date=1 August 2019 |archive-date=22 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122015018/https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2019/SEA_TOCTA_2019_web.pdf |url-status=live }} are the main attractions for foreign tourists.

Cambodia's reputation as a safe destination for tourism has been hindered by civil and political unrest{{Cite news |url=https://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/civil-unrest-119267/ |title=Civil Unrest |date=16 October 2016 |work=The Cambodia Daily |access-date=20 June 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811055108/https://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/civil-unrest-119267/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/27/kem-lays-murder-puts-cambodia-politics-economy-at-risk-as-unrest-looms.html |title=Kem Ley's murder puts Cambodia politics, economy at risk as unrest looms |website=CNBC |last=Chandran |first=Nyshka |date=27 August 2016 |access-date=20 June 2017 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811105233/https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/27/kem-lays-murder-puts-cambodia-politics-economy-at-risk-as-unrest-looms.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=http://www.travelhappy.me/civil-unrest-in-phnom-penh-cambodia/ |title=Civil Unrest in Phnom Penh, Cambodia – TravelHappy.Me |date=20 September 2013 |work=TravelHappy.Me |access-date=20 June 2017 |language=en-US |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811022429/http://www.travelhappy.me/civil-unrest-in-phnom-penh-cambodia/ |archive-date=11 August 2017 }} and several examples of crime committed against tourists visiting the kingdom.{{Cite news |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15252/embassies-warn-of-rise-in-coastal-crime/ |title=Embassies Warn of Rise in Coastal Crime |last=Laurenson |first=Jack |work=Khmer Times |access-date=20 June 2017 |archive-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614030638/https://www.khmertimeskh.com/59087/embassies-warn-of-rise-in-coastal-crime/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14091/two-rapes-in-3-days-reveal-resort---s-dark-side/ |title=Two Rapes in 3 Days Reveal Resort's Dark Side |last=Laurenson |first=Jack |work=Khmer Times |access-date=20 June 2017}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic }}{{Cite news |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/12397/deaths-of-foreigners-shrouded-in-mystery/ |title=Deaths of Foreigners Shrouded in Mystery |last=Laurenson |first=Jack |website=Khmer Times |access-date=20 June 2017 }}

Cambodia's tourist souvenir industry employs people around the main places of interest. The quantity of souvenirs produced is insufficient to face the increasing number of tourists. Most products sold to tourists on the markets are imported from China, Thailand, and Vietnam.{{cite web |url=http://www.aha-kh.com/ |title=AHA Angkor Handicraft Association |website=Aha-kh.com |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310032058/http://www.aha-kh.com/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Transport in Cambodia}}

File:Road 4 to Sihanouk.JPG

Cambodia has two rail lines, totalling about {{convert|612|km|mi|abbr=off}} of single, {{convert|1|m|ftin|spell=in|adj=mid|abbr=off}} gauge track.{{cite news |title=Cambodian railway to be revived by 2013 |url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/cambodian-railway-to-be-revived-by-2013.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401003014/http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/cambodian-railway-to-be-revived-by-2013.html |archive-date=1 April 2011 |work=Railway Gazette International |date=16 December 2009 |url-status=dead }} The lines run from the capital to Sihanoukville on the southern coast. Trains are again running to and from the Cambodian capital and destinations in the south. After 14 years, regular rail services between the two cities restarted – offering a safer option than road for travellers.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jun/05/trains-phnom-penh-sihanoukville-kampot |title=Cambodia revives train service between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville |work=The Guardian |date=5 June 2016 |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-date=4 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204172116/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jun/05/trains-phnom-penh-sihanoukville-kampot |url-status=live }} Trains run from Phnom Penh to Sisophon (trains often run only as far as Battambang). As of 1987, only one passenger train per week operated between Phnom Penh and Battambang and a US$141 million project, funded mostly by the Asian Development Bank, has been started to revitalise the languishing rail system that will "(interlink) Cambodia with major industrial and logistics centres in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City".

File:Phnom Penh Airport Shuttle Train.jpg

In 2004, the number of road fatalities per 10,000 vehicles was ten times higher in Cambodia than in the developed world, and the number of road deaths had doubled in the preceding three years.{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/5year_strategy/en/travis_annualreport_execsum.pdf |title=Cambodia Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System |website=WHO |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=23 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023222913/http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/5year_strategy/en/travis_annualreport_execsum.pdf |url-status=live }}

The Mekong and the Tonle Sap River, their tributaries, and the Tonle Sap provided avenues, including {{convert|3,700|km|mi|abbr=off}} navigable all year by craft drawing {{convert|0.6|m|ft|1|abbr=off}} and another {{convert|282|km|mi|abbr=off}} navigable to craft drawing {{convert|1.8|m|ft|1|abbr=off}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-2187.html |title=Cambodia – Railroads |website=Country-data.com |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=25 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825070732/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-2187.html |url-status=live }}

