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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Cambodia
Index
Sihanouk's nonaligned foreign policy, which emerged in the
months following the Geneva Conference, cannot be understood
without reference to Cambodia's past history of foreign subjugation
and its very uncertain prospects for survival as the war between
North Vietnam and South Vietnam intensified. Soon after the 1954
Geneva Conference, Sihanouk expressed some interest in integrating
Cambodia into the framework of the Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization (SEATO), which included Cambodia, Laos, and South
Vietnam within the "treaty area," although none of these states was
a signatory. But meetings in late 1954 with India's Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru and Burma's Premier U Nu made him receptive to the
appeal of nonalignment. Moreover, the prince was somewhat uneasy
about a United States-dominated alliance that included one old
enemy, Thailand, and encompassed another, South Vietnam, each of
which offered sanctuary to anti-Sihanouk dissidents.
At the Bandung Conference in April 1955, Sihanouk held private
meetings with Premier Zhou Enlai of China and Foreign Minister Pham
Van Dong of North Vietnam. Both assured him that their countries
would respect Cambodia's independence and territorial integrity.
His experience with the French, first as a client, then as the
self-proclaimed leader of the "royal crusade for independence,"
apparently led him to conclude that the United States, like France,
would eventually be forced to leave Southeast Asia. From this
perspective, the Western presence in Indochina was only a temporary
interruption of the dynamics of the region--continued Vietnamese
(and perhaps even Thai) expansion at Cambodia's expense.
Accommodation with North Vietnam and friendly ties with China
during the late 1950s and the 1960s were tactics designed to
counteract these dynamics. China accepted Sihanouk's overtures and
became a valuable counterweight to growing Vietnamese and Thai
pressure on Cambodia.
Cambodia's relations with China were based on mutual interests.
Sihanouk hoped that China would restrain the Vietnamese and the
Thai from acting to Cambodia's detriment. The Chinese, in turn,
viewed Cambodia's nonalignment as vital in order to prevent the
encirclement of their country by the United States and its allies.
When Premier Zhou Enlai visited Phnom Penh in 1956, he asked the
country's Chinese minority, numbering about 300,000, to cooperate
in Cambodia's development, to stay out of politics, and to consider
adopting Cambodian citizenship. This gesture helped to resolve a
sensitive issue--the loyalty of Cambodian Chinese--that had
troubled the relationship between Phnom Penh and Beijing. In 1960
the two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship and Nonaggression.
After the Sino-Soviet rift Sihanouk's ardent friendship with China
contributed to generally cooler ties with Moscow.
China was not the only large power to which Sihanouk looked for
patronage, however. Cambodia's quest for security and nation-
building assistance impelled the prince to search beyond Asia and
to accept help from all donors as long as there was no impingement
upon his country's sovereignty. With this end in mind, Sihanouk
turned to the United States in 1955 and negotiated a military aid
agreement that secured funds and equipment for the Royal Khmer
Armed Forces (Forces Armées Royales Khmères--FARK--see
Appendix B).
A United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) was
established in Phnom Penh to supervise the delivery and the use of
equipment that began to arrive from the United States. By the early
1960s, aid from Washington constituted 30 percent of Cambodia's
defense budget and 14 percent of total budget inflows
(see
The First Indochina War, 1945-54, ch. 5).
Relations with the United States, however, proved to be stormy.
United States officials both in Washington and in Phnom Penh
frequently underestimated the prince and considered him to be an
erratic figure with minimal understanding of the threat posed by
Asian communism. Sihanouk easily reciprocated this mistrust because
several developments aroused his suspicion of United States
intentions toward his country.
One of these developments was the growing United States
influence within the Cambodian armed forces. The processing of
equipment deliveries and the training of Cambodian personnel had
forged close ties between United States military advisers and their
Cambodian counterparts. Military officers of both nations also
shared apprehensions about the spread of communism in Southeast
Asia. Sihanouk considered FARK to be Washington's most powerful
constituency in his country. The prince also feared that a number
of high-ranking, rightist FARK officers led by Lon Nol were
becoming too powerful and that, by association with these officers,
United States influence in Cambodia was becoming too deeply rooted.
