Cambodia facts & history
in brief
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Map of Cambodia
Facts at a glance
Capital: Phnom Penh
(11°31' N 104°49' E )
Largest city: Phnom Penh
Official languages: Khmer; French and English
often understood by educated classes
Government: Democratic constitutional monarchy
Independence: From France
- Declared - 1949
- Recognized - 1953
Area:
. Total 181,040 km² (87th)
. Water (%) 2.5%
Population:
. July 2004 est. - 13,363,421 (65th)
. 1998 census - 11,437,656
. Density - 74/km² (121st)
GDP (PPP)
. Total - $29,344 million (86th)
. Per capita 2003 estimate - $2,189 (122nd)
Currency: Riel 1 (KHR). Local currency,
although US Dollars are widely used.
Time zone: (UTC+7)
. Summer (DST) (UTC+7)
Internet TLD: .kh
Calling code: +855
The Kingdom of Cambodia (for the various names
of the country in Khmer, see naming section below)
is a constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia with
a population of more than 13 million people.
Most Cambodians are Therevada Buddhists of Khmer extraction.
A citizen of Cambodia is usually identified as Cambodian.
Most Cambodians are ethnically Khmer, but the country
also has a substantial number of Chams and small hill tribes.
Cambodia is the successor state of the mighty Khmer Empire,
which ruled most of the Indochinese
Peninsula between the 11th and 14th centuries.
The country shares a border with Thailand to its west,
with Laos to its north, with Vietnam to its east,
and with the Gulf of Thailand to its south.
The geography of Cambodia is dominated by the
Mekong river (colloquial Khmer: Tonle Thom, i.e.
"the great river") and the Tonle Sap (i.e. "the
fresh water river"), an important source of fish.
The country has three main political parties: the
Cambodian People's Party, FUNCINPEC
and the Sam Rainsy Party.
The Cambodian People's Party, which is led by
Prime Minister Hun Sen, is the ruling party.
In 2005, after a year of negotiations, a coalition
between the Cambodian People's Party and the
royalists' FUNCINPEC came to power
in the National Assembly.
Naming
In the Khmer language, Cambodia is known by two names.
The formal name is Prâteh Kampuchea, literally "Country
Cambodia".
Prâteh is a formal word meaning "country"; it comes
from Sanskrit and is a cognate of the word
pradesh as in Uttar Pradesh.
Cambodia is the traditional transliteration of the
Khmer name of the country, while Kampuchea is another
transliteration, more faithful to the
Khmer pronunciation of the word.
Contrary to what some believe, Cambodia and Kampuchea
are exactly the same word, being merely two different
transliterations of the same Khmer word, much as Peking
and Beijing are just two different
transliterations of the same Chinese word.
Due to its use by the Khmer Rouge, the transliteration
Kampuchea is now eschewed in western languages, and
the traditional Cambodia/Cambodge is preferred.
The name Cambodia is derived from that of the ancient
Khmer kingdom of Kambuja (Kambujadesa).
Kambuja or Kamboja is the ancient Sanskrit name of an
early north Indian tribe which was named after the
founder of that tribe, Kambu Svayambhuva.
The French name for Cambodia was Cambodge,
which was derived from Kambuja.
The informal and colloquial name of Cambodia, the one
most used by Khmer people, is Srok Khmae (regular script),
literally "Land Khmer" (the name Khmae is spelled with a
final "r" in the Khmer alphabet, but the "r" is not
pronounced; final "r" disappeared from Khmer
pronunciation in the 19th century).
Srok is a more colloquial word than prâteh,
but both words roughly mean the same thing.
Srok Khmae is used in almost every circumstance
of life, while Prâteh Kampuchea is used in more formal
occasions, such as in news programs or in political speeches.
The official name of the country, however, is Preahreachanachâk
Kampuchea, i.e. "Kingdom of Cambodia".
The etymology of Preahreachanachâk is: Preah- ("sacred", cognate
of the Indian word Brahmin) -reach- ("king, royal, realm",
from Sanskrit, cognate of the Indian words raja and raj as
in maharaja and British Raj, cognate of German Reich) -ana-
(from Pali ana, "authority, command, power", itself from
Sanskrit ajña, same meaning) -châk (from Sanskrit cakra,
meaning "wheel", a symbol of power and rule).