With increasing economic activity has come an increase in automobile use, while motorcycles still predominate.{{Cite web |date=9 March 2002 |title=As Cambodia's Traffic Levels Increase, So Too Does the Road Death Toll |url=https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-cambodias-traffic-levels-increase-so-too-does-the-road-death-toll-669/ |website=The Cambodia Daily |first1=Matt |last1=Reed |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521113901/https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-cambodias-traffic-levels-increase-so-too-does-the-road-death-toll-669/ |archive-date=21 May 2022 }} "Cyclo" (as hand-me-down French) or Cycle rickshaws were more popular in the 1990s and are increasingly replaced by remorques (carriages attached to motorcycles) and rickshaws imported from India. Cyclos are unique to Cambodia in that the cyclist sits behind the passenger seat.{{cite web |url=http://goseasia.about.com/od/cambodia/g/cyclo.htm |title=Cyclo – Transport in Cambodia |website=Southeast Asia Travel |publisher=About.com |date=9 April 2012 |first1=Michael |last1=Aquino |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=3 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403102938/http://goseasia.about.com/od/cambodia/g/cyclo.htm |url-status=dead }}

Cambodia has three commercial airports. In 2018, they handled a record of 10 million passengers.{{cite news |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/airports-pass-10m-passenger-mark |title=Airports pass 10M passenger mark |work=The Phnom Penh Post |date=20 December 2018 |access-date=14 April 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414051932/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/airports-pass-10m-passenger-mark |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Science and technology in Cambodia}}

A National Committee for Science and Technology representing 11 ministries has been in place since 1999. While seven ministries are responsible for the country's 33 public universities, the majority of these institutions come under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.{{Cite report |title=UNESCO Science Report: Towards 2030 |last1=Turpin |first1=Tim |last2=Zhang |first2=Jing A. |publisher=UNESCO |location=Paris |pages=698–713 |language=en |isbn=978-92-3-100129-1 |last3=Burgos |first3=Bessie M. |last4=Amaradsa |first4=Wasantha |chapter=Southeast Asia and Oceania |year=2015 }}

In 2010, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports approved a Policy on Research Development in the Education Sector. This move represented the first step towards a national approach to research and development across the university sector and the application of research for the purposes of national development.

This policy was followed by the country's first National Science and Technology Master Plan 2014–2020. It was officially launched by the Ministry of Planning in December 2014, as the culmination of a two-year process supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency. The plan makes provision for establishing a science and technology foundation to promote industrial innovation, with a particular focus on agriculture, primary industry and ICTs.{{Cite news |title=Cambodia National Science and Technology Master Plan 2014–2020 |last=Korea International Cooperation Agency |first=Press release |date=2014 |work=KOICA Feature News }} Cambodia was ranked 103rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.{{cite book |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |title=Global Innovation Index 2024. Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |access-date=22 October 2024 |author=World Intellectual Property Organization |year=2024 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2 |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |website=www.wipo.int |location=Geneva |page=18 |archive-date=10 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210002031/https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Energy in Cambodia}}

Cambodia has potential for developing renewable energy resources. It serves as a model to learn from for other ASEAN countries in terms of conducting solar power auctions.Vakulchuk, R., Chan, H.Y., Kresnawan, M.R., Merdekawati, M., Overland, I., Sagbakken, H.F., Suryadi, B., Utama, N.A. and Yurnaidi, Z. 2020. Cambodia: Five Actions to Improve the Business Climate for Renewable Energy Investment. ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) Policy Brief Series, No. 5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341793835 To attract more investment in renewable energy, the government could improve renewable energy governance, adopt clear targets, develop an effective regulatory framework, improve project bankability and facilitate market entry for international investors. Cambodia is "highly vulnerable" to the negative effects of climate change and it is advised that the country focuses more on developing renewable energy as part of climate change mitigation measures.{{cite journal |last1=Overland |first1=Indra |last2=Sagbakken |first2=Haakon Fossum |last3=Chan |first3=Hoy-Yen |last4=Merdekawati |first4=Monika |last5=Suryadi |first5=Beni |last6=Utama |first6=Nuki Agya |last7=Vakulchuk |first7=Roman |title=The ASEAN climate and energy paradox |journal=Energy and Climate Change |date=December 2021 |volume=2 |page=100019 |doi=10.1016/j.egycc.2020.100019 |hdl=11250/2734506 |hdl-access=free }}

{{Main|Demographics of Cambodia}}

{{Historical populations|type=Cambodia

| 1962|5728771

| 1980|6600000

| 1994|9900000

| 1996|10700000

| 1998|11437656

| 2004|12800000

| 2008|13395682

| 2013|14700000

| 2019|15552211

| percentages = pagr

| footnote = National Institute of Statistics: General Population Census of the Kingdom of Cambodia 2019, Chapter 2, p. 6