A second development included the repetition of overflights by
United States and South Vietnamese military aircraft within
Cambodian airspace and border incursions by South Vietnamese troops
in hot pursuit of Viet Cong insurgents who crossed into Cambodian
territory when military pressure upon them became too sustained. As
the early 1960s wore on, this increasingly sensitive issue
contributed to the deterioration of relations between Phnom Penh
and Washington.
A third development was Sihanouk's own belief that he had been
targeted by United States intelligence agencies for replacement by
a more pro-Western leader. Evidence to support this suspicion came
to light in 1959 when the government discovered a plot to overthrow
Sihanouk. The conspiracy involved several Khmer leaders suspected
of American connections. Among them were Sam Sary, a leader of
right-wing Khmer Serei troops in South Vietnam; Son Ngoc Thanh, the
early nationalist leader once exiled into Thailand; and Dap Chhuon,
the military governor of Siemreab Province. Another alleged plot
involved Dap Chuon's establishment of a "free" state that would
have included Siemreab Province and Kampong Thum (Kampong Thom)
Province and the southern areas of Laos that were controlled by the
rightist Laotian prince, Boun Oum.
These developments, magnified by Sihanouk's abiding suspicions,
eventually undermined Phnom Penh's relations with Washington. In
November 1963, the prince charged that the United States was
continuing to support the subversive activities of the Khmer Serei
in Thailand and in South Vietnam, and he announced the immediate
termination of Washington's aid program to Cambodia. Relations
continued to deteriorate, and the final break came in May 1965 amid
increasing indications of airspace violations by South Vietnamese
and by United States aircraft and of ground fighting between Army
of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops and Viet Cong insurgents
in the Cambodian border areas.
In the meantime, Cambodia's relations with North Vietnam and
with South Vietnam, as well as the rupture with Washington,
reflected Sihanouk's efforts to adjust to geopolitical realities in
Southeast Asia and to keep his country out of the escalating
conflict in neighboring South Vietnam. In the early to mid-1960s,
this effort required a tilt toward Hanoi because the government in
Saigon tottered on the brink of anarchy. In the cities, the
administration of Ngo Dinh Diem and the military regimes that
succeeded it had become increasingly ineffectual and unstable,
while in the countryside the government forces were steadily losing
ground to the Hanoi-backed insurgents. To observers in Phnom Penh,
South Vietnam's short-term viability was seriously in doubt, and
this compelled a new tack in Cambodian foreign policy. First,
Cambodia severed diplomatic ties with Saigon in August 1963. The
following March, Sihanouk announced plans to establish diplomatic
relations with North Vietnam and to negotiate a border settlement
directly with Hanoi. These plans were not implemented quickly,
however, because the North Vietnamese told the prince that any
problem concerning Cambodia's border with South Vietnam would have
to be negotiated directly with the National Front for the
Liberation of South Vietnam (NFLSVN--see
Appendix B). Cambodia
opened border talks with the front in mid-1966, and the latter
recognized the inviolability of Cambodia's borders a year later.
North Vietnam quickly followed suit. Cambodia was the first foreign
government to recognize the NFLSVN's Provisional Revolutionary
Government after it was established in June 1969. Sihanouk was the
only foreign head of state to attend the funeral of Ho Chi Minh,
North Vietnam's deceased leader, in Hanoi three months later.
In the late 1960s, while preserving relations with China and
with North Vietnam, Sihanouk sought to restore a measure of
equilibrium by improving Cambodia's ties with the West. This shift
in course by the prince represented another adjustment to
prevailing conditions in Southeast Asia. North Vietnamese and Viet
Cong forces were increasing their use of sanctuaries in Cambodia,
which also served as the southern terminus of the Ho Chi Minh
Trail, their logistical resupply route originating in North
Vietnam. Cambodian neutrality in the conflict thus was eroding, and
China, preoccupied with its Cultural Revolution, did not intercede
with Hanoi. On Cambodia's eastern border, South Vietnam,
surprisingly, had not collapsed, even in the face of the communist
Tet Offensive in 1968, and President Nguyen Van Thieu's government
was bringing a measure of stability to the war-ravaged country. As
the government in Phnom Penh began to feel keenly the loss of
economic and military aid from the United States, which had totaled
about US$400 million between 1955 and 1963, it began to have second
thoughts about the rupture with Washington. The unavailability of
American equipment and spare parts was exacerbated by the poor
quality and the small numbers of Soviet, Chinese, and French
substitutes.
