Cambodia Circuit: About Cambodia

Cambodia Economy

<span style="font-size: large;">Macro-Economic Development</span><br />
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<b>Growth, Poverty, Reform Priorities</b><br />
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The improvement challenge confronting Cambodia is to maintain development, decrease neediness, and quicken the fruition of the change motivation. To achieve these medium term objectives will require powerful monetary administration and impressive inflows of outside help with request to bolster the execution of open speculation needs and raise the pace and consistency of auxiliary change. In addition, components to diminish destitution and shield defenseless gatherings from quickened change must be placed set up. The improvement needs of Cambodia have moved from survival mode to a medium term vital system for quick modification and development bolstered by sound large scale and sectorial arrangements, and correlative open speculation and specialized help programs.<br />
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Alteration and development, such are the targets sought after by the MEF. It is essential to reinforce the macroeconomic parities with a specific end goal to take into consideration the solid, economical development of the economy. On this premise, part determined techniques tended to increment and broaden generation, parallel with the monetary allowance system of lessening budgetary reliance and empowering social advancement.<br />
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The way secured in five years (1994-98), yet one that shows inadequacies to be adjusted and postpones to be determined, appears to be tasteful, generally speaking. Progress has been essential and the outcomes markers positive primarily because of a decent simultaneousness of outside elements influencing monetary advancement, furthermore to the unmistakable course given by national approaches.<br />
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Results Indicators - Positive Development<br />
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The results of the outcomes markers gives off an impression of being sure, as per the data in Table beneath:<br />
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1. A genuine normal yearly development rate of 5.2% for the period. Had it not been for the downturn in 1997 which will keep on making be felt to a lesser degree in 1998, the normal yearly development rate could have come to 6.0%. In such manner, 1995 and 1996 have obviously high scores, which were coating Cambodia up among the Asian monsters until the late emergency happened;<br />
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2. A for each capita GDP on a consistent development bend, from US$241 in 1994 to US$303 in 1996, with a slight decrease in 1997 ($290.9);<br />
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3. A CPI that broke free from the taking off expansions of the earlier years to balance out from 1996 onwards at an around 9%;<br />
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4. A deficiency in t he current parity barring exchanges, which is maintained at 14-15% of GDP, regardless of the. increment in imports because of speculations;<br />
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5. Outside trade saves that came to more than two months of merchandise and benefits imports;<br />
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6. Outside commitments that secured the gross deficiency of the present equalization on a yearly normal for 1994-97, in the measure of 134%, with the surplus enhancing the gross remote trade holds.<br />
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Outer Factors and the Funding or Deficits<br />
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Components outside to the development of the economy are identified with authority exchanges, for example, gifts, capital moves as credits from worldwide associations and, finally, to remote direct ventures (FDI). The total of such outer commitments secured, on a yearly normal from 1994-97, the gross deficiency of the present equalization in the measure of 134% (the surplus added to the change of the gross remote trade stores to cover 2.7 months of imports in 1997). On the other hand, albeit official exchanges and capital exchanges are being kept up starting with one year then onto the next, around 8-<br />
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1 % and from 2-3 % individually of GDP, these did drop in 1997 by around 8 % with connection to the starting estimates and by 20% contrasted with 1996. Then again " FDI that had developed at an exceptionally supported pace subsequent to 1093, dropped by 21% in 1997 with connection to the figures. There is motivation to expect that, in perspective of the Asian money related calamity, such speculations won't quickly get the dynamic development that they encountered up till now.<br />