}}

The French protectorate of Cambodia conducted its first official census in 1921. Only men aged 20 to 60 were counted, as its purpose was for the collection of taxes.{{cite book |title=Organization and Administration of the General Population Census of Cambodia, 1998 |date=2001 |publisher=National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning |location=Phnom Penh, Cambodia |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEnkAlnHECYC |access-date=17 July 2020 }} After the 1962 population census was conducted, Cambodia's civil conflicts and instability lead to a 36-year-long gap before the country could have another official census in 1998.{{cite journal |author1=Huguet, Jerrold R. |author2=Chamratrithirong, Apichat |author3=Rao, Nott Rama |author4=Than, San Sy |title=Results of the 1998 Population Census in Cambodia |journal=Asia-Pacific Population Journal |date=September 2000 |volume=15 |issue=3 |page=1 |url=https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/APPJ-Vol-15-No-3.pdf |access-date=17 July 2020 |publisher=United Nations ESCAP |doi=10.18356/b3b0a408-en |archive-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717132200/https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/APPJ-Vol-15-No-3.pdf |url-status=live }}

As of 2010, half of the Cambodian population is younger than 22 years old. At a 1.04 female to male ratio, Cambodia has the most female-biased sex ratio in the Greater Mekong Subregion.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2018.html |title=Sex Ratio |work=CIA World Factbook |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=21 December 2010 |archive-date=16 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016065003/https://www.cia.gov/library//publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2018.html |url-status=dead }} Among the Cambodian population aged over 65, the female to male ratio is 1.6:1.

The total fertility rate in Cambodia was 2.5 children per woman in 2018.{{cite news |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?end=2018&locations=KH&start=2018&view=bar |title=Fertility rate, total (births per woman) – Cambodia |date=7 June 2020 |work=World Bank |access-date=7 June 2020 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607030457/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?end=2018&locations=KH&start=2018&view=bar |url-status=live }}

The fertility rate was 4.0 children in 2000. Women in urban areas have 2.2 children on average, compared with 3.3 children per woman in rural areas. Fertility is highest in Mondol Kiri and Rattanak Kiri Provinces, where women have an average of 4.5 children, and lowest in Phnom Penh where women have an average of 2.0 children.[http://www.nis.gov.kh/ National Institute of Statistics CAMBODIA DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY 2010] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227230811/http://www.nis.gov.kh/ |date=27 February 2011 }}. Nis.gov.kh (10 November 2013). Retrieved on 5 July 2015.

{{Further|Ethnic groups in Cambodia}}

File:Cambodia ethnic map colors more distinct.png

The majority of Cambodia's population is of ethnic Khmer origin (95.8%) who are speakers of the Khmer language, the country's sole official language. Cambodia's population is largely homogeneous. Its minority groups include Chams (1.8%), Vietnamese (0.5%) and Chinese (0.6%).{{Cite web |url=https://www.nis.gov.kh/nis/Census2019/Ethnic%20Minorities.pdf |title=Ethnic minorities in Cambodia |access-date=3 March 2024 |archive-date=3 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303183707/https://www.nis.gov.kh/nis/Census2019/Ethnic%20Minorities.pdf |url-status=live |website=General Population Census of Cambodia 2019 |date=September 2022 |author=((National Institute of Statistics)) |publisher=Ministry of Planning |place=Phnom Penh }}{{Cite web |url=https://nis.gov.kh/nis/Census2019/Final%20General%20Population%20Census%202019-English.pdf |title=National Report on Final Census Results |website=General Population Census of the Kingdom of Cambodia 2019 |date=October 2020 |author=((National Institute of Statistics)) |publisher=Ministry of Planning |place=Phnom Penh |access-date=26 May 2023 |archive-date=3 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203225556/https://www.nis.gov.kh/nis/Census2019/Final%20General%20Population%20Census%202019-English.pdf |url-status=live }}

The Vietnamese are the second-largest ethnic minority in Cambodia, with an estimated 16,000 living in provinces concentrated in the southeast of the country adjacent to the Mekong Delta. While the Vietnamese language has been determined to be a Mon–Khmer language, there are fewer cultural connections between the two peoples because the early Khmers were influenced by the Indian cultural sphere while the Vietnamese are part of the Chinese cultural sphere.{{cite book |last=Chandler |first=David |title=A History of Cambodia |publisher=Westview Press |date=2000 }} Ethnic tensions between the Khmer and the Vietnamese can be traced to the Post-Angkor Period (from the 16th to 19th centuries), during which time Vietnam and Thailand each attempted to vassalise a weakened post-Angkor Cambodia, and effectively dominate all of Indochina. Chinese Cambodians are approximately 0.6% of the population.