In late 1967 and in early 1968, Sihanouk signaled that he would
raise no objection to hot pursuit of communist forces by South
Vietnamese or by United States troops into Cambodian territory.
Washington, in the meantime, accepted the recommendation of the
United States Military Assistance Command--Vietnam (MACV) and,
beginning in March 1969, ordered a series of airstrikes (dubbed the
Menu series) against Cambodian sanctuaries used by the North
Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Whether or not these bombing missions
were authorized aroused considerable controversy, and assertions by
the Nixon administration that Sihanouk had "allowed" or even
"encouraged" them were disputed by critics such as British
journalist William Shawcross. On a diplomatic level, however, the
Menu airstrikes did not impede bilateral relations from moving
forward. In April 1969, Nixon sent a note to the prince affirming
that the United States recognized and respected "the sovereignty,
neutrality and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia
with its present frontiers." Shortly thereafter, in June 1969, full
diplomatic relations were restored between Phnom Penh and
Washington.
Data as of December 1987
- Cambodia-Illicit Trade with Thailand and with Singapore
- Cambodia-THE KAMPUCHEAN (OR KHMER) UNITED FRONT FOR NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND DEFENSE
- Cambodia-Politics under the Khmer Rouge
- Cambodia-Chapter 1 - Historical Setting
- Cambodia-Airports
- Cambodia-First Plan, 1986-90
- Cambodia-Vietnamese Aid
- Cambodia-The Economy
- Cambodia-Local People's Revolutionary Committees
- Cambodia-Austronesian
- Cambodia-The March 1970 Coup d'Etat
- Cambodia-The Constitution
- Cambodia-Fisheries
- Cambodia-Water Transportation Railroads
- Cambodia-The Khmer People's National Liberation Front
- Cambodia-The Economy under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79
- Cambodia-Handicrafts
- Cambodia-SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION
- Cambodia-Establishing Democratic Kampuchea
- Cambodia-Taxes
- Cambodia-Intraparty Conflict
- Cambodia-ECONOMIC SETTING
- Cambodia-CAMBODIA UNDER SIHANOUK, 1954-70
- Cambodia-INDUSTRY
- Cambodia-Other Religions
- Cambodia-Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces
- Cambodia-The Fall of Phnom Penh
- Cambodia-Petroleum
- Cambodia-HEALTH AND WELFARE
- Cambodia-East Germany
- Cambodia-The Successor State of Chenla
- Cambodia-People's Security Service LAW ENFORCEMENT AND COUNTERSUBVERSION
- Cambodia-Conditions of Service
- Cambodia-Livestock
- Cambodia-PREFACE
- Cambodia-THE ANGKORIAN PERIOD
- Cambodia-GEOGRAPHY
- Cambodia-Natural Resources
- Cambodia-THE MEDIA
- Cambodia-The Second Indochina War, 1954-75
- Cambodia-Democratic Kampuchea
- Cambodia-Composition and Deployment
- Cambodia-FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- Cambodia-CAMBODIA
- Cambodia-Origins of the Coalition
- Cambodia-HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
- Cambodia-The French Protectorate
- Cambodia-ECONOMY
- Cambodia-Distribution Dynamics
- Cambodia-Revolutionary Terror
- Cambodia-Soviet Aid
- Cambodia-Sihanouk's Peacetime Economy, 1953-70
- Cambodia-Public Health
- Cambodia-Foreign Economic and Technical Assistance
- Cambodia-The Geneva Conference
- Cambodia-Protection under the Law
- Cambodia-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Cambodia-Coalition Government Resistance Forces
- Cambodia-Origins of Buddhism on the Indian Subcontinent
- Cambodia-The Japanese Occupation, 1941-45
- Cambodia-Social Stratification and Social Mobility
- Cambodia-Other Groups
- Cambodia-DOMESTIC COMMERCE
- Cambodia-Public School System
- Cambodia -COUNTRY PROFILE
- Cambodia-The Time of Greatness, A.D - 802-1431
- Cambodia-From "Proximity Talks" to a "Cocktail Party"
- Cambodia-Early Indianized Kingdom of Funan
- Cambodia-The Purge
- Cambodia-PREHISTORY AND EARLY KINGDOMS
- Cambodia-National United Front for an Independent, Peaceful, Neutral, and Cooperative Cambodia
- Cambodia-Soviet Union
- Cambodia-The KPRP Second Congress
- Cambodia-The First Indochina War, 1945-54
- Cambodia-The Council of Ministers
- Cambodia-INTO THE MAELSTROM: INSURRECTION AND WAR, 1967-75
- Cambodia-Vietnam
- Cambodia-Welfare Programs
- Cambodia-The Council of State
- Cambodia-Collectivization and Solidarity Groups
- Cambodia-Early Khmer Rouge Atrocities
- Cambodia-Hydroelectric Power
- Cambodia-Period of Decline, 1431-1863
- Cambodia-Private Education
- Cambodia-Poland
- Cambodia-The Chinese
- Cambodia-Composition of Trade
- Cambodia-THE KAMPUCHEAN, (OR KHMER) PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY
- Cambodia-MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS IN POSTWAR CAMBODIA
- Cambodia-THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KAMPUCHEA
- Cambodia-The Colonial Economy
- Cambodia-The Khmer