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National Policies and Economic Development - Budget and Monetary Policies.<br />
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Extension of the fiscal supply was solid amid the years 1994-97, with a yearly normal rate of 35.7%, and for a normal 5.2% of GDP. Notwithstanding, no fiscal financing of the Treasury was embraced with - the National Bank of Cambodia until late 1997. As a general rule, the remote cash store segment clarifies this development; liquidity in Riels has developed at a yearly normal rate of 13.7%. Still, this improvement is particularly because of the uncommon year in 1997 (+33.4%). In any case, the Riel-US Dollar equality has remained extremely stable amid the period, i.e. toward the end of the period 2,593 in 1994; 2,560 in 1995; and 2,720 in 1996. It was just amid the second 50% of 1997 that, misery the impacts of the Asian money related disturbance, the Riel went up to 3,500 for US$I; since that time, it has fundamentally kept up itself at this level.<br />
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Be that as it may, a great macroeconomic execution was evident in the – liberalization of the rate of trade, the adjustment of expansion to a passable level, and the patching up of the business system (evacuation of limitations on imports and hindrances to sends out).<br />
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Tax assessment an up and coming duty framework, yet at the same time yielding deficient results<br />
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The Government embraced the remodel and support of a tax assessment and obligation framework that was still in earliest stages. The nation was moderating making tracks in an opposite direction from an order economy. The alternative was made for a present day, performing charge framework, yet by method for a dynamic approach that would take into account sensible time for the new financial structures to adjust and for State workers to be prepared. With the year 1998-after the Taxation Code of February 1997, pending requirement of the VAT on huge business ventures in 1999, and with the Customs Code yet to turn out-the Cambodian methodology will be five years of age.<br />
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The present classification of é charges and obligations is a decent impression of the expense structure as it is found in many nations on the planet. An investigation of the relationship between assessment income and the segments of GDP that are the premise thereof offers ascend to the accompanying perceptions:<br />
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What is known as the expense proportion and which implies the real impose made on GDP, encountered a fast increment between 1993 (4.32%) and 1994 (5.95%), when the beginning assessment measures kicked in. Since that time, the duty proportion keeps on being around 6% - with a top of 6.46% came to in 1997 - the most minimal rate on the planet, even contrasted with the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). In the Southeast Asian area, the expense proportion rate was at that point 9.53% in 1984 in the Philippines; 14.34% in Thailand; 1 26.93% in Indonesia; 21.53% in Malaysia. the Philippines is the main nation where the rates show up moderately low-, in spite of the fact that the rate immediately expanded to 15.5 1 % in 1992. That is about the same rate as in Vietnam (I 5.4% in 1993 for a GDP for each capita that is lower than that of Cambodia), while Laos was at 7.4% in 1991.<br />
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* 43% to 46% of GDP is not subject to tax collection because of the legitimate exclusion of farming generation;<br />
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* When just the conceivably assessable GDP is viewed as, the normal expense rate of national generation scarcely reaches,8% (from 7.63-7.95% relying upon the year);<br />
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* Internal tax collection, beside traditions obligations, stays frail, if not immaterial; salary benefit charges continued to the possibly assessable GDP is under 1% (0.36 - 0.77%, with the exception of 1998 which is estimate for 1.23 ˜%). In the meantime, the proportion between residential aberrant expenses and possibly assessable GDP is scarcely above 1% (0.59 - 1.36% relying upon the year);<br />
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* The normal rate of expense on imports stays at an extremely sensible level (IO - 13 % on aggregate imports);<br />
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* Private utilization that backings both the local circuitous and import charges is just a little giver to tax assessment, between 7 - 8% - though in every one of the nations of the world this is the principle wellspring of duty recei

