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Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles), bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
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Cambodia, country on the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia. Cambodia is largely a land of plains and great rivers and lies amid important overland and river trade routes linking China to India and Southeast Asia. The influences of many Asian cultures, alongside those of France and the United States, can be seen in the capital, Phnom Penh, one of a handful of urban centres in the largely rural country.
For 2,000 years Cambodia’s civilization absorbed influences from India and China and, in turn, transferred them to other Southeast Asian civilizations. From the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Funan and Chenla (1st–8th century) through the classical age of the Angkor period (9th–15th century), it held sway over territories that are now part of Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The Khmer (Cambodian) empire reached its apex in the 12th century, a time marked by the construction of the massive temple complexes known as Angkor Wat and Bayon and the imperial capital of Angkor Thom. Following 400 years of decline, Cambodia became a French colony and during the 20th century experienced the turmoil of war, occupation by the Japanese, postwar independence, and political instability. Between 1975 and 1979 the country was devastated by the reign of the Khmer Rouge, a rural communist guerrilla movement. During the Khmer Rouge’s period of power, at least 1.5 million Cambodians were killed or died, a monumental tragedy from which the country still suffers.
Cambodia, about one-third the size of France and somewhat larger than the U.S. state of Missouri, is bordered to the west and northwest by Thailand, to the northeast by Laos, to the east and southeast by Vietnam, and to the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The country’s maximum extent is about 280 miles (450 km) from north to south and 360 miles (580 km) from east to west.
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Cambodia’s landscape is characterized by a low-lying central alluvial plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 650 feet (200 metre...
The two dominant hydrological features of Cambodia are the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap. Rising in the Plateau of Tibet and emptying into the South China Sea, the Mekong enters Cambodia from Laos at the Khone Falls and flows generally southward to the border with Vietnam, a distance within Cambodia of approximately 315 miles (510 km). The Mekong is connected to the Tonle Sap by the Sab River. During the rainy season (mid-May to early October), the Mekong’s enormous volume of water backs up into the Sab and flows up into the Tonle Sap 65 miles (105 km) to the northwest, expanding the lake’s surface area from a dry-season minimum of 1,200 square miles (3,100 square km) to a rainy-season maximum of more than 3,000 square miles (7,800 square km). As the water level of the Mekong falls during the dry season, the process is reversed: water drains from the Tonle Sap back down into the Mekong, switching the direction of its flow. As a result of this annual phenomenon, the Tonle Sap is one of the world’s richest sources of freshwater fish.
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Most of Cambodia’s soils are sandy and poor in nutrients. The so-called red-soil areas in the eastern part of the country, however, are suitable for commercial crops such as rubber and cotton. The annual flooding of the Mekong during the rainy season deposits a rich alluvial sediment that accounts for the fertility of the central plain and provides...
May 15, 2024 · Cambodia was a refugee sending country in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime, its ousting by the Vietnamese invasion, and the ...
History of Cambodia, a survey of the important events and people in the history of Cambodia. The country, on the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia, is largely a land of plains and great rivers and lies amid important overland and river trade routes linking China to India and Southeast Asia.
Explore Cambodia's ancient and modern attractions, from the temples of Angkor to the beaches of Sihanoukville. Find out the best time and places to visit, get expert advice on planning, transportation, visa, money and more.
Nov 16, 2023 · Discover the diverse attractions of Cambodia, from the iconic temples of Angkor to the tropical islands and wildlife of the south. Explore the capital Phnom Penh, the colonial town of Battambang, the Cardamom Mountains and more with Lonely Planet's travel tips and stories.
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Dec 28, 2021 · 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) etymology: Phnom Penh translates as "Penh's Hill" in Khmer; the city takes its name from the present Wat Phnom (Hill Temple), the tallest religious structure in the city, whose establishment, according to legend, was inspired in the 14th century by ...