- Cambodia-FOREIGN TRADE AND AID
- Cambodia-Drainage
- Cambodia-AGRICULTURE
- Cambodia-Other Food and Commercial Crops
- Cambodia-Migration and Refugees
- Cambodia-Major Manufacturing Industries
- Cambodia-DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA, 1975-78
- Cambodia-Domestic Developments
- Cambodia-Cambodian Adaptations
- Cambodia-Role of Buddhism in Cambodian Life
- Cambodia-The Coalition's Strategy
- Cambodia-Regional Divisions
- Cambodia-Chapter 2 - The Society and Its Environment
- Cambodia-Foreign Troops and Advisers
- Cambodia-Austroasiatic-Mon-Khmer LANGUAGES
- Cambodia-Vietnamese Invasion of Cambodia
- Cambodia-New Economic Policy and System
- Cambodia-THE FRENCH COLONIAL PERIOD, 1887-1953
- Cambodia-Housing
- Cambodia-The Vietnamese
- Cambodia-Roads and Highways
- Cambodia-The Widening War
- Cambodia-Ports
- Cambodia-Chapter 4 - Government and Politics
- Cambodia-The French Protectorate, 1863-1954
- Cambodia-National Army of Democratic Kampuchea
- Cambodia-Coalition Structure
- Cambodia-Major Trading Partners
- Cambodia-Penal System
- Cambodia-Dress
- Cambodia-TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
- Cambodia-Chinese Religion
- Cambodia-NATIONAL SECURITY
- Cambodia-Buddhism RELIGION
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-The Emergence of Nationalism
- Cambodia-Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste
- Cambodia-ECONOMIC ROLE OF THE KAMPUCHEAN PEOPLE'S REVOLUTIONARY PARTY
- Cambodia-The Search for Peace
- Cambodia-Other Ethnic Groups
- Cambodia-The Wartime Economy, 1970-75
- Cambodia-Climate
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-Threats and Capabilities
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS AFTER INDEPENDENCE
- Cambodia-Chapter 5 - National Security
- Cambodia-Government Structure
- Cambodia-Khmer Rouge Armed Forces MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS UNDER THE KHMER ROUGE
- Cambodia-POPULATION
- Cambodia-Topography
- Cambodia-The Judiciary
- Cambodia-Islam
- Cambodia-International and Western Aid
- Cambodia-EDUCATION
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-Diet
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
- Cambodia-The Cambodian Left: The Early Phases
- Cambodia-CAMBODIA'S STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL, 1432-1887
- Cambodia-Foreword
- Cambodia-Cambodia in Turmoil
- Cambodia-Domination by Thailand and by Vietnam
- Cambodia-TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
- Cambodia-Background MAJOR POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS, 1977-81
- Cambodia-FINANCE
- Cambodia-Religious and Minority Communities
- Cambodia-The Paris Student Group
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-Mission and Doctrine
- Cambodia-Nonaligned Foreign Policy
- Cambodia-Phnom Penh and Its Allies
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-Organization and Control
- Cambodia-Chapter 3 - The Economy
- Cambodia-COALITION GOVERNMENT OF DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA
- Cambodia-Labor Force
- Cambodia-Buddhist Education
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-Rice Production and Cultivation
- Cambodia-Currency Banking
- Cambodia-Society under the Angkar
- Cambodia
- Cambodia-Tenuous Security
- Cambodia-ENVIRONMENT
- Cambodia-Education and Health
- Cambodia-INTRODUCTION
- Cambodia
Background | | Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire that extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the empire, ushering in a long period of decline. The king placed the country under French protection in 1863 and it became part of French Indochina in 1887. Following Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia gained full independence from France in 1953. In April 1975, after a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh and evacuated all cities and towns. At least 1.5 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government. Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition government, but a second round of national elections in 1998 led to the formation of another coalition government and renewed political stability. The remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered in early 1999. Some of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are awaiting trial by a UN-sponsored tribunal for crimes against humanity. Elections in July 2003 were relatively peaceful, but it took one year of negotiations between contending political parties before a coalition government was formed. In October 2004, King Norodom SIHANOUK abdicated the throne and his son, Prince Norodom SIHAMONI, was selected to succeed him. Local elections were held in Cambodia in April 2007, and there was little in the way of pre-election violence that preceded prior elections. National elections in July 2008 were relatively peaceful.
