country information

General Information

Population: 14,686,000
Religion: 95% Buddhist
Language: Khmer
Area: 181,040 sq km (slightly smaller than Oklahoma)
Climate: Tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation
Form of Government: Parliamentary monarchy
King: Norodom Shihamoni
Prime Minister: Hun Sen
Capital: Phnom Penh

Current Statistics

Population Information
  • The average annual income is about $306
  • Cambodia has the highest rate of amputation due to landmine injury in the world. Currently, there are about 40 000 people with amputations in the population.
  • More than 41% of Cambodia's population is under 14
  • 84% of Cambodians continue to live in rural villages
  • Approximately 35% of Cambodian prostitutes are minors who are sold into prostitution by their own families
Education

27% of adults are illiterate The average Cambodian adult has had only three and one-half years of schooling. Of every 1000 children;

  • 290 will never go to school
  • 390 will repeat the first grade
  • 500 will not even complete the primary education they begin
  • only 27 of every 1000 who enter primary school will graduate from high school

Of the 47,000 primary school teachers, half had been recruited without having completed their own primary education of five or six years, and less than 1% had finished the eleventh grade
Healthcare
  • The average Cambodian has only about 1 contact every 3 years with organized health services
  • Tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS are at epidemic levels
  • Cambodia has the highest HIV infection rate in the Asia Pacific region
  • 10% of children will die before their first birthday
  • The average village child suffers 4 to 6 episodes of respiratory infections and the same number of attacks of long-lasting diarrhea each year
  • The average life expectancy is approximately 59 years
  • Nearly two thirds of the rural population and one quarter of city dwellers still rely on unsafe drinking water sources
  • Fifteen per cent of children less than six months of age have stunted growth due to malnutrition, increasing to 53% of children aged three to five years

Recent History

1953 - Cambodia is granted independence from France.

1958 - Communist party of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge) is formed, civil war begins.

March 18, 1970 - Prince Sihanouk is ousted in a coupe, Cambodia is declared a republic, and Lon Nol becomes prime minister.

April 17, 1975 - The capitol city of Phnom Penh falls to the communist, and the Khmer Rouge complete their conquest of Cambodia. During the next three years more than 2 million Cambodians (1/4 of the population) are killed.

January 7, 1979 - Vietnam invades Cambodia and installs a new communist government in Phnom Penh made up of Khmer Rouge defectors. The Khmer Rouge and 2 other resistance groups continue to fight a renewed civil war.

October 23, 1991 - The Cambodian government and the 3 resistance groups sign the Paris Peace Accords, however, the Khmer Rouge pull out of the agreement within a few months, and the civil war continues.

May 1993 - Elections are held and bring King Sihanouk back to the throne. A power sharing agreement leads to the formation of a tenuous coalition government.

July 5, 1997 - Factional fighting breaks out in Phnom Penh, and ends the coalition government..

1999 - The last remaining Khmer Rouge units surrender to government forces and end the civil war.

2004 - King Norodom Sihanouk abdicates the throne and his son, Norodom Shihamoni becomes king

July, 2008 - Landside victories in national elections give the Cambodia Peoples Party a clear parliamentary majority and solidify their control of the government.