Since independence was achieved in 1953, the official
name of Cambodia has changed several times, following
the troubled history of the country.
In English/French, the following names have been used since 1953.
Kingdom of Cambodia/Royaume du Cambodge under the rule of
the monarchy from 1953 through 1970;
Khmer Republic/République khmère (a calque of French Republic)
under the rule of the fascist military rule of Lon Nol from 1970 to 1975;
Democratic Kampuchea/Kampuchea démocratique under the rule
of the communist Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979;
People's Republic of Kampuchea/République populaire du Kampuchea
(a calque of People's Republic of China) under the rule of
the Vietnamese sponsored government from 1979 to 1989;
State of Cambodia/État du Cambodge (a neutral name, before
deciding whether to return to monarchy or not) under the
rule of the United Nations transitional authority from 1989 to 1993;
Kingdom of Cambodia/Royaume du Cambodge (return to the pre-1970's name)
used after the restoration of the monarchy in 1993
History
From the 9th century to the 15th century, Cambodia was the center
of the mighty Khmer Empire, which was during this time based at Angkor.
Angkor Wat, the empire's main religious temple, remains a symbol
of Cambodia during its time as a world power, and is also the
country's top tourist attraction to this day.
Cambodia was a protectorate of France from 1863 until the
country received independence in 1953.
Cambodia was under Japanese occupation
during World War II from 1941 to 1945.
During the 1950s and 1960s the country was under the rule
of King Norodom Sihanouk, where the country maintained a
precarious neutrality in the wake of active aggression
against South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese.
In 1969 the USA began B-52 bombing operations in Cambodia
to destroy Communist bases in Cambodia.
The US administration kept the bombing secret until 1970.
In 1970 the Nixon administration briefly invaded Cambodia,
and the bombing continued until 1973.
About 30,000-500,000 civilians were killed during the bombing raids.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the country was plagued with a
brutal civil war, a hated military monarchist regime,
as well as an even worse genocidal, agro-communist
regime led by the Khmer Rouge.
During the Khmer Rouge period, autogenocide was committed
against millions of people who were perceived intellectuals,
detractors of Marxism, and some just innocent civilians.
Millions fled across to neighbouring Thailand.
Vietnam invaded in 1978 and the USA instituted an embargo
on the new Vietnamese-sponsored government.
The Carter administration helped the Khmer Rouge to
retain its seat at the UN, giving the impression that
Pol Pot's regime was still the legitimate government of Cambodia.
After United Nations intervention, however, Cambodia has gained
stability and has begun to rebuild the country's infrastructure
that was lost during the brutality that reigned in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ancient states:
Funan and Chenla
The first advanced civilizations in present day Cambodia
appeared in the 1st millennium AD. During the 300s,
400s, and 500s AD, the Indianized states of Funan and
Chenla took hold in what is now present-day
Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam.
These states had close relations with China and India.
After these states collapsed, the Khmer civilization began
to flourish in this area from the 9th century to the 13th century.
Angkor and the Khmer Empire
The Angkorian period was in terms of cultural accomplishments
and political power, the golden age of Cambodia.
The kingdom was founded by Jayavarman II with its capital
at Angkor, and the Khmer Empire lasted
from the early 9th century to the 15th century.
The Khmers had adopted religious and political ideas and institutions
from India and began to establish a centralized kingdom which dominated
Southeast Asia for much of this period.
The rule of Jayavarman VII (r. 1181-ca. 1218) saw
the rapid expansion of the Khmer Empire.
Unlike his ancestors, who had concentrated upon the cult of the
Hindu god-king, Jayavarman VII was a patron of Mahayana Buddhism.
Jayavarman VII began building activity that included the
popular Angkor Thom complex and also the Bayon, a temple whose
stone towers bear faces which have been identified as Avalokitesvara,
which are either the king himself or the guardians
of the cardinal points (Kerlogue, p. 109).
He also built over 200 rest houses and hospitals throughout the
empire and maintained a system of roads between his capital
and provincial towns throughout the empire which would make
it simpler for magistrates to collect taxes or for building projects.
According to historian George Coedes, "No other Cambodian king can
claim to have moved so much stone."
Often, quality suffered for the sake of size and rapid construction.
