CAMBODIA



Kingdom of Cambodia

Preahreacheanachakr Kampuchea

CAPITAL : Phnom Penh

FLAG : The flag has a red center field with a white silhouette of the temple complex at Angkor Wat. The center field is bordered top and bottom by blue bands.

ANTHEM : Nokoreach, beginning "Heaven protects our King."

MONETARY UNIT : The new riel ( CR ) is a paper currency of 100 sen. CR 1 = $0.0002534 (or $1 = CR 3,946.00) as of May 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES : Both the metric system and traditional weights and measures are in general use.

HOLIDAYS : National Day, 9 January; New Year, April; Labor Day, 1 May; Feast of the Ancestors, 22 September; Independence Day, 9 November.

TIME : 7 PM = noon GMT.


CLIMATE

The climate is tropical, with a wet season from May through November and a dry season from December to April. Temperatures range from 10° to 38° C (68–97° F ), and humidity is consistently high. Average rainfall varies from about 127 to 140 cm (50 to 55 in) in the central basin to about 508 cm (200 in) in the southwestern mountains.

ETHNIC GROUPS

Over 90% of the entire population in 1999 were ethnic Khmers, descendants of the original population in the area. The largest minority groups were the Vietnamese, estimated at 5% of the population, and the Chinese, estimated at 1%. Groups designated as other comprised the remaining 4% of the population. National minorities are the Cham and a number of small tribal groups.

LANGUAGES

Khmer, the national language, is spoken by most inhabitants. Unlike Thai or Vietnamese, Khmer is a non-tonal language; most words are monosyllabic. French, the second language, is often used in commercial and official circles. The Vietnamese and the Chinese use their own languages, as do other minorities. English is also spoken.

ARMED FORCES

Cambodia has approximately 125,000 active personnel in the armed forces. The army consists of around 75,000 with over 100 main battle tanks. The navy numbers around 3,000 and the air force has 2,000 personnel with 24 combat aircraft. Provincial forces number some 45,000. There is a paramilitary of 67,000 police including gendarmerie. Defense expenditures in 2001 were $112 million or 3% of GDP.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Since 1979, foreign technicians have been helping to revive the economy. Aside from a School of Medicine and Pharmacy, there is virtually no opportunity within Cambodia to pursue scientific training or research. In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 13% of college and university enrollments.

INSURANCE

All insurance companies were "Cambodianized" in 1960; 16 companies were in operation prior to 1975. Under the Pol Pot government, normal insurance operations were suspended. No current information is available concerning insurance in the PRK.

DEPENDENCIES

Cambodia has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chandler, David P. The Land and People of Cambodia. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.

Corfield, Justin J. Historical Dictionary of Cambodia. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2003.

——. The Tragedy of Cambodian History: Politics, War, and Revolution since 1945. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.

——. A History of Cambodia. 2d ed. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1992.

——. Facing the Cambodian Past: Selected Essays 1971–1994. Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 1996.

Ebihara, May M, Carol A. Mortland, and Judy Ledgerwood (eds.) Cambodian Culture since 1975: Homeland and Exile. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994.

Frings, Viviane. The Failure of Agricultural Collectivization in the People's Republic of Kampuchea, 1979–1089. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1993.

——. Allied and Equal: The Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party's Historiography and its Relations with Vietnam (1979–1991). Clayton, Australia: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994.

Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1993.

Higham, Charles. The Civilization of Angkor. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

Peou, Sorpong. Cambodia After the Cold War: The Search for Security Continues. Clayton, Vic.: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1995.

——. Conflict Neutralization in the Cambodia War: From Battlefield to Ballot-box. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Pradhan, Bhagwan B. Super Powers and Non-alignment in Third World Conflicts: A Study of Kampuchea. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publication, 1990.

Propaganda, Politics, and Violence in Cambodia: Democratic Transition under United Nations Peace-keeping. Armond, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1996.

Roberts, David W. Political Transition in Cambodia 1991–1999: Power, Elitism and Democracy. Richmond, Va.: Curzon, 2001.

Ross, Russell R. (ed.). Cambodia: A Country Study. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1990.

Solomon, Richard H. Exiting Indochina: U.S. Leadership of the Cambodia Settlement and Normalization of Relations with Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2000.

Sutter, Robert G. The Cambodian Crisis and U.S. Policy Dilemmas. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1991.

Wagner, Carol. Soul Survivors: Stories of Women and Children in Cambodia. Berkeley, Calif.: Creative Arts, 2002.

Wang, Chien-wei. Managing Arms in Peace Processes. Cambodia. New York: United Nations, 1996.

Welaratna, Usha. Beyond the Killing Fields: Voices of Nine Cambodian Survivors in America. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1993.

Wenk, Brian. The Work of Giants: Rebuilding Cambodia. Geneva: International Labor Organization, 2002.

Also read article about Cambodia from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

1
shava
Very useful resource for students interested in the Modern Cambodian history. Thank you!

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