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Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country. Located on the
Indochina peninsula, it covers an area of 181 040 km2. It
is limited by Thailand, west and north; through Laos, to
the northeast; Vietnam, east and south, and the Gulf of
Thailand, southwest. The most important cities are Phnom
Penh, the capital, with 1 206 800 inhabitants (2004),
Batdambang (219 700 inhab.) (2004), Kampong Cham (59 500
inhab.) And Pursat (46 800 inhab.) (2004). The climate
is tropical monsoon. The monsoon is felt from April to
October and the average temperature in the capital is
27 o C.
Economy
Cambodia's economy is still very dependent on
agriculture, the production of which is mainly intended
for local consumption. Rice is the main production. For
export, there are crops of sugar cane and bananas, as
well as plantations of ivy (natural rubber). About 80%
of the active population is dedicated to agriculture. In
terms of mineral resources, the country has reserves of
iron, phosphates, coal and precious stones, but its
exploration is still not very intensive. The industry,
of an almost artisanal nature, is dedicated to the
transformation of agricultural products. Cambodia's main
economic partners are Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and
India.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita (metric tons, 1999), is
0.1.
Population
The population is 13 881 427 inhabitants (est. 2006),
which corresponds to a population density of 75.16 inhab./km2. The
birth and death rates are, respectively, 26.9% and
9.06%. Average life expectancy is 59.29 years. The value
of the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.556 and the
value of the Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is
0.551 (2001). Cambodian ethnicities are Khmer (90%),
Vietnamese (5%) and Chinese (1%) and others (4%). The
religion with the greatest expression is the
Buddhist. The official language of the country is Khmer.
History
In 1864, Cambodia became a protectorate of
France. During World War II, most of the territory was
occupied by the Japanese army. In 1944 the country
proclaimed independence, but it was only in 1953 that it
came to conquer it definitively. He tried to maintain
neutrality during the Vietnam War, but the Vietnamese
used the neighboring territory to supply the forces
operating in southern Vietnam. This forced Cambodia to
become involved in the war. In 1970 the US bombed most
of the country. Shortly afterwards, Prime Minister
Sihanouk was deposed by General Lon Nol, supported by
the Americans.
This coup provoked discontent among the communists, the
Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. In 1976 the Democratic
Republic of Cambodia was proclaimed. The following year,
the Cambodian Communist Party was officially recognized
as the country's governing body. There followed a time
of extreme misery. In 1979, disease and hunger, but also
the regime's systematic genocide, had already killed
some 2,000,000 people. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge began
to attack Vietnam and, in 1979, Cambodia was invaded by
the neighboring country. The communist regime fell and
Vietnamese forces established a socialist
government. From that moment on, the Khmer Rouge
guerrillas started to attack power successively.
In 1991, the various factions signed a peace agreement
under the auspices of the UN. Two years later, the UN
oversaw free elections and Sihanouk, who had returned to
the country shortly before, formed a coalition
government and later became king. However, the political
situation in the country has not proved to be stable,
however. The Khmer Rouge guerrillas continued their
struggle. On the other hand, in 1997 there was a coup
d'etat in which the co-Prime Minister Hun-Sen removed
from power the other co-Prime Minister, Prince Ranariddh,
son of King Sihanouk. |