An example of this was the beautiful but poorly constructed Bayon.
Foreign occupation
After the Siamese seized Angkor in 1431, Cambodia began to endure
years of foreign domination by neighboring Siam
to the west and by Vietnam to the east.
This period is known as the "dark ages of Cambodia".
The period ended when Cambodia was made a French protectorate
in 1863 and became part of French Indochina.
Cambodia's chief colonial official was the Resident Superieur
(Resident General) while lesser residents, or regional governors
were posted in all of the provincial centers.
In 1897, the incumbent Resident General complained to his superiors
in Paris that the current king of Cambodia, King Norodom,
was no longer capable of ruling, and thus received permission
to assume the king's roles of issuing decrees, collecting taxes,
and appointing royal officials, including the next king.
Norodom and his successors thus assumed the role of figureheads
and heads of the Buddhist religion.
Even in the colonial bureaucracy, French nationals held the highest
positions, while even in the lowest rungs of the bureaucracy
the colonial government preferred to hire Vietnamese.
During World War II Cambodia was occupied by the Japanese.
After it ended in 1945, King Norodom Sihanouk
demanded independence from France.
With the military situation getting worse throughout Indochina,
the French agreed to grant independence to the three states
of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in 1953.
King Sihanouk, a revered hero in the eyes of his people, returned
to Phnom Penh in triumph, and independence
was celebrated on November 9, 1953.
The last French officials left Cambodia in 1954 after control of
residual matters affecting sovereignty, such as financial and
budgetary affairs, passed to the new Cambodian state.
Civil war and genocide
During the Second Indochina War, the Nixon administration of
the United States began to bomb the border of South Vietnam
and Cambodia, targeting secret Vietcong camps and supply routes.
The Vietcong sought refuge in nearby villages, and the United
States began to bomb these villages as well.
The neutralist government of Prince Sihanouk could do nothing,
and when Sihanouk began to send supplies
to North Vietnam, a civil war began.
In 1970, while Prince Sihanouk was away in Beijing, General
Lon Nol seized power in a military coup d'état
and declared the Khmer Republic.
Immediately a civil war began between this military regime
and the xenophobic and communist Khmer Rouge, which had gathered
much strength because of support by the
communist North Vietnamese and the Vietcong.
Led by Pol Pot, who later became the Prime Minister of Cambodia,
the Khmer Rouge captured the capital Phnom Penh in 1975 and
renamed the country to Democratic Kampuchea.
The Khmer Rouge ideology included:
closing schools and hospitals;
abolishing banking and currency;
outlawing religion;
confiscating private property;
and relocating people from urban areas to collective farms
where they were subject to forced labor.
The Khmer Rouge justified its actions by claiming that
Cambodia was on the brink of major famine due to the American
bombing campaigns, and that this required the evacuation of
the cities to the countryside so that people could become
self-sufficient, however this claim is generally
dismissed as an excuse by many.
It had the effect of converting the entire country
into a re-education/labor camp.
During the rule of the Khmer Rouge, about 1.7 million people
were killed, or one-fifth of the country's population of the time.
The Killing Fields and the S-21 prison at Tuol Sleng shocked the
entire world as the government committed brutal autogenocide.
In addition to death from work starvation and exhaustion, the regime
killed anyone suspected with connections with either the
defeated Khmer Republic government or the previous Sihanouk government,
as well as intellectuals (Pol Pot defined anyone who wore glasses
as automatically an intellectual), professionals, and also ethnic
Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams, Laotians, and Thai.
If this wasn't enough, Cambodia broke into Vietnamese, Lao, and
Thai territory and massacred entire villages of border provinces.
Even the royal family was brutalized.
Prince Sihanouk was put under house arrest and many of the Sisowath
branch of the family were massacred.
The Tuol Sleng museum is a good authority on this period.
In 1978, a newly-unified Vietnam invaded Cambodia after repeated
Khmer Rouge raids into Vietnamese territory and drove the Khmer Rouge
to the western border with Thailand. They helped create the People's
Republic of Kampuchea, which became a Vietnamese puppet government.
A civil war between the Vietnamese-sponsored government of Phnom Penh
and the Khmer Rouge continued until United Nations sponsored elections
in 1993 restored stability.