{{See also|Demographics of Cambodia#Languages}}

The Khmer language is a member of the Mon–Khmer subfamily of the Austroasiatic language group. French, once the language of government in Indochina, is the language of instruction in some schools and universities that are funded by the government of France. There is a French-language newspaper and some TV channels are available in French. Cambodia is a member of La Francophonie. Cambodian French, a remnant of the country's colonial past, is a dialect found in Cambodia and is sometimes used in government, particularly in court. Since 1993, there has been a growing use of English, which has been replacing French as the main foreign language. English is taught in universities and there is a press in that language, while street signs are bilingual in Khmer and English.{{cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2010-06/30/c_13377375.htm |title=U.S. helps English program for poor Cambodian students |publisher=News.xinhuanet.com |date=30 June 2010 |access-date=16 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105013936/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2010-06/30/c_13377375.htm |archive-date=5 November 2013 }} Due to this shift, mostly English is now used in Cambodia's international relationships, and it has replaced French both on Cambodia's stamps and, since 2002, on Cambodian currency.{{Citation |last=Igawa |first=Koji |date=2008 |title=English Language and its Education in Cambodia, a Country in Transition |url=https://www.shitennoji.ac.jp/ibu/images/toshokan/kiyo46-20.pdf |language=en |volume=46 |pages=343–369 |access-date=20 December 2016 |work=Shitennōji daigaku kiyō |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817210033/https://www.shitennoji.ac.jp/ibu/images/toshokan/kiyo46-20.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Religion in Cambodia}}

Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Cambodia, practised by more than 95 per cent of the population with an estimated 4,392 monastery temples throughout the country.{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148861.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123110848/http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148861.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 November 2010 |title=Cambodia |publisher=State.gov |access-date=15 March 2013 }} Islam is followed by about 2% of the population. There are three varieties of the religion. Two of which are practised by the Cham people; the third is practiced by the descendants of Malays, who have lived in the country for generations. Cambodia's Muslim population is reported to be 80% ethnic Cham.{{cite web |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13400/ramadan-ends-friday-evening/ |title=Ramadan Ends Friday Evening |work=Khmer Times |date=16 July 2015 }}

{{Main|Health in Cambodia}}

File:Defense.gov photo essay 120801-O-ZZ999-011.jpg

Cambodian life expectancy was 75 years in 2021,{{cite web |url=https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50808278/life-expectancy-increases-to-75-years/ |title=Life expectancy increases to 75 years |date=28 January 2021 |publisher=General Population Census of Cambodia 2019 |access-date=29 January 2021 }} an improvement since 1995 when the average life expectancy was 55.{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_dyn_le00_in&dl=en#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_le00_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:KHM&ifdim=region&dl=en&ind=false |title=World Development Indicators – Google Public Data Explorer |website=www.google.com |access-date=21 May 2018 |archive-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717220224/https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_dyn_le00_in&dl=en#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=sp_dyn_le00_in&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:KHM&ifdim=region&dl=en&ind=false |url-status=live }} Health care is offered by public and private practitioners and research has found that trust in health providers is a key factor in improving the uptake of health care services in rural Cambodia.{{cite journal |last=Ozawa |first=Sachiko |author2=Damian Walker |title=Comparison Of Trust In Public Vs Private Health Care Providers In Rural Cambodia |journal=Health Policy Plan |year=2011 |volume=26 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=i20 – i29 |url=http://www.futurehealthsystems.org/publications/comparison-of-trust-in-public-vs-private-health-care-provide.html |access-date=26 May 2012 |doi=10.1093/heapol/czr045 |pmid=21729914 |doi-access=free |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111133748/http://www.futurehealthsystems.org/publications/comparison-of-trust-in-public-vs-private-health-care-provide.html |url-status=dead }}

Cambodia's infant mortality rate has decreased from 86 per 1,000 live births in 1998 to 24 in 2018.{{cite news |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?end=2018&locations=KH&start=1975&view=chart |title=Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) – Cambodia |date=7 June 2020 |publisher=World Bank |access-date=7 June 2020 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607024724/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?end=2018&locations=KH&start=1975&view=chart |url-status=live }} In the province with worst health indicators, Ratanakiri, 22.9% of children die before age five.[http://www.methodfinder.com/wfpatlas/index.php?page=03&lang=e "National Child Mortality and Malnutrition (Food Insecurity Outcome) Maps"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010190629/http://www.methodfinder.com/wfpatlas/index.php?page=03&lang=e |date=10 October 2017 }}. UN World Food Programme. Retrieved 4 May 2008.

According to some estimates, unexploded land mines have been responsible for over 60,000 civilian deaths and thousands more maimed or injured since 1970.PBS.org (25 July 2003). [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2003/07/25/july-25-2003-cambodia-land-mines/19939/ Cambodia Land Mines] The number of reported landmine casualties has decreased, from 800 in 2005 to 111 in 2013 (22 dead and 89 injured).{{cite news |last1=ZSOMBOR |first1=PETER |title=Landmine, Unexploded Ordnance Deaths Drop by Half in 2013 |url=http://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/landmine-unexploded-ordnance-deaths-drop-by-half-in-2013-52085/ |access-date=23 October 2014 |work=The Cambodia Daily |date=13 February 2014 |archive-date=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706225418/https://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/landmine-unexploded-ordnance-deaths-drop-by-half-in-2013-52085/ |url-status=dead }} Adults that survive landmines sometimes require amputation of one or more limbs and have to resort to begging for survival. Cambodia is expected to be free of land mines by 2025{{cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_cambodia-expects-be-landmine-free-within-5-years/6197569.html |title=Cambodia Expects to be Landmine-Free Within 5 Years |website=Voice of America |date=25 October 2020 |access-date=10 September 2023 |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929092736/https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_cambodia-expects-be-landmine-free-within-5-years/6197569.html |url-status=live }} with the social and economic legacy, including orphans and one in 290 people being an amputee.{{cite news |last1=Coomes |first1=Phil |title=Tackling the hidden weapons left behind |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-26865946 |access-date=23 October 2014 |work=BBC News |agency=BBC |date=3 April 2014 |archive-date=11 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111145117/http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-26865946 |url-status=live }} In Cambodia, landmines and exploded ordnance alone have caused 44,630 injuries between 1979 and 2013, according to the Cambodia Mine/UXO Victim Information System.Moss, Rebecca (25 June 2015) [http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/disability-survey-underscores-war-legacy Disability survey underscores war legacy] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626105626/http://m.phnompenhpost.com/national/disability-survey-underscores-war-legacy |date=26 June 2015 }}. Phnompenh Post.

