NAVIGATION
|
HOME
• FLAG FINDER
• MAP FINDER
• SOURCES
• ADD YOURSELF TO THE ATLAS! COUNTRIES A-D • COUNTRIES E-K • COUNTRIES L-R • COUNTRIES S-Z |
NAVIGATION
Kingdom of Cambodia
Preahreacheanachakr Kampuchea
INTRODUCTION
|
Background:
|
Following a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns; over 1 million displaced people died from execution or enforced hardships. A 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and touched off 13 years of fighting. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy, as did the rapid diminishment of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1990s. A coalition government, formed after national elections in 1998, brought renewed political stability and the surrender of remaining Khmer Rouge forces. |
GEOGRAPHY
|
Location:
|
Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
13 00 N, 105 00 E |
|
Map references:
|
Southeast Asia |
|
Area:
|
total: 181,040 sq km
land: 176,520 sq km water: 4,520 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly smaller than Oklahoma |
|
Land boundaries:
|
total: 2,572 km
border countries: Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam 1,228 km |
|
Coastline:
|
443 km |
|
Maritime claims:
|
contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
|
Climate:
|
tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation |
|
Terrain:
|
mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north |
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point: Phnum Aoral 1,810 m |
|
Natural resources:
|
timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential |
|
Land use:
|
arable land: 20.96%
permanent crops: 0.61% other: 78.43% (1998 est.) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
2,700 sq km (1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards:
|
monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding; occasional droughts |
|
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, a majority of the population does not have access to potable water; toxic waste delivery from Taiwan sparked unrest in Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville) in December 1998 |
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
|
Geography - note:
|
a land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap |
PEOPLE
|
Population:
|
12,775,324
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14 years: 40.7% (male 2,646,883; female 2,550,015)
15-64 years: 55.8% (male 3,373,692; female 3,758,736) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 182,149; female 263,849) (2002 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
2.24% (2002 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
32.93 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
|
Death rate:
|
10.51 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
|
Net migration rate:
|
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
|
Sex ratio:
|
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
64 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total population: 57.1 years
female: 59.5 years (2002 est.) male: 54.81 years |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
4.66 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
4.04% (1999 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
220,000 (1999 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
14,000 (1999 est.) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun: Cambodian(s)
adjective: Cambodian |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4% |
|
Religions:
|
Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5% |
|
Languages:
|
Khmer (official) 95%, French, English |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 35% male: 48% female: 22% (1990 est.) |