CAMBODIA
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
CAMBODIA
@Cambodia:Geography
Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between
Thailand and Vietnam
Map references: Southeast Asia
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CAMBODIA - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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PHNOM PENH 750,000 11.35N,104.55E 855- GMT+7
Kompong Cham 213,000 12.16N,104.39E 855- GMT+7
Battambang N/A 13.06N,103.12E 855- GMT+7
Pursat N/A 12.32N,103.55E 855- GMT+7
Siem Reap N/A 13.22N,103.51E 855- GMT+7
Kompong Chhnang N/A 12.15N,104.40E 855- GMT+7
Kampot N/A 10.37N,104.11E 855- GMT+7
Kratie N/A 12.29N,106.01E 855- GMT+7
Svay Rieng N/A 13.06N,103.12E 855- GMT+7
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Area:
total area: 181,040 sq km
land area: 176,520 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Oklahoma
Land boundaries: total 2,572 km, Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam
1,228 km
Coastline: 443 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: offshore islands and sections of the boundary
with Vietnam are in dispute; maritime boundary with Vietnam not
defined; parts of border with Thailand in dispute; maritime boundary
with Thailand not clearly defined
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
Natural resources: timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese,
phosphates, hydropower potential
Land use:
arable land: 16%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 3%
forest and woodland: 76%
other: 4%
Irrigated land: 920 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: logging activities throughout the country and strip
mining for gems in the western region along the border with Thailand
are resulting in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in
particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural
fisheries); deforestation; soil erosion; in rural areas, a majority of
the population does not have access to potable water
natural hazards: monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding;
occasional droughts
international agreements: party to - Marine Life Conservation, Ship
Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Endangered
Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
Note: a land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and
Tonle Sap
@Cambodia:People
Population: 10,561,373 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (female 2,367,414; male 2,438,104)
15-64 years: 51% (female 2,932,788; male 2,494,203)
65 years and over: 3% (female 185,337; male 143,527) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.83% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 44.42 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 16.16 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 109.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 49.46 years
male: 48 years
female: 51 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.81 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Cambodian(s)
adjective: Cambodian
Ethnic divisions: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
Religions: Theravada Buddhism 95%, other 5%
Languages: Khmer (official), French
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 35%
male: 48%
female: 22%
Labor force: 2.5 million to 3 million
by occupation: agriculture 80% (1988 est.)
@Cambodia:Government
Names:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Cambodia
conventional short form: Cambodia
local long form: Reacheanachak Kampuchea
local short form: Kampuchea
Digraph: CB
Type: multiparty liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy
established in September 1993
Capital: Phnom Penh
Administrative divisions: 21 provinces (khet, singular and plural);
Banteay Meanchey, Batdambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong
Spoe, Kampong Thum, Kampot, Kandal, Kaoh Kong, Kracheh, Mondol Kiri,
Phnum Penh, Pouthisat, Preah Vihear, Prey Veng, Rotanokiri,
Siemreab-Otdar Meanchey, Sihanoukville, Stoeng Treng, Svay Rieng,
Takev
note: Siemreab-Otdar Meanchey may have been divided into two provinces
named Siemreab and Otdar Meanchey
Independence: 9 November 1949 (from France)
National holiday: Independence Day, 9 November 1949
Constitution: promulgated September 1993
Legal system: currently being defined
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: King Norodom SIHANOUK (reinstated 24 September 1993)
head of government: power shared between First Prime Minister Prince
Norodom RANARIDDH and Second Prime Minister HUN SEN
cabinet: Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly
Legislative branch: unicameral; a 120-member constituent assembly
based on proportional representation within each province was
established following the UN-supervised election in May 1993; the
constituent assembly was transformed into a legislature in September
1993 after delegates promulgated the constitution
Judicial branch: Supreme Court provided for by the constitution has
not yet been established and the future judicial system is yet to be
defined by law
Political parties and leaders: National United Front for an
Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC),
Prince NORODOM RANARIDDH; Cambodian Pracheachon Party or Cambodian
People's Party (CPP), CHEA SIM; Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party, SON
SANN; Democratic Kampuchea (DK, also known as the Khmer Rouge), KHIEU
SAMPHAN; Molinaka, PROM NEAKAREACH
Member of: ACCT, AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM,
IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user),
INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US: Ambassador SISOWATH SIRIRATH
represents Cambodia at the United Nations
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Charles H. TWINING
embassy: 27 EO Street 240, Phnom Penh
mailing address: Box P, APO AP 96546
telephone: [855] (23) 26436, 26438
FAX: [855] (23) 26437
Flag: horizontal band of red separates two equal horizontal bands of
blue with a white three-towered temple representing Angkor Wat in the
center
Economy
Overview: The Cambodian economy - virtually destroyed by decades of
war - is slowly recovering. Government leaders are moving toward
restoring fiscal and monetary discipline and have established good
working relations with international financial institutions. Growth,
starting from a low base, has been strong in 1991-94. Despite such
positive developments, the reconstruction effort faces many tough
challenges because of the persistence of internal political divisions
and the related lack of confidence of foreign investors. Rural
Cambodia, where 90% of about 9.5 million Khmer live, remains mired in
poverty. The almost total lack of basic infrastructure in the
countryside will hinder development and will contribute to a growing
imbalance in growth between urban and rural areas over the near term.
