200 Facts About Cambodia

Basic Facts

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in mainland Southeast Asia.
Cambodia is located in the southern part of the Indochinese Peninsula.
Cambodia covers approximately 181,035 square kilometres.
Cambodia shares land borders with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
Cambodia also has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
The capital and largest city of Cambodia is Phnom Penh.
The official language of Cambodia is Khmer.
The official currency is the Cambodian riel (KHR).
The people of Cambodia are called Cambodians, while the term Khmer can refer to the country's ethnic majority, language and culture.
Cambodia had a population of approximately 17.85 million in 2025, according to World Bank data.
Cambodia is one of the world's more populous countries, but its exact global population ranking changes as countries' populations change. Therefore, an old statement such as "72nd most populous country" should not be treated as a permanent fact.

Geography

Cambodia's landscape is dominated by a large central lowland surrounded by mountains and higher terrain.
The Mekong River is one of Cambodia's most important geographical features.
The Mekong flows through Cambodia from the north toward the south before continuing into Vietnam.
The Tonle Sap Lake is another defining geographical feature of Cambodia.
Cambodia's climate is broadly tropical monsoon, with distinct wet and dry seasons.
Cambodia experiences a pronounced rainy season associated with the Southwest Monsoon.
Agriculture, especially rice cultivation, is strongly influenced by the country's seasonal rainfall and flooding patterns.

Tonle Sap

Tonle Sap, often called the Great Lake, is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.
Tonle Sap has one of the world's most unusual lake hydrological systems.
During the rainy season, rising Mekong water levels cause the flow of the Tonle Sap River to reverse direction, sending water into the lake.
During the dry season, the flow reverses again and water flows from the lake toward the Mekong.
This annual reversal is a major part of Cambodia's natural water cycle.
Tonle Sap's surface area expands dramatically during the rainy season.
The lake can expand from roughly 2,500 square kilometres during the dry season to around 10,000–16,000 square kilometres during the wet season, depending on the year and measurement method.
The original claim that Tonle Sap expands to 24,605 square kilometres should not be used as a standard figure.
Tonle Sap's annual flood pulse creates extensive flooded forests and wetlands around the lake.
The lake and surrounding floodplain are extremely important for Cambodia's fisheries.
Tonle Sap supports a huge variety of fish, birds, reptiles and other wildlife.
Tonle Sap was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1997.

Early History

Archaeological evidence shows that people have lived in the territory of present-day Cambodia for thousands of years.
Agricultural communities were established in Cambodia long before the rise of the Khmer Empire.
Rice cultivation has a very long history in Cambodia, although the claim that rice was definitively the "first crop" grown there before the first century AD is too specific to present as an established fact.
Early Cambodian societies were influenced by cultural and religious traditions from the Indian subcontinent.
Hinduism and Buddhism both played major roles in the development of early Cambodian civilization.

The Khmer Empire

The Khmer Empire became one of the most powerful states in mainland Southeast Asia.
The empire flourished particularly between approximately the 9th and 15th centuries.
Angkor served as the political and cultural centre of the Khmer Empire for centuries.
The Angkor region contains temples, reservoirs, canals, roads and urban settlements spread across an enormous landscape.
UNESCO describes the Angkor archaeological site as covering approximately 400 square kilometres.
Archaeological research has shown that Angkor was far more than a collection of temples; it was a vast urban and hydraulic system.
Airborne LiDAR laser scanning has revealed previously hidden archaeological features beneath Cambodia's forest canopy.
LiDAR surveys of Phnom Kulen helped reveal the layout of Mahendraparvata, an early Angkor-period urban centre.
The discoveries demonstrated that sophisticated urban landscapes extended well beyond the monumental temples that had long been visible above the forest.
Archaeological research has identified numerous ancient settlements, roads, reservoirs and temples across the wider Angkorian landscape.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is Cambodia's most famous monument.
Angkor Wat was constructed in the 12th century during the reign of King Suryavarman II.
Angkor Wat was originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu.
The temple later became an important Buddhist religious site.
Angkor Wat is widely recognised as the largest religious monument in the world.
The Angkor Wat complex covers roughly 200 hectares when its moat and outer areas are included.
Angkor Wat is unusually oriented toward the west, whereas most Khmer temples were oriented toward the east.
Its westward orientation has been associated by scholars with several possible religious and funerary meanings.
The temple's galleries contain enormous bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu mythology and Khmer royal history.
Angkor Wat's central towers were designed to represent Mount Meru, the sacred cosmic mountain of Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
Angkor Wat appears on the national flag of Cambodia.
Angkor Wat is part of the larger UNESCO World Heritage property known as Angkor, which was inscribed in 1992.

