A 1970 coup installed the US-aligned Khmer Republic, until being overthrown by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. Despite Cambodia's neutrality, the Vietnam War extended into the country in 1965 via the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk trails. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, and later was part of French Indochina.Īfter a period of Japanese occupation during the Second World War, Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. In the fifteenth century, Cambodia experienced a decline of power, while its neighbors Vietnam and Thailand grew stronger. Angkor Wat is the most famous of these structures and is designated as a World Heritage Site. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia and undertook many religious infrastructural projects throughout the region. This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire, which flourished for over 600 years. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". The region now known as Cambodia has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Hun Sen, the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, who has ruled since 1985. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by the Royal Council of the Throne as head of state. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia. Cambodia has a tropical monsoon climate of two seasons, and the country is made up of a central floodplain around the Tonlé Sap lake and Mekong Delta, surrounded by mountainous regions. Cambodia's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes. Buddhism is enshrined in the constitution as the official state religion, and is practised by more than 97% of the population. The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 17 million. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh. You may need rendering support to display the Khmer text in this article correctly.Ĭambodia ( / k æ m ˈ b oʊ d i ə/ ( listen) or Kampuchea ( / ˌ k æ m p ʊ ˈ tʃ iː ə/ Khmer: កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: Kâmpŭchéa ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia ( Khmer: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa ), is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, 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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