Moreover, the government's lack of experience in administering
economic and technical assistance programs and rampant corruption
among officials will slow the growth of critical public sector
investment. Inflation for 1994 as a whole was less than a quarter of
the 1992 rate and was declining during the year.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $6.4 billion (1994
est.)
National product real growth rate: 5% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $630 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 26%-30% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget:
revenues: $190 million
expenditures: $365 million, including capital expenditures of $120
million (1994 est.)
Exports: $283.6 million (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: timber, rubber, soybeans, sesame
partners: Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia
Imports: $479.3 million (c.i.f., 1993)
commodities: cigarettes, construction materials, petroleum products,
machinery
partners: Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia
External debt: $383 million to OECD members (1993)
Industrial production: growth rate 7.9% (1993 est.); accounts for 8%
of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 40,000 kW
production: 160 million kWh
consumption per capita: 14 kWh (1993)
Industries: rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber,
cement, gem mining
Agriculture: mainly subsistence farming except for rubber plantations;
main crops - rice, rubber, corn; food shortages - rice, meat,
vegetables, dairy products, sugar, flour
Illicit drugs: increasingly used as a transshipment country for heroin
produced in the Golden Triangle; growing money-laundering center;
high-level narcotics-related corruption in government; possible
small-scale heroin production; large producer of cannibis
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $725 million;
Western (non-US countries) (1970-89), $300 million; Communist
countries (1970-89), $1.8 billion; donor countries and multilateral
institutions pledged $880 million in assistance in 1992; IMF pledged
$120 million in aid for 1995-98
Currency: 1 new riel (CR) = 100 sen
Exchange rates: riels (CR) per US$1 - 2,470 (December 1993), 2,800
(September 1992), 500 (December 1991), 560 (1990), 159.00 (1988),
100.00 (1987)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Cambodia:Transportation
Railroads:
total: 655 km
narrow gauge: 655 km 1.000-m gauge
Highways:
total: 34,100 km (some roads in serious disrepair)
paved: bituminous 3,000 km
unpaved: crushed stone, gravel, or improved earth 3,100 km; unimproved
earth 28,000 km
Inland waterways: 3,700 km navigable all year to craft drawing 0.6
meters; 282 km navigable to craft drawing 1.8 meters
Ports: Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville), Kampot, Krong Kaoh Kong, Phnom
Penh
Merchant marine: none
Airports:
total: 22
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 3
with paved runways under 914 m: 2
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 3
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 10
@Cambodia:Communications
Telephone system: NA telephones; service barely adequate for
government requirements and virtually nonexistent for general public
local: NA
intercity: NA
international: international service limited to Vietnam and other
adjacent countries
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 1
televisions: NA
@Cambodia:Defense Forces
Branches:
Khmer Royal Armed Forces (KRAF): created in 1993 by the merger of the
Cambodian People's Armed Forces and the two non-Communist resistance
armies; note - the KRAF is also known as the Royal Cambodian Armed
Forces (RCAF)
Resistance forces: National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge)
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 2,255,050; males fit for
military service 1,256,632; males reach military age (18) annually
70,707 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $85 million, 1.4% of
GDP (1995 est.)
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