Other Ancient Sites

Cambodia contains many important Khmer archaeological sites besides Angkor Wat.
Ta Prohm, famous for trees growing through its ruins, is part of the Angkor complex.
Ta Prohm was built during the reign of Jayavarman VII in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.
The Bayon Temple is famous for its enormous carved stone faces.
Preah Vihear Temple, dedicated to Shiva, sits dramatically on a mountain ridge near the Thai-Cambodian border.
Preah Vihear was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008.
Sambor Prei Kuk, an ancient temple complex dating to the Chenla period, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.
Koh Ker became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023. It was an important Khmer capital during the 10th century.
In 2025, UNESCO added the Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection to the World Heritage List.
Cambodia therefore has five UNESCO World Heritage properties as of 2026.

The Ta Prohm "Dinosaur"

A carving at Ta Prohm has become famous because some people interpret it as resembling a Stegosaurus-like dinosaur.
The interpretation is controversial.
Some writers have argued that the carving depicts a dinosaur, while other researchers have argued that it represents a conventional animal surrounded by decorative foliage.
There is no scientific evidence that dinosaurs survived into the period when the temple was built.
The carving should therefore not be presented as evidence that humans and non-avian dinosaurs lived together.

Colonial History

Cambodia became a French protectorate in 1863.
French colonial rule continued for approximately 90 years.
Cambodia achieved independence from France in 1953.
Cambodia became fully independent on 9 November 1953, although the transition away from French authority had begun earlier.
Cambodia was part of French Indochina during the colonial period.

The Vietnam War and Cambodian Civil War

Cambodia attempted to remain officially neutral during much of the Vietnam War, but the conflict increasingly spread into Cambodian territory.
The United States conducted bombing operations in Cambodia during the Vietnam War era.
The first major U.S. secret bombing campaign began in 1969, rather than 1963.
U.S. bombing of Cambodia continued until 1973.
Yale's Cambodian Genocide Program documents more than 115,000 bombing-target locations associated with U.S. bombing sorties during the wider 1965–1975 period.
Estimates of civilian deaths caused by the U.S. bombing vary considerably, so a single figure such as 300,000 should not be presented as settled fact.
Yale historical research gives an estimated range of approximately 50,000–150,000 civilian deaths from the 1969–1973 U.S. bombing campaign.
The bombing and the wider Cambodian civil war contributed to the political and social conditions in which the Khmer Rouge gained strength.

Khmer Rouge and Genocide

The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975.
The Khmer Rouge established a revolutionary communist state known as Democratic Kampuchea.
The Khmer Rouge regime lasted from 1975 until 1979.
The regime forcibly emptied Cambodia's cities and sent millions of people into rural agricultural labour.
People were subjected to forced labour, starvation, torture, imprisonment, persecution and execution.
The Khmer Rouge targeted political opponents, intellectuals, perceived enemies, ethnic minorities and religious groups.
Vietnamese, Cham Muslims and other minority communities were among those subjected to particularly severe persecution.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million people died under Khmer Rouge rule, according to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia's historical documentation.
Deaths resulted from executions as well as starvation, disease, overwork, imprisonment and other brutal conditions.
The Khmer Rouge regime ended after Vietnamese forces entered Cambodia in December 1978 and captured Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979.
Vietnam's intervention brought an end to Khmer Rouge rule over most of Cambodia, although Khmer Rouge forces continued an insurgency for years afterward.

