CAMBODIA

Occupied beginning around 5000 B.C.

Capital: Phnom Penh
Prime Minister: Hun Sen
Form of Government: Constitutional Government
Official Language: Khmer
Official Religion: Buddhism
Population:16.86 million
■ Currency: Cambodian Riel
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
2,500 years ago, the walled city of Angkor Borei in Takéo
province is Cambodia’s first known city, with archaeological
excavations unearthing moats, reservoirs, brick monuments, and
glass beads that were traded in from the Near East and India.
1st to 6th century, the Funan period – early state-like polities in
delta and coastal regions, trading contact with India and China,
“Indianisation” of Khmer society begins.
■ 7th to 8th century, the Chenla period – shift in trade patterns
causes decline of Funan, emergence of large kingdoms in
inland area, Indianisation continues.
From 1867 to 1953, Cambodia continued as a protectorate of France.
In November 9, 1953, King Norodom Sihanouk declared Cambodian
independence.
In 1941 , Cambodia occupied by Japanese empire.
■ In August 1945, Japanese occupation of Cambodia ended with the
official surrender of Japan.
■ Cambodia lies largely in the basin of the Mekong River; the large lake
Tonle Sap is in its western part. Much of the country is tropical forest.
■ It is one of the world’s poorest countries. Agriculture employs about
three-fourths of the workforce.
■ Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its
head of state is the king, and its head of government is the prime minister.
■ In the early centuries CE the area was under Hindu and, to a
lesser extent, Buddhist influence. The Khmer state gradually
spread in the early 8th century and reached its height under
Jayavarman II and his successors in the 9th–12th centuries,
when it ruled the Mekong valley and neighbouring states and
built Angkor.
■ Buddism was widely adopted in the 13th century. From the 13th
century the state was attacked by Annam and Tai (Siamese)
city-states and was subject largely to Tai and Vietnamese
hegemony.
■ Its borders were the scene of fighting in the Vietnam War from
1961, and in 1970 its northeastern and eastern areas were
occupied by the North Vietnamese and penetrated by U.S. and
South Vietnamese forces.
Vietnam invaded in 1978 and drove the Khmer Rouge into the
western hinterlands, but Cambodian infighting continued. A peace
accord was reached by most Cambodian factions under UN
auspices in 1991.
- In 1993, Elections were held and Norodom Sihanouk was
restored to the monarchy. A civilian government slowly emerged
under UN tutelage until 1997, when a coup by Hun Sen
consolidated his position as prime minister.
■ - In 1998, Hun Sen’s party won legislative elections and also
that year, Cambodia became part of ASEAN.
■ A bombing campaign in Cambodia by U.S. warplanes
alienated much of the population, enabling the communist
Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot to seize power in 1975. Their
regime of terror resulted in the deaths of at least 1.5 million
Cambodians.
 DEVELOPMENT OF CAMBODIA
Cambodia blossomed economically. Having reached lower middle-income
status in 2015, it set its sights on attaining upper middle-income status by
2030. Through garment exports and tourism, Cambodia’s economy grew at
an average annual rate of 7.7 percent between 1998 and 2019, making it one
of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Combodia had a GDP of $28.54 billion in 2022.[19] Per capita income,
although rapidly increasing, is low compared with most neighboring
countries.
■ Cambodia’s two largest industries are textiles and tourism, while
agricultural activities remain the main source of income for many
Cambodians living in rural areas.
 CONTRIBUTION To
CONTEMPORARY WORLD
■ Cambodia has thus always been an active and constructive supporter and
contributor to the ASEAN Community-building​​process for broadening
and deepening economic, political, security, and socio-cultural
cooperation and development to ensure that ASEAN is a community of
opportunities, a rules-based community, fully integrated, people-centred,
and people-oriented region and that no one is left behind.
■ Cambodia has made considerable strides in improving health outcomes,
early childhood development, and primary education in rural areas. Life
expectancy at birth and maternal, under-five, and infant mortality rates
have been improved significantly between 2000 and 2021.