In the 2024 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Cambodia ranks 68th out of 127 countries with sufficient data. Cambodia's GHI score is 14.7, which indicates a moderate level of hunger.{{Cite web |title=Global Hunger Index Scores by 2024 GHI Rank |url=https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html |access-date=13 December 2024 |website=Global Hunger Index (GHI) - peer-reviewed annual publication designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels |language=en |archive-date=25 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225183607/https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Education in Cambodia}}

File:Institute of Foreign Languages.jpg of the Royal University of Phnom Penh ]]

The 2019 Cambodian census estimated that 88.5% of the population was literate (91.1% of men and 86.2% of women). Male youth age (15–24 years) have a literacy rate of 89% compared to 86% for females.{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia_statistics.html |title=UNICEF – Cambodia – Statistics |publisher=Unicef.org |access-date=16 March 2013 |archive-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402220546/http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cambodia_statistics.html |url-status=dead }}

There have been improvements to the education system, especially in terms of primary net enrolment gains, the introduction of programme based-budgeting, and the development of a policy framework which helps disadvantaged children to gain access to education. The country has invested in vocational education, especially in rural areas, to tackle poverty and unemployment.

{{cite web |url=http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/worldtvetdatabase1.php?ct=KHM |title=Cambodia on UNESCO-UNEVOC |access-date=28 October 2014 |archive-date=8 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508075732/http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/worldtvetdatabase1.php?ct=KHM |url-status=live }}[http://www.ntb.gov.kh/tvet/policy/NTDP2008.pdf Cambodia National TVET development Plan −2008] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001005023/http://www.ntb.gov.kh/tvet/policy/NTDP2008.pdf |date=1 October 2013 }}. (PDF) . Retrieved on 5 July 2015.

Traditionally, education in Cambodia was offered by the wats (Buddhist temples), thus providing education exclusively for the male population.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090218125514/http://culturalprofiles.net/Cambodia/Directories/Cambodia_Cultural_Profile/-36.html The Cambodia Cultural Profile. Education]. culturalprofiles.net Education has underwent setbacks from child labour, A study by Kim (2011) reports that most employed children in Cambodia are enrolled in school and their employment is associated with late school entry, negative impacts on their learning outcomes, and increased drop out rates.{{Cite journal |date=1 September 2011 |title=Child labour, education policy and governance in Cambodia |journal=International Journal of Educational Development |language=en |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=496–504 |doi=10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.03.002 |issn=0738-0593 |last1=Kim |first1=Chae-Young }} With respect to academic performance among Cambodian primary school children, research showed that parental attitudes and beliefs played a role.{{cite journal |last1=Eng |first1=S |year=2013 |title=Cambodian Early Adolescents' Academic Achievement The Role of Social Capital |journal=The Journal of Early Adolescence |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=378–403 |doi=10.1177/0272431612441069 |s2cid=145561471 }}

{{Further|Crime in Cambodia}}

In 2017, Cambodia had a homicide rate of 2.4 per 100,000 population.{{cite web |url=https://www.unodc.org/gsh/en/index.html |title=UNODC: Global Study on Homicide |publisher=unodc.org |access-date=10 January 2015 |archive-date=2 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602171852/https://www.unodc.org/gsh/en/index.html |url-status=live }}

Prostitution is illegal in Cambodia. In a series of 1993 interviews of women about prostitution, three quarters of the interviewees found being a prostitute to be a norm and a profession they felt was not shameful having. That same year, it was estimated that there were about 100,000 sex workers in Cambodia.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8N-zQGWVf8C&pg=PA137 |page=137 |title=The Prostitution of Sexuality |first=Kathleen |last=Barry |publisher=NYU Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8147-1277-1 }}