S-21

S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng, was a Khmer Rouge security prison in Phnom Penh.
Thousands of people were imprisoned, interrogated and tortured at S-21.
ECCC records indicate that at least 12,273 people were detained at S-21, and at least 11,742 prisoners were executed there, although exact victim numbers remain subject to historical reconstruction.
Today, the former S-21 prison is the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

The Killing Fields

The term "Killing Fields" refers to numerous sites across Cambodia where victims of the Khmer Rouge were executed and buried in mass graves.
The phrase became internationally associated with Cambodia after Cambodian journalist Dith Pran used the expression following his escape from Cambodia.
There were many execution and burial sites throughout the country rather than one single "Killing Field."
Choeung Ek, near Phnom Penh, is one of the best-known memorial sites associated with the Khmer Rouge period.
Cambodia contains thousands of documented mass graves associated with the Khmer Rouge era. Yale's Cambodian Genocide Program has documented approximately 19,000 grave pits across numerous sites.

Phnom Sampeau Killing Cave

The Killing Cave at Phnom Sampeau, near Battambang, is a memorial site associated with Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Victims were reportedly killed at the site or thrown into the cave.
Human remains and memorial structures can still be found at the site.
It should not be described as "the world's first Killing Cave"; that wording has no meaningful historical basis.

Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance

Decades of war left Cambodia heavily contaminated with landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war.
Mines and unexploded ordnance continue to pose risks in parts of Cambodia.
According to Cambodia's national mine-action data, more than 65,000 people had been killed or injured by mines and explosive remnants of war since 1979 by 2025.
Cambodia recorded 49 mine and ERW casualties in 2024, a dramatic decline from the thousands recorded annually during the 1990s.
Approximately one million people were still estimated to live or work in areas contaminated by mines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war in 2025.
Cambodia has extensive mine-clearance and victim-assistance programmes.
The original statement that Cambodia has "the world's largest population of amputees due to landmines" should be removed. It is an unsupported superlative.
The statement that "almost half of Cambodia's landmines remain unexploded" should also be removed because it does not represent a reliable current national statistic.

Religion

Buddhism is the state religion of Cambodia, according to the country's Constitution.
The majority of Cambodians are Buddhist.
Theravada Buddhism is the dominant Buddhist tradition in Cambodia.
Government estimates cited by the U.S. Department of State put the Buddhist population at approximately 93% in 2022, with most Cambodian Buddhists following Theravada traditions.
Cambodia also has Muslim, Christian and indigenous religious communities.
The Cham are an important Muslim minority in Cambodia.

Population and Society

Cambodia has a relatively young population, but the old statement that "the majority are under 20" is no longer an accurate description of the current demographic structure.
In 2025, Cambodia's median age was approximately 27 years.
The population has grown substantially since the end of the Khmer Rouge period.
Cambodian society has been strongly shaped by Khmer language, Theravada Buddhism and the country's long agricultural traditions.

Government and Monarchy

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy.
The King is the head of state, while the Prime Minister is the head of government.
Norodom Sihamoni has been King of Cambodia since 2004.
King Norodom Sihamoni was born in 1953.
He was selected by the Royal Council of the Throne to succeed his father, King Norodom Sihanouk.
The King does not exercise the powers of government associated with the office of Prime Minister.
Hun Manet became Prime Minister in August 2023, succeeding his father, Hun Sen.
Hun Sen served as Prime Minister from 1985 to 2023, making his tenure one of the longest periods of continuous government leadership by a non-royal leader in modern history.
Hun Sen became President of the Cambodian Senate in April 2024.
Therefore, facts describing Hun Sen as Cambodia's current Prime Minister are outdated.

Economy

Cambodia has experienced rapid economic growth since the 1990s.
The World Bank reports that Cambodia's GDP reached approximately US$51.3 billion in 2025.
Cambodia's economy has historically depended heavily on garments, footwear, tourism, agriculture and construction.
The garment and footwear industry has been a major source of employment and export revenue.
Agriculture remains important to Cambodia's economy and rural livelihoods.
Rice is Cambodia's most important staple crop.
Cambodia is also a significant producer of cassava, maize, rubber, vegetables and other agricultural products.
Tourism is an important part of Cambodia's service economy.
Angkor is the country's most internationally famous tourist attraction.
Cambodia's economy is increasingly diversified, with manufacturing, services, construction and digital activities becoming more important.
China has become one of Cambodia's most important sources of foreign investment and development finance.
Cambodia's economic growth has substantially reduced poverty compared with previous decades, although poverty and inequality remain important development challenges.

Garment Industry

Cambodia is a major exporter of garments, footwear and travel goods.
The industry employs hundreds of thousands of workers and is particularly important for women's employment.
The old figure of "more than 600,000 workers" should not be treated as a current number without a year because employment changes over time.