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Location | | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos
|
Area(sq km) | | total: 181,035 sq km land: 176,515 sq km water: 4,520 sq km
|
Geographic coordinates | | 13 00 N, 105 00 E
|
Land boundaries(km) | | total: 2,572 km border countries: Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam 1,228 km
|
Coastline(km) | | 443 km
|
Climate | | tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation
|
Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m highest point: Phnum Aoral 1,810 m
|
Natural resources | | oil and gas, timber, gemstones, iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential
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Land use(%) | | arable land: 20.44% permanent crops: 0.59% other: 78.97% (2005)
|
Irrigated land(sq km) | | 2,700 sq km (2003)
|
Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 476.1 cu km (1999)
|
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 4.08 cu km/yr (1%/0%/98%) per capita: 290 cu m/yr (2000)
|
Natural hazards | | monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding; occasional droughts
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Environment - current issues | | illegal logging activities throughout the country and strip mining for gems in the western region along the border with Thailand have resulted in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural fisheries); soil erosion; in rural areas, most of the population does not have access to potable water; declining fish stocks because of illegal fishing and overfishing
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Environment - international agreements | | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
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Geography - note | | a land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap
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Population | | 14,494,293 note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)
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Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 32.6% (male 2,388,922/female 2,336,439) 15-64 years: 63.8% (male 4,498,568/female 4,743,677) 65 years and over: 3.6% (male 197,649/female 329,038) (2009 est.)
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Median age(years) | | total: 22.1 years male: 21.4 years female: 22.8 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate(%) | | 1.765% (2009 est.)
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Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 25.73 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 8.08 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
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Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | NA
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Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 22% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 4.6% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 54.79 deaths/1,000 live births male: 61.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 47.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 62.1 years male: 60.03 years female: 64.27 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 3.04 children born/woman (2009 est.)
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Nationality | | noun: Cambodian(s) adjective: Cambodian
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Ethnic groups(%) | | Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
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Religions(%) | | Buddhist 96.4%, Muslim 2.1%, other 1.3%, unspecified 0.2% (1998 census)
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Languages(%) | | Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
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Country name | | conventional long form: Kingdom of Cambodia conventional short form: Cambodia local long form: Preahreacheanachakr Kampuchea (phonetic pronunciation) local short form: Kampuchea former: Khmer Republic, Democratic Kampuchea, People's Republic of Kampuchea, State of Cambodia
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Government type | | multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy
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Capital | | name: Phnom Penh geographic coordinates: 11 33 N, 104 55 E time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
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Administrative divisions | | 23 provinces (khett, singular and plural) and 1 municipality (krong, singular and plural) provinces: Banteay Mean Cheay, Batdambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Spoe, Kampong Thum, Kampot, Kandal, Kaoh Kong, Keb, Krachen, Mondol Kiri, Otdar Mean Cheay, Pailin, Pouthisat, Preah Seihanu (Sihanoukville), Preah Vihear, Prey Veng, Rotanah Kiri, Siem Reab, Stoeng Treng, Svay Rieng, Takev municipalities: Phnum Penh (Phnom Penh)
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Constitution | | promulgated 21 September 1993
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Legal system | | primarily a civil law mixture of French-influenced codes from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period, royal decrees, and acts of the legislature, with influences of customary law and remnants of communist legal theory; increasing influence of common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
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Suffrage | | 18 years of age; universal