On 18 August 2019, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a directive banning the Finance Ministry from issuing new online gambling licenses, while operators currently holding online licenses would only be allowed to continue operating until those licenses expire. The directive cited the fact that "some foreigners have used this form of gambling to cheat victims inside and outside the country" as justifying the new policy.{{cite web |last1=Narim |first1=Khuon |title=Online, arcade gambling banned by PM |url=https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50634805/online-arcade-gambling-banned/ |website=Khmer Times |access-date=20 August 2019 |date=18 August 2019 }} Cambodia had issued over 150 such licenses before the new policy was announced.{{cite web |title=Cambodia to ban online gambling |url=https://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/cambodia-ban-online-gambling |website=iGaming Business |access-date=20 August 2019 |language=en |date=19 August 2019 |archive-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820024631/https://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/cambodia-ban-online-gambling |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Culture of Cambodia|Preah Ko Preah Keo}}

File:Vorvong-Sorvong-tale-Pavie9.jpg]]

Traditionally, the Khmer people have a recorded information on Tra leaves. Tra leaf books record legends of the Khmer people, the Ramayana, the origin of Buddhism and other prayer books. They are taken care of by wrapping in cloth to protect from moisture and the climate.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080924135657/http://english.vietnamnet.vn/travel/2008/09/805123/ A Khmer pagoda stores unique leaf prayer books]. english.vietnamnet.vn (23 September 2008).

Bon Om Touk (Cambodian Water & Moon Festival), the annual boat rowing contest, is the most attended Cambodian national festival. Held at the end of the rainy season when the Mekong River begins to sink back to its normal levels allowing the Tonle Sap River to reverse flow, approximately 10% of Cambodia's population attends this event each year to play games, give thanks to the moon, watch fireworks, dine, and attend the boat race in a carnival-type atmosphere.{{cite web |url=http://www.cambodia.gov.kh/unisql1/egov/english/news.view.html?doc_oid=@140%7C1%7C1 |title=Bonn Om Touk, the Water and Moon Festivals |work=Government of Cambodia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011210454/http://cambodia.gov.kh/unisql1/egov/english/news.view.html?doc_oid=%40140%7C1%7C1 |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}

Every year, Cambodians visit pagodas across the country to mark the Pchum Ben (Ancestors' Day). During the 15-day festival, people offer prayers and food to the spirits of their dead relatives. For most Cambodians, it is a time to remember their relatives who died during the 1975–1979 Khmer Rouge regime.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-festival/cambodias-festival-of-the-dead-rice-offerings-and-buddhist-chants-idUSKCN1M50EK?il=0 |title=Cambodia's Festival of the Dead: rice offerings and Buddhist chants |work=Reuters |access-date=25 September 2018 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925141923/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-festival/cambodias-festival-of-the-dead-rice-offerings-and-buddhist-chants-idUSKCN1M50EK?il=0 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Cuisine of Cambodia}}

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Rice is the staple grain, as in other Southeast Asian countries. Fish from the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers is a part of the diet. The supply of fish and fish products for food and trade {{As of|2000|lc=y}} was {{convert|20|kg|abbr=off}} per person or 2 ounces per day per person.[https://web.archive.org/web/20040720042809/http://www.earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/Coa_cou_116.pdf Coastal and Marine Ecosystems-- Cambodia]. Earthtrends.org

French influence on Cambodian cuisine includes the Cambodian red curry with toasted baguette bread. The toasted baguette pieces are dipped in the curry and eaten. Cambodian red curry is eaten with rice and rice vermicelli noodles. A dine out dish, kuyteav, is a pork broth rice noodle soup with fried garlic, scallions, green onions that may contain toppings such as beef balls, shrimp, pork liver or lettuce. Kampot pepper accompanies crab at the Kep crab shacks and squid in the restaurants on the Ou Trojak Jet river.[https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/cambodias-perfect-pepper-conquering-worlds-taste-buds/ar-AAmcYA1?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout Cambodia's "perfect pepper" conquering world's taste buds] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204171339/http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/cambodias-perfect-pepper-conquering-worlds-taste-buds/ar-AAmcYA1?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout |date=4 February 2017 }}. Msn.com (25 January 2017). Retrieved on 1 March 2017.

Tea is grown in Mondulkiri Province and around Kirirom.{{Cite news |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/khmer-brew-exploring-parviflora-tea-strain |title=Khmer brew: exploring the parviflora tea strain |last=Smits |first=Johann |date=6 October 2009 |work=Phnom Penh Post |access-date=20 July 2017 |language=en |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811011554/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/khmer-brew-exploring-parviflora-tea-strain |url-status=live }} Te krolap is a strong tea, made by putting water and a mass of tea leaves into a glass, placing a saucer on top, and turning the whole thing upside down to brew. When it is dark enough, the tea is decanted into another cup and plenty of sugar added, and no milk. Lemon tea {{transliteration|km|te kdau kroch chhma}}, made with Chinese red-dust tea and lemon juice, is refreshing both hot and iced and is generally served with a more hefty dose of sugar.{{Cite web |url=https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/cambodia/food-drink/ |title=Food and drink {{!}} About Cambodia |website=Rough Guides |language=en-US |access-date=20 July 2017 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811055005/https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/cambodia/food-drink/ |url-status=live }} Regarding coffee, the beans are generally imported from Laos and Vietnam – while domestically produced coffee from Ratanakiri Province and Mondulkiri Province can be found in some places. Beans are traditionally roasted with butter and sugar, plus various other ingredients that might include anything from rum to pork fat, giving the beverage a strange, sometimes faintly chocolatey aroma.