Tourism

Tourism is one of Cambodia's most important sources of foreign exchange.
International tourism was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourism subsequently recovered as international travel resumed.
The old figure of 5 million visitors in 2016 is a historical statistic and should not be presented as current.
Angkor Wat is one of the principal attractions drawing international visitors to Cambodia.
Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, the Cambodian coastline and several historical and natural sites also attract tourists.

Environment and Forests

Cambodia has experienced substantial forest loss over recent decades.
Deforestation has been associated with logging, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development and other land-use changes.
Illegal logging has contributed to forest degradation, although Cambodia's forest-loss patterns have multiple causes.
Cambodia still contains important areas of tropical forest and biodiversity.
The country's forests provide habitat for elephants, primates, big cats, bears, birds and many other species.
Cambodia is home to the Asian elephant.
The country also contains important populations of Indochinese wildlife species, including banteng, gaur and various primates.

Food

Rice is central to Cambodian cuisine and agriculture.
Fish and freshwater products are also extremely important because of Cambodia's extensive river and lake systems.
Amok is one of Cambodia's best-known dishes.
Cambodian cuisine commonly uses ingredients such as rice, fish, coconut milk, lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and fermented fish paste.
Prahok, a fermented fish paste, is an important ingredient in traditional Khmer cuisine.

National Flag

Cambodia's national flag is distinctive because it depicts a building: Angkor Wat.
The Cambodian flag has three horizontal bands of blue, red and blue.
Angkor Wat is depicted in white at the centre of the red band.
Cambodia's current flag was adopted in 1993, following the restoration of the constitutional monarchy.
Cambodia is one of the very few countries whose national flag features a recognisable building.
The inclusion of Angkor Wat on the flag reflects the importance of Khmer cultural heritage to Cambodian national identity.

Language and Culture

Khmer is Cambodia's official language and is spoken by the overwhelming majority of the population.
The Khmer script is an abugida, in which consonant symbols carry inherent vowel sounds that can be modified by additional signs.
Khmer belongs to the Austroasiatic language family.
Khmer is therefore linguistically different from neighbouring Thai and Lao, which belong to the Tai-Kadai language family.
Cambodian classical dance is an important part of the country's cultural heritage.
The Royal Ballet of Cambodia was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

Unique Historical Facts

Cambodia's modern name is closely connected with the Khmer people and the country's historical names.
Kampuchea is a traditional English transliteration of the Khmer name for Cambodia and has been used officially during several periods of Cambodian history.
The name "Cambodia" derives through European languages from forms related to Kambuja, an ancient Sanskrit-derived name associated with the Khmer kingdom.
The Khmer Empire once controlled or influenced large areas of mainland Southeast Asia.
At its height, Angkor was one of the most extensive urban and hydraulic landscapes of the premodern world.
The Angkorian civilisation constructed enormous reservoirs known as barays to manage and store water.
The Khmer Empire developed sophisticated systems of roads, canals, reservoirs and agricultural infrastructure.
Some ancient Angkorian urban areas were hidden beneath dense vegetation for centuries before modern archaeological surveys revealed their full extent.

`Interesting Facts About Cambodia

Cambodia is the only country in the world whose national flag prominently depicts Angkor Wat.
The annual reversal of the Tonle Sap River is one of the most unusual large-scale hydrological phenomena in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia's Tonle Sap ecosystem is among the most productive freshwater environments in the region.
Angkor is not simply a collection of temples; it was an enormous urban and water-management system extending across hundreds of square kilometres.
Cambodia now has five UNESCO World Heritage properties, including the newly inscribed Cambodian Memorial Sites in 2025.
Cambodia's archaeological discoveries continue to change understanding of how large and complex ancient Southeast Asian cities could be.
LiDAR technology has helped archaeologists identify ancient roads, settlements and other structures that are difficult or impossible to see from the ground beneath dense vegetation.
Cambodia's history includes one of the most extensively documented genocidal regimes of the 20th century.
The Khmer Rouge period remains an important part of Cambodia's national memory and is documented through museums, memorials, mass-grave sites and historical archives.
Despite the devastation of the 1970s, Cambodia has undergone major demographic, economic and social reconstruction since the end of the Khmer Rouge regime.

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