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Executive branch | | chief of state: King Norodom SIHAMONI (since 29 October 2004) head of government: Prime Minister HUN SEN (since 14 January 1985) [co-prime minister from 1993 to 1997]; Permanent Deputy Prime Minister MEN SAM AN (since 25 September 2008); Deputy Prime Ministers SAR KHENG (since 3 February 1992); SOK AN, TEA BANH, HOR NAMHONG, NHEK BUNCHHAY (since 16 July 2004); BIN CHHIN (since 5 September 2007); KEAT CHHON, YIM CHHAI LY (since 24 September 2008); KE KIMYAN (since 12 March 2009) cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and appointed by the monarch elections: the king is chosen by a Royal Throne Council from among all eligible males of royal descent; following legislative elections, a member of the majority party or majority coalition is named prime minister by the Chairman of the National Assembly and appointed by the king
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Legislative branch | | bicameral, consists of the Senate (61 seats; 2 members appointed by the monarch, 2 elected by the National Assembly, and 57 elected by parliamentarians and commune councils; members serve five-year terms) and the National Assembly (123 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 22 January 2006 (next to be held in January 2011); National Assembly - last held 27 July 2008 (next to be held in July 2013) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - CPP 69%, FUNCINPEC 21%, SRP 10%; seats by party - CPP 45, FUNCINPEC 10, SRP 2; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - CPP 58%, SRP 22%, HRP 7%; NRP 6%; FUNCINPEC 5%; others 2%; seats by party - CPP 90, SRP 26, HRP 3, FUNCINPEC 2, NRP 2
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Judicial branch | | Supreme Council of the Magistracy (provided for in the constitution and formed in December 1997); Supreme Court (and lower courts) exercises judicial authority
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Political pressure groups and leaders | | Cambodian Freedom Fighters or CFF; Partnership for Transparency Fund or PTF (anti-corruption organization); Students Movement for Democracy; The Committee for Free and Fair Elections or Comfrel other: human rights organizations; vendors
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International organization participation | | ACCT, ADB, APT, ARF, ASEAN, EAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Flag description | | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (double width), and blue with a white three-towered temple representing Angkor Wat outlined in black in the center of the red band note: only national flag to incorporate an actual building in its design
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Economy - overview | | From 2004 to 2007, the economy grew about 10% per year, driven largely by an expansion in the garment sector, construction, agriculture, and tourism. Growth dropped to below 7% in 2008 as a result of the global economic slowdown. With the January 2005 expiration of a WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, Cambodian textile producers were forced to compete directly with lower-priced countries such as China, India, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. The garment industry currently employs more than 320,000 people and contributes more than 85% of Cambodia's exports. In 2005, exploitable oil deposits were found beneath Cambodia's territorial waters, representing a new revenue stream for the government if commercial extraction begins. Mining also is attracting significant investor interest, particularly in the northern parts of the country. The government has said opportunities exist for mining bauxite, gold, iron and gems. In 2006, a US-Cambodia bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) was signed, and several rounds of discussions have been held since 2007. The tourism industry has continued to grow rapidly, with foreign arrivals exceeding 2 million per year in 2007-08, however, economic troubles abroad will dampen growth in 2009. Rubber exports declined more than 15% in 2008 due to falling world market prices. The global financial crisis is weakening demand for Cambodian exports, and construction is declining due to a shortage of credit. The long-term development of the economy remains a daunting challenge. The Cambodian government is working with bilateral and multilateral donors, including the World Bank and IMF, to address the country's many pressing needs. The major economic challenge for Cambodia over the next decade will be fashioning an economic environment in which the private sector can create enough jobs to handle Cambodia's demographic imbalance. More than 50% of the population is less than 21 years old. The population lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure.
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GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $28.01 billion (2008 est.) $26.67 billion (2007 est.) $24.2 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP (official exchange rate) | | $11.25 billion (2008 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 5% (2008 est.) 10.2% (2007 est.) 10.8% (2006 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $2,000 (2008 est.) $1,900 (2007 est.) $1,800 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 29% industry: 30% services: 41% (2007 est.)
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Labor force | | 8.6 million (2008 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 75% industry: NA% services: NA% (2004 est.)