Cambodia has industrial breweries, located mainly in Sihanoukville Province and Phnom Penh. There are a growing number of microbreweries in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.{{Cite news |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-plus/craft-beer-phnom-penh |title=Craft Beer Phnom Penh |last=Heliot |first=Rebecca |date=26 May 2015 |work=The Phnom Penh Post |access-date=20 July 2017 |language=en |archive-date=29 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629034553/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-plus/craft-beer-phnom-penh |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.asialifemagazine.com/cambodia/craft-beer-cambodia/ |title=Craft Beer in Cambodia |work=AsiaLIFE Cambodia |access-date=20 July 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=11 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811011706/https://www.asialifemagazine.com/cambodia/craft-beer-cambodia/ |url-status=dead }} {{As of|2019}}, there are 12 brewpubs or microbreweries in Cambodia.{{cite news |last1=Pennington |first1=John |title=Brewing up nicely: Cambodia's rapidly growing taste for craft beer |url=https://www.aseantoday.com/2019/05/brewing-up-nicely-cambodias-rapidly-growing-taste-for-craft-beer/ |access-date=14 May 2019 |work=ASEAN Today |date=13 May 2019 |archive-date=14 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514104124/https://www.aseantoday.com/2019/05/brewing-up-nicely-cambodias-rapidly-growing-taste-for-craft-beer/ |url-status=live }} Rice wine is an alcoholic drink. It is sometimes infused with fruits or medicinal herbs.{{Cite news |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/how-rice-wine-ferments-cambodian-spirit |title=How rice wine ferments the Cambodian spirit |last=Mee |first=Stephanie |date=2 July 2009 |work=The Phnom Penh Post |access-date=20 July 2017 |language=en |archive-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924100157/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/how-rice-wine-ferments-cambodian-spirit |url-status=live }} When prepared with macerated fruits or spices, like the Sombai liqueur, it is called sra tram (soaked wine).{{Cite news |url=https://www.asialifemagazine.com/cambodia/cambodian-rice-wine/ |title=Cambodian rice wine |work=AsiaLIFE Cambodia |access-date=20 July 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=28 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728164547/https://www.asialifemagazine.com/cambodia/cambodian-rice-wine/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=Dunston |first=Lara |date=10 July 2014 |title=Cambodian Rice Wine Revival |url=http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/travel/travel-news-features/2014/7/cambodian-rice-wine-revival/ |access-date=20 July 2017 |website=Gourmet Traveller |language=en |archive-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703013912/http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/travel/travel-news-features/2014/7/cambodian-rice-wine-revival |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Glasser |first=Miranda |date=1 August 2014 |title=Sombai Rice Wine Purveyors Open New Showroom |work=Phnom Penh Post |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/siem-reap-insider/sombai-rice-wine-purveyors-open-new-showroom |access-date=20 July 2017 |language=en |archive-date=28 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728162028/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/siem-reap-insider/sombai-rice-wine-purveyors-open-new-showroom |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Dance in Cambodia}}

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Khmer classical dance is the form of stylised performance art established in the royal courts of Cambodia exhibited for both entertainment and ceremonial purposes.{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=00060 |title=UNESCO Culture Sector – Intangible Heritage – 2003 Convention |publisher=Unesco.org |access-date=15 March 2013 |archive-date=30 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230133647/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=00060 |url-status=live }} The dances are performed by costumed, trained men and women on public occasions for tribute, invocation or to enact traditional stories and epic poems such as Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana.{{Cite journal |last=Cravath |first=Paul |date=1986 |title=The Ritual Origins of the Classical Dance Drama of Cambodia |journal=Asian Theatre Journal |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=179–203 |doi=10.2307/1124400 |jstor=1124400 }}

Cambodian folk dance, sometimes performed to mahori music, celebrates the cultural and ethnic groups of Cambodia. Folk dances originated in the villages and are performed, for the most part, by the villagers for the villagers.{{Cite book |last1=Sam |first1=Sam-ang |url=http://www.reninc.org/BOOKSHELF/Khmer_Folk_Dance_Sam.pdf |title=Khmer Folk Dance |last2=Sam |first2=Chan Moly |date=1987 |publisher=Khmer Studies Institute |isbn=0-941785-02-5 |location=Newington, CT |language=en |author-link=Sam-Ang Sam |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920064320/http://www.reninc.org/BOOKSHELF/Khmer_Folk_Dance_Sam.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2009 }} The movements are less stylised and the clothing worn is that of the people the dancers are portraying, such as hill tribes, Chams or farmers. Typically faster-paced than classical dance, folk dances display themes of the "common person" such as love, comedy or warding off evil spirits.

