PROFIL NEGARA: KAMBOJA

Cambodia, country in Southeast Asia, also known as Kâmpuchéa. More than a thousand years ago, Cambodia was the center of the Khmer (Cambodian) kingdom of Angkor, a great empire that dominated Southeast Asia for 600 years.

A monarchy since ancient times, Cambodia was a French protectorate from 1863 to 1953. A republic replaced the monarchy in 1970, and in 1975 a Communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge took power, naming the country Democratic Kâmpuchéa. In 1979, Khmer Rouge was toppled and established a moderate
socialist state. In 1989 the country abandoned socialism, and in 1993 a new constitution restored the monarchy. Cambodia’s official name is the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Cambodia is bounded on the northeast by Laos, on the east and southeast by Vietnam, on the west and northwest by Thailand, and on the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand (Siam). The country’s capital and largest city is Phnom Penh.

Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, is situated at the junction of the Mekong and Tônlé Sab rivers. Other major cities are Bãtdâmbâng, Kâmpóng Cham, Kâmpôt, and Cambodia’s only deep-water port, Kâmpóng Saôm, located on the Gulf of Thailand.

Cambodia covers an area of 181,035 sq km (69,898 sq mi). Most of the country consists of a low-lying alluvial plain that occupies the central part of the country.

To the southeast of the plain lies the delta of the Mekong River. To the east of the plain, ranges of undulating hills separate Cambodia from Vietnam. To the southwest a mountain range, the Chuor Phnum Krâvanh, fringes the plain and forms a physical barrier along the country’s coast. Cambodia’s highest peak, Phnom Aural (1,813 m/5,948 ft) rises in the eastern part of this range. To the north, the Chuor Phnum Dângrêk mountains separate Cambodia from Thailand.

POPULATION

The population of Cambodia is 13,363,421 (2004 estimate). Population growth per year is estimated at 1.8 percent, one of the highest rates in Asia. The rate of infant mortality is also high. The population density is 76 persons per sq km (196 per sq mi), with the densest concentrations on the heavily cultivated central plain.
Ethnic Cambodians, or Khmer, constitute 90 percent of the population. About 5 percent of the country’s inhabitants are of Vietnamese origin, and 1 percent are Chinese. Seminomadic tribal groups concentrated in the mountainous northeast make up the remaining 4 percent of the population.

Cambodia’s official language is Khmer, or Cambodian, which belongs to the Mon-Khmer family of languages (see Austro-Asiatic Languages). French was formerly an important secondary language in the country, but English gained considerable ground in the 1990s. Other languages spoken include Vietnamese and an assortment of South Chinese dialects.

ECONOMY

In 2002 its total gross domestic product (GDP) was $4 billion, yielding a per capita GDP of just $320.
After the Khmer Rouge was toppled in early 1979, the government’s grip on agricultural production loosened, and millions of Cambodians attempted to resume their lives as subsistence farmers. By the mid-1990s Cambodia once again achieved self-sufficiency in rice production and began to export small
quantities of rice. The country’s infrastructure improved gradually since then.

Agriculture is the largest sector of Cambodia’s economy, contributing 36 percent of the GDP in 2002. Rice is Cambodia’s most important crop and the staple food of the Khmer diet. More than one-half of cultivated land—much of it of poor quality—is planted in rice. Rubber, Cambodia’s other important export crop, is
grown in plantations in the eastern part of the country. Corn, cassava, soybeans, palm sugar, and pepper are also grown commercially, while cucumbers and fruits, including mangoes, bananas, watermelons, and pineapples, are raised for local consumption. Chicken and pigs are widely domesticated, while cattle and water buffalo are used for agricultural work.

Freshwater fish are an important ingredient of the typical Cambodian diet. Most of the annual catch is consumed locally. Important types of fish caught include perch, carp, lungfish, and smelt. The Tônlé Sap is the most concentrated source of freshwater fish in Southeast Asia.

GOVERNMENT

Cambodia is divided for administrative purposes into 20 provinces and 3 municipalities. These units are administered by governors.

A Executive
Cambodia’s head of state is the king, whose role is largely ceremonial and advisory. The king, on the advice of the legislature, formally appoints the prime minister to head the government. The prime minister must be a member of the winning party in legislative elections. The prime minister heads a cabinet made up of members of the legislature. Cabinet members are chosen by the prime minister, ratified by the legislature, and formally appointed by the king.

B Legislature
A bicameral (two-chamber) parliament holds legislative power. The more powerful lower house is called the National Assembly. Established in 1993, the assembly consists of 122 members who serve five-year terms. Members are chosen through popular elections in which people over 18 years of age are entitled to vote. The National Assembly may dismiss cabinet members or the entire cabinet with a two-thirds majority vote. The upper house, or Senate, was created by constitutional amendment in 1999, in accordance with provisions of
the 1998 agreement. The 61-member Senate serves as an advisory body to the National Assembly; it has the power to recommend amendments to legislation passed by the assembly, but the lower house can reject the recommendations on a second vote. Members of the Senate are elected to a term of six years.

C Judiciary
The 1993 constitution provided for an independent judiciary under a Supreme Court.