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Unemployment rate(%) | | 3.5% (2007 est.) 2.5% (2000 est.)
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Population below poverty line(%) | | 35% (2004)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 3% highest 10%: 34.2% (2007)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 43 (2007 est.) 40 (2004 est.)
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Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 22.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Budget | | revenues: $1.274 billion expenditures: $1.592 billion (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 25% (2008 est.) 5.9% (2007 est.)
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Stock of money | | $591.7 million (31 December 2008) $513.6 million (31 December 2007)
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Stock of quasi money | | $2.328 billion (31 December 2008) $2.309 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of domestic credit | | $1.67 billion (31 December 2008) $1.131 billion (31 December 2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares | | $NA
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Economic aid - recipient | | $698.2 million pledged in grants and concession loans for 2007 by international donors (2007)
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Agriculture - products | | rice, rubber, corn, vegetables, cashews, tapioca, silk
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Industries | | tourism, garments, construction, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles
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Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 8% (2008 est.)
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Current account balance | | -$1.06 billion (2008 est.) -$506.3 million (2007 est.)
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Exports | | $4.708 billion (2008 est.) $4.089 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports - commodities(%) | | clothing, timber, rubber, rice, fish, tobacco, footwear
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Exports - partners(%) | | US 54.4%, Germany 7.7%, Canada 5.9%, UK 5.5%, Vietnam 4.5% (2008)
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Imports | | $6.534 billion (2008 est.) $5.424 billion (2007 est.)
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Imports - commodities(%) | | petroleum products, cigarettes, gold, construction materials, machinery, motor vehicles, pharmaceutical products
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Imports - partners(%) | | Thailand 26.8%, Vietnam 19%, China 14.5%, Hong Kong 8.1%, Singapore 6.9% (2008)
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $2.641 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $2.143 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Debt - external | | $4.127 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $3.89 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Exchange rates | | riels (KHR) per US dollar - 4,070.94 (2008 est.), 4,006 (2007), 4,103 (2006), 4,092.5 (2005), 4,016.25 (2004)
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Currency (code) | | riel (KHR)
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Telephones - main lines in use | | 45,100 (2008)
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Telephones - mobile cellular | | 4.237 million (2008)
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Telephone system | | general assessment: mobile-phone systems are widely used in urban areas to bypass deficiencies in the fixed-line network; fixed-line connections stand at well less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage, aided by increasing competition among service providers, is increasing and stands at 30 per 100 persons domestic: adequate landline and/or cellular service in Phnom Penh and other provincial cities; mobile-phone coverage is rapidly expanding in rural areas international: country code - 855; adequate but expensive landline and cellular service available to all countries from Phnom Penh and major provincial cities; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) (2008)
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Internet country code | | .kh
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Internet users | | 74,000 (2008)
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Airports | | 17 (2009)
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Roadways(km) | | total: 38,093 km paved: 2,977 km unpaved: 35,116 km (2007)
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Ports and terminals | | Phnom Penh, Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville)
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Military branches | | Royal Cambodian Armed Forces: Royal Cambodian Army, Royal Khmer Navy, Royal Cambodian Air Force (2009)
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Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | conscription law of October 2006 requires all males between 18-30 to register for military service; 18-month service obligation (2006)
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Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 3,759,034 females age 16-49: 3,784,333 (2008 est.)
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Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 2,673,383 females age 16-49: 2,763,256 (2009 est.)
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 177,881 female: 175,332 (2009 est.)
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Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 3% of GDP (2005 est.)
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Disputes - international | | Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of boundary with missing boundary markers and claims of Thai encroachments into Cambodian territory; maritime boundary with Vietnam is hampered by unresolved dispute over sovereignty of offshore islands; Thailand accuses Cambodia of obstructing inclusion of Thai areas near Preah Vihear temple ruins, awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962, as part of a planned UN World Heritage site
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Electricity - production(kWh) | | 1.273 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 65% hydro: 35% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
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Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 1.272 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 167 million kWh (2007 est.)
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Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 4,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 30,970 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
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Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | 0.8% (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 75,000 (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths | | 6,900 (2007 est.)
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Major infectious diseases | | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
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Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 73.6% male: 84.7% female: 64.1% (2004 est.)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 10 years male: 10 years female: 9 years (2006)
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Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 1.7% of GDP (2004)
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