Prince Sihanouk became King again, and a coalition government
between the conservative-royalist Funcinpec party and the
pro-Vietnamese Cambodian People's Party was formed in 1998.
That year also saw the surrender of the remaining Khmer
Rouge troops and the death of Pol Pot.
Nonetheless, none of the Khmer Rouge leaders have
been tried for their war crimes.
Cambodia now attempts to rebuild itself after years of horror.
Politics
Cambodia underwent turbulent events from the 1970s until the
early 1990s, when elections, administered
by the United Nations, were held.
Ever since then, Cambodia has enjoyed greater stability and peace.
One effect of this was the smooth transition when King Sihanouk
abdicated in favor of his son Norodom Sihamoni on October 14, 2004.
Cambodia is now a constitutional monarchy where
executive power is held by the prime minister.
The head of the state is the king, who reigns but does not govern.
Although in the Khmer language there are many words
meaning "king", the word officially used in Khmer (as
found in the 1993 Cambodian Constitution) is preahmâhaksat,
which literally means: preah- ("sacred", cognate of
the Indian word Brahmin) -mâha- (from Sanskrit, meaning
"great", cognate with "maha-" in maharaja) -ksat ("warrior,
ruler", cognate of the Indian word Kshatriya).
On the occasion of HM King Norodom Sihanouk's retirement
in October 2004, the Cambodian National Assembly coined
a new word for the retired king: preahmâhaviraksat,
where vira comes from Sanskrit vira, meaning "brave
or eminent man, hero, chief", cognate of Latin vir,
viris, English virile.
Preahmâhaviraksat is translated into English as "King-Father"
(French: Roi-Père), although the word "father"
does not appear in the Khmer noun.
As preahmâhaviraksat, Norodom Sihanouk retains many of
the prerogatives he formerly held as preahmâhaksat and is
a highly respected and listened-to figure.
Thus, in effect, Cambodia can be described as a country
with two heads of state: an official one, the preahmâhaksat
Norodom Sihamoni, and an unofficial
one, the preahmâhaviraksat Norodom Sihanouk.
The legislature comprises a 61-member appointed Senate and a
123-member lower house, the National Assembly, elected
under proportional representation by popular vote for 5 year terms.
The judiciary is very weak, since only a handful of lawyers
and judges were left alive, the rest being killed
during the rule of the Khmer Rouge.
Hun Sen of the extreme-left, pro-Vietnam Cambodian People's
Party, or CPP, ousted his former co-prime minister,
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, son of Prince Sihanouk and brother of
current King Sihamoni, in a short but bloody civil war between
the two coalition partners in 1997.
The CPP won the elections in 1998, and formed a coalition
with FUNCINPEC, Ranariddh's royalist party,
but with Hun Sen as sole prime minister.
In the 2003 National Assembly elections, the CPP won 73 seats
with 47% of the vote, the opposition-liberal Sam Rainsy
Party won 24 seats (22%), and FUNCINPEC won 26 seats (21%).
Eleven women were among those elected.
Following a year long deadlock during which FUNCINPEC and
the Sam Rainsy Party united to oppose the CPP, and thus prevented
it from forming a government, FUNCINPEC switched sides and
joined with the CPP, allowing it to control the two thirds of the
seats in the National Assembly needed to form a government.
Provinces
Cambodia is divided into 20 provinces (khett, singular and plural)
and 4 municipalities *(krong, singular and plural).
It is also divided by District (srok), Communion (khum),
Great districts (khett), and also Islands (kaoh).
Municipalities (Krong):
Phnom Penh, Preah Seihanu (Kampong Som or Sihanoukville),
Pailin, Keb
Province (Khett):
Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang,
Kampong Speu, Kampong Thom, Kampot, Kandal, Kaoh Kong, Kratié,
Mondul Kiri, Oddar Meancheay, Pursat, Preah Seihanu, Preah Vihear,
Prey Veng, Ratanak Kiri, Siemreap, Stung Treng, Svay Rieng and Takéo
Islands (Kaoh):
Kaoh Sess, Kaoh Polaway, Kaoh Rong, Kaoh Thass, Kaoh Treas,
Kaoh Traolach, Kaoh Tang.