{{Main|Music of Cambodia}}

Traditional Cambodian music dates back as far as the Khmer Empire.{{Cite web |title=Cambodian History |url=https://www.umbc.edu/eol/cambodia/histcmus.htm |publisher=www.umbc.edu |access-date=14 March 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127015116/https://www.umbc.edu/eol/cambodia/histcmus.htm |url-status=live }}

Popular music is performed with western style instruments or a mixture of traditional and western instruments. Dance music is composed in particular styles for social dances. The music of crooner Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Sereysothea, and Pen Ran from the 1960s to the 1970s is considered to be the classic pop music of Cambodia. During the Khmer Rouge revolution, some singers of the 1960s and 1970s were murdered, starved to death, or overwork to death by the Khmer Rouge.{{Cite book |last=Ringer |first=Greg |title=Killing Fields |date=2002 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York, NY |pages=368–370 }}

In the 1980s, Keo Surath, (a refugee resettled in the United States) and others carried on the legacy of the classic singers, sometimes remaking their popular songs. The 1980s and 1990s saw the rise in popularity of kantrum, a music style of the Khmer Surin set to modern instrumentation.{{Cite web |date=17 October 2002 |title=Cambodia |url=http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/country/content.country/cambodia_527 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818104047/http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/country/content.country/cambodia_527 |archive-date=18 August 2012 |access-date=16 March 2013 |website=National Geographic World Music |language=en }}

The Australian hip hop group Astronomy Class has recorded with Kak Channthy, a native-born Cambodian female singer.{{Cite news |last=Knox |first=Claire |date=21 June 2013 |title=The Show Must Go On Tour |work=The Phnom Penh Post |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/show-must-go-tour |access-date=18 July 2013 |archive-date=12 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112213735/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/show-must-go-tour |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Will |date=2 May 2014 |title=7 Questions with Shannon Kennedy |work=The Phnom Penh Post |url=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/7-questions-shannon-kennedy |access-date=12 May 2014 |language=en |archive-date=24 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724214502/http://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/7-questions-shannon-kennedy |url-status=live }}

{{Portal|Cambodia|Asia}}

• Index of Cambodia-related articles
• Outline of Cambodia
• Landmines in Cambodia

{{Reflist |colwidth = 32em }}

{{notelist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• Deth, Sok Udom, and Serkan Bulut, eds. Cambodia's Foreign Relations in Regional and Global Contexts (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2017; comprehensive coverage) [https://www.academia.edu/35710235/CAMBODIAS_FOREIGN_RELATIONS_IN_REGIONAL_AND_GLOBAL_CONTEXTS full book online free].
• Path Kosal, "Introduction: Cambodia's Political History and Foreign Relations, 1945–1998" pp 1–26
• Strangio, Sebastian. Cambodia: From Pol Pot to Hun Sen and Beyond (2020)
• Un, Kheang. Cambodia: Return to Authoritarianism (2019) [https://www.amazon.com/Cambodia-Authoritarianism-Elements-Politics-Southeast/dp/1108457932/ excerpt] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028165548/https://www.amazon.com/Cambodia-Authoritarianism-Elements-Politics-Southeast/dp/1108457932 |date=28 October 2021 }}
• {{cite book |ref=Morris |last=Morris |first=Stephen J. |year=1999 |title=Why Vietnam Invaded Cambodia |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-3049-0}}
• {{Free-content attribution

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{{Refend}}

{{Sister project links|voy=Cambodia|d=Q424}}

• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cambodia/ Cambodia]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703234535/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/cambodia.htm Cambodia] from UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 3 July 2008)
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13006539 Cambodia profile] from the BBC News
• [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/90520/Cambodia Cambodia] at Encyclopædia Britannica
• {{Wikiatlas|Cambodia}}
• {{osmrelation-inline|49898}}
• [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=KH Key Development Forecasts for Cambodia] from International Futures

; Government

• [http://www.norodomsihanouk.info/ King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk] Official website of former King Norodom Sihanouk {{in lang|fr}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.cambodia.gov.kh/unisql1/egov/english/home.frame.html |title=Cambodia.gov.kh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005044434/http://www.cambodia.gov.kh/unisql1/egov/english/home.view.html |archive-date=5 October 2006 |url-status=dead}} Official Royal Government of Cambodia Website (English Version)
• [http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20020202171903/http://www.mot.gov.kh/ Ministry of Tourism] (archived 2 February 2002)

Civil society

• [http://ccc-cambodia.org/ Cooperation Committee for Cambodia)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101230020740/http://www.adhoc-cambodia.org/ Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association] (archived 30 December 2010)
• [http://www.cchrcambodia.org/ Cambodian Centre for Human Rights]
• [http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/ Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights]
• [http://www.actioniec.org/ Action IEC Working For Cambodian Community Education Through Media and Culture]
• [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2011&country=8009 Freedom in the World 2011: Cambodia].{{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023143655/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2011&country=8009 |date=23 October 2011 }}.
• [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2011&country=8009 Freedom of the Press 2011: Cambodia]. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107104436/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2011&country=8009 |date=7 January 2012 }}.

{{Cambodia topics}}

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