Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia, called Kampuchea in Khmer, is a small state in South East Asia. Cambodia borders Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. The capital is Phnom Penh with about 4 million people

Most of the 13 million population is ethnic Khmer, followed by ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Muslim Cham and some hill tribes. Most people are Buddhist, with animists and Christian minorities. Most people are young and poorly-educated. There is a dramatic lack of professionals and expertise, as the Khmer Rouge specifically targeted educated people.

Cambodia is a parliamentary representative democracy with a deeply valued monarchy. The current King is HM Norodom Shiamoni.

The Khmer Empire ruled most of the region from the 11th to 14th century, leaving behind amazing architecture like Angor Wat. The French colonised Cambodia, and it was known as the Paris of the East.

In the 1960s-1980s, one of the worst genocidal civil wars began. After political coups and with the Vietnam War next door, the Khmer Rouge took power and began systematically dismantling culture, infrastructure and families. Up to 3 million Cambodians are estimated to have died during the war and subsequent starvation.

Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, occupied the country for a while and peace efforts by 1991 led to a settlement and a somewhat stable government, excepting factional fighting, corruption and the occasional assassination.

Cambodia’s economy was once largely agriculture, then relied on foreign aid. However, it is improving and diversifying with tourism and the garment industry growing rapidly. Rice, fish, timber, garments (lots of international brands made in Cambodian factories) and rubber are major exports.

Cambodia has major problems with landmines, child prostitution, rural poverty and corruption.

Great articles

• Why is Everybody Going to Cambodia? – New York Times
• Five (Cambodian) foods you should eat before you die

Great books

• When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge (Chanrithy Him)
• The King’s Last Song – Geoff Ryman
• Bones That Float: An adoptive mother’s story of her adoption from Cambodia that led to setting up a school and more in her son’s community.

Great Websites

• Tales of Asia
• Khmer440 (note that this site includes offensive and satirical humor)
• The Cambodian Genocide Project (Yale)

Other NGOs

• Grady Grossman School: Cambodian-adoptive family’s school in their child’s community.
• LICADHO: the leading human rights NGO in Cambodia
• Chab Dai: Coalition of Christian anti-trafficking NGOs