Geography
Cambodia has an area of about 181,040 square kilometers,
sharing an 800-kilometer border with Thailand on the
north and west, a 541-kilometer border with Laos
on the northeast, and a 1,228-kilometer border with
Vietnam on the east and southeast.
It has 443 kilometers of coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
The most distinctive geographical feature is the lacustrine plain
formed by the inundations of the Tonle Sap (Great Lake), measuring
about 2,590 square kilometers during the dry season and expanding to
about 24,605 square kilometers during the rainy season.
This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice
cultivation, is the heartland of Cambodia.
Most (about 75 percent) of the country lies at elevations of
less than 100 meters above sea level, the exceptions being the
Cardamom Mountains (highest elevation 1,813 meters) and their
souteast extension the Dâmrei Mountains ("Elephant Mountains")
(elevation range 500-1,000 meters), as well the steep escarpment
of the Dângrêk Mountains (average elevation 500 meters) along
the border with Thailand's Isan region.
The highest elevation of Cambodia is Phnom Aoral, near Pouthisat
in the center of the country, at 1,813
meters (5,948 feet) above sea-level.
Temperatures range from 10°C to 38°C and
Cambodia experiences tropical monsoons.
Southwest monsoons blowing inland bring moisture-laden winds from
the Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October, and the
country experiences the heaviest precipitation from September to October.
The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from
November to March, with the driest period from January to February.
Economy
Despite the recent progress, the Cambodian economy continues
to suffer from the effects of decades of civil war and internal strife.
The per capita income, is rapidly increasing, but is low compared
with other countries in the region.
Most rural households depend on agriculture and its related sub-sectors.
Rice, fish, timber, garments and rubber are Cambodia's major exports,
and the United States, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia
and Malaysia are its major export partners.
The recovery of Cambodia's economy slowed dramatically in 1997-1998
due to the regional economic crisis,
civil violence, and political infighting.
Foreign investment and tourism also fell off drastically.
Since then however, growth has been steady.
In 1999, the first full year of peace in 30 years, progress was made
on economic reforms and growth resumed at 5.0%.
Despite severe flooding, GDP grew at 5.0% in 2000,
6.3% in 2001, and 5.2% in 2002.
Tourism was Cambodia's fastest growing industry, with arrivals
increasing from 219,000 in 1997 to 1,055,000 in 2004.
During 2003 and 2004 the growth rate remained steady at 5.0%,
while in 2004 inflation was at 1.7% and
exports at $1.6 billion US dollars.
As of 2004 GDP per Capita was $1900 USD, which ranked
it 175th (out of 232) countries.
The population lacks education and productive skills,
particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers
from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure.
Fear of renewed political instability and corruption within
the government discourage foreign investment and delay foreign aid.
The government is addressing these issues with assistance
from bilateral and multilateral donors.
Demographics
Cambodia is ethnically homogeneous, as more than 90% of its
population is of Khmer origin and speaks the
Khmer language, the country's official language.
The remainder include Chinese, Vietnamese, Cham and Khmer Loeu.
The Khmer language is a member of the Mon-Khmer subfamily
of the Austroasiatic language group.
French is spoken by many Cambodians as a second-language and
is often the language of instruction in various schools and universities.
Cambodian French is a dialect found in Cambodia.
It is also frequently used in government.
However, in recent decades, many younger Cambodians, as well
as members of the business-classes, have favored learning English
and it is gradually becoming the more widely-known.
Theravada Buddhism, suppressed by Khmer Rouge but now revived,
is the main religion, but Christianity is spreading in the country.
Culture
Khmer culture, as developed and spread by the Khmer empire,
has distinctive styles of dance, architecture and sculpture
which have strongly influenced neighbouring Laos and Thailand.
Notable recent artistic figures include the singers Sinn Sisamouth,
who introduced new musical styles to
the country, and later Meng Keo Pichenda.
Bonn Om Teuk (Water Festival), the annual boat rowing contest,
is the biggest Cambodian holiday.
The festival is held at the end of the rainy season when
the Mekong river begins to sink back to its normal levels.
Approximately 10% of Cambodia's population
attends this event each year.
Popular games include kicking a sey, which is similar to a
hacky sack, cockfighting and soccer.
