The Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as
Kampuchea , is a country in Southeast Asia
with a population of over 13 million people.
Phnom Penh is the capital city. Cambodia is
the successor state of the once powerful Hindu
and Buddhist Khmer Empire, which ruled most
of the Indochinese Peninsula between the eleventh
and fourteenth centuries.
A citizen
of Cambodia is usually identified as "Cambodian"
or "Khmer," the latter of which
strictly refers to ethnic Khmers. Most Cambodians
are Theravada Buddhists of Khmer extraction,
but the country also has a substantial number
of predominantly Muslim Cham, as well as
ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and small animist
hill tribes.
The country borders Thailand
to its west and northwest, Laos to its northeast,
and Vietnam to its east and southeast. In
the south it faces the Gulf of Thailand.
The geography of Cambodia is dominated by
the Mekong river (colloquial Khmer: Tonle
Thom or "the great river") and
the Tonl? Sap ("the fresh water lake"),
an important source of fish. Much of Cambodia
sits near sea level, and consequently the
Tonle Sap River reverses its water flow
in the wet season, carrying water from the
Mekong back into the Tonl? Sap Lake and
surrounding flood plain.
Cambodia's main industries
are garments and tourism. In 2006, foreign
visitors had surpassed the 1.7 million mark.
In 2005, oil and natural gas deposits were
found beneath Cambodia's territorial water,
and once commercial extraction begins in
2009 or early 2010, the oil revenues could
profoundly affect Cambodia's economy.
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Cambodia
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