Rice, as in other South East Asian countries, is the
staple grain, while fish from the Mekong and Tonle Sap also
form an important part of the diet.
The Cambodian per capita supply of fish and fish products
for food and trade in 2000 was 20 kg of
fish per year or 2 oz. per day per person.
Some of the fish can be made into prahok
(a Khmer delicacy) for longer storage.
Overall, the cuisine of Cambodia is similar to
that of its Southeast Asian neighbours.
The cuisine is relatively unknown to the world compared
to that of its neighbors Thailand and Vietnam, but has
been described not as spicy as Thai cuisine
and similar to other Southeast Asia cuisines.
Customary Cambodian teachings include: that if a person
does not wake up before sunrise he is lazy; you have to
tell your parents or elders where you are going and
what time you are coming back home; close doors gently,
otherwise you have a bad temper; sit with your legs straight
down and not crossed (crossing you legs shows that
you are an impolite person); and always let
other people talk more than you.
Khmer culture is very heirarchical, i.e. the greater a
person's age, the greater the level of
respect that must be granted to them.
Transportation
The civil war severely damaged the transportation system,
despite the provision of Soviet
technical assistance and equipment.
Cambodia has two rail lines, totaling about 612 kilometers
of single, one-meter-gauge track.
The lines run from the capital to Preah Seihanu on the
southern coast, and from Phnom Penh to Sisophon (although trains
often run only as far as Battambang).
The nation's extensive inland waterways were
important historically in domestic trade.
The Mekong and the Tonle Sap River, their numerous
tributaries, and the Tonle Sap provided avenues of considerable
length, including 3,700 kilometers navigable all year
by craft drawing 0.6 meters and another 282
kilometers navigable to craft drawing 1.8 meters.
Cambodia has two major ports, Phnom Penh
and Kampong Som, and five minor ones.
Phnom Penh, located at the junction of the Basak, the Mekong,
and the Tonle Sap rivers, is the only river port capable
of receiving 8,000-ton ships during the wet season
and 5,000-ton ships during the dry season.
The country possesses six commercial airports: Pochentong
International Airport near Phnom Penh is the largest,
while the others are at Siemreap, Battambang, Mondul
Kiri, Ratanak Kiri, and Stung Treng.
The locals normally use automobiles, motorbikes and buses.
Cycle rickshaws ("cyclos") are an additional
option often used by visitors.
Foreign relations
Cambodia has diplomatic relations with most countries
and is a member of most major international organizations,
including the United Nations and its specialized agencies
such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Cambodia is an Asian Development Bank (ADB) member, a member
of ASEAN, and joined the WTO on 13 October 2004.
The country has several border disputes with its neighbours,
including disagreements over some offshore islands and
sections of the boundary with Vietnam, and undefined maritime
boundaries and border areas with Thailand.
In January 2003, there were riots in Phnom Penh prompted
by comments about Angkor Wat wrongly attributed by a Cambodian
newspaper to a Thai actress: the Thai government sent
military aircraft to evacuate Thai nationals and closed
its border with Cambodia, while Thais demonstrated
outside the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok.
The border was re-opened on March 21, after the Cambodian
government paid $6 million USD in compensation for the
destruction of the Thai embassy and agreed to compensate
individual Thai businesses for their losses.
Tourism
The tourism industry is the country's second-greatest source
of hard currency after the textile industry.
More than 60% of visitor arrivals are to Angkor, and most
of the remainder to Phnom Penh.
Other tourist hotspots include Kompong Som
(Cambodia's only port), which has a popular beach.
The Angkor Wat temple complex is the best preserved example
of Khmer architecture. Angkor means "city" and Wat "temple".
Out of bounds to tourists during the civil war, it gained
particular worldwide attention after featuring in the 2001
movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
The Bayon, also at Angkor, is located at the center of Angkor Thom.
It has 54 towers, each bearing four smiling faces.
Many tourists also visit the Tuol Sleng Museum, the infamous
prison of the Khmer Rouge, and Choeung Ek, one of the main
Killing Fields; both display photographs, skulls
and bones of victims of the autogenocide.
Cambodia is also a major destination for sex tourism, and
there is particular concern over child
sex and forced prostitution.
This page was retrieved and condensed from
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia) September 2005
All text is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License (see
Copyrights for details).
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