About Cambodia Cambodia Economy

Macro-Economic Development Growth, Poverty, Reform Priorities The improvement challenge confronting Cambodia is to maintain developmen...

Khmer King

12:10 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Khmer King</span><br />
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His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni is the child of His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, previous King of Cambodia and of Her Majesty Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk of Cambodia.<br />
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Ruler Sihamoni's determination was supported by Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly Speaker Prince Norodom Ranariddh (the new lord's sibling), both individuals from the throne gathering.<br />
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He was delegated in Phnom Penh on October 29. Conceived on Thursday 14 May 1953, in Phnom Penh, His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni is the child of His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia and of Her Majesty Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk of Cambodia. Sihamoni remains a lone ranger and has no youngsters, which implies he doesn't have an immediate successor if one somehow happened to be required.<br />
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In any case, this ought not be an issue as the King in Cambodia is chosen by the throne board.<br />
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Norodom Sihamoni communicates in Khmer, French, Czech, English and Russian. He is the first Czech talking ruler after Ferdinand I of Austria.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Education Background </span><br />
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1959-1962: Primary educating at the Norodom school and after that at the Descartes secondary school in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)<br />
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1962-1967: Primary and Secondary educating at Prague's secondary school (Czechoslovakia)<br />
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1967-1971: Dance, music and theater courses at the National Conservatory of Prague<br />
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1970: High school declaration - Prague (with "great" imprints)<br />
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1971: First prize course of established move of the National Conservatory of Prague<br />
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1971-1975: Higher move, music and theater courses, Academy of Musical Art of Prague<br />
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1975: Graduated from the Academy of Musical Art of Prague<br />
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1975: Author of a postulation on the origination and organization of aesthetic schools in Cambodia<br />
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1975-1976: Higher investigations of Cinematography in the D.P.R. of Korea<br />
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1976-1979: Prisoner of the Khmer Rouge alongside his guardians and his more youthful sibling, H.R.H Prince Norodom NarinDrapong<br />
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1979-1980: Served his dad in a state of banishment abroad as his Private Secretary<br />
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1981-2000: Professor of established move and aesthetic instructional method at the Marius Petipa studio, the Gabriel Faure center and the W.A. Mozart studio of the city of Paris<br />
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1984-1988: President of the Khmer move relationship in France and chief general and aesthetic executive of the expressive dance bunch "Deva"<br />
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1988-1993: Director general and aesthetic chief of the Khmer cinematographic partnership "Khemara Pictures". H.M. Norodom Sihamoni, then Prince, has delivered two manifestations (Ballet-Films): Dream and the 4 Elements<br />
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1992-1993: Chosen collectively by the individuals from the Supreme National Council of Cambodia to be perpetual illustrative of Cambodia to the United Nations<br />
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1993-2004: Ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia to Unesco<br />
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2004: Member of the High Council of French-Speaking Countries (Francophonie)<br />
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first Feb 1994: Elevated by H.M. the King to the rank of Sdech Krom Khun (Great Prince)<br />
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17 Oct 2003: Appointed high privy Councilor to His Majesty the King<br />
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31 Aug 2004: Elevated by H.M the King to the Rank of SAMDECH PREAH BAROMNEATH<br />
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14 Oct 2004: Elected collectively by the individuals from the throne committee as King of Cambodia to succeed his august father who has chosen to resign<br />
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Dialects: Khmer, familiar with French and Czech, great English and Russian<br />
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<b>Decorations:</b><br />
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Amazing cross of the Royal request of Cambodia<br />
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Amazing cross of the Royal request of Monisaraphon (Cambodia)<br />
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Great officer of the army d'honneur (France)<br />
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Silver decoration of the city of Paris (France)

About Cambodia Khmer King

Khmer King His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni is the child of His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, previous King of Cambodia and of Her Majesty Q...

Khmer history

12:07 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Khmer History</span><br />
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The number of inhabitants in Cambodia today is around 10 million. Around 90-95 percent of the general population are Khmer ethnic. The remaining 5-10 percent incorporate Chinese-Khmers, Khmer Islam or Chams, ethnic slope tribe individuals, known as the Khmer Loeu, and Vietnamese. Around 10 percent of the populace lives in Phnom Penh, the capital, making Cambodia to a great extent a nation of provincial tenants, agriculturists and artisans.<br />
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The ethnic gatherings that constitute Cambodian culture have various monetary and demographic commonalties-for instance. Chinese dealers lived predominantly in urban focuses and play mediators in numerous monetary cycles, yet they additionally protect contrasts in their social and social organizations. They were gathered for the most part in focal and in southeastern Cambodia, the real contrasts among these gatherings lie in social association, dialect, and religion.<br />
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Most of the tenants of Cambodia are settled in genuinely changeless towns close to the real waterways in the Tonle Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands area. The Khmer Loeu live in broadly scattered towns that are deserted when the developed area in the region is depleted. The forever settled Khmer and Cham towns typically situated on or close to the banks of a stream or different waterways. Cham towns for the most part are made up totally of Cham, however Khmer towns, particularly in focal and in southeastern of Cambodia, normally incorporate sizable Chinese groups.<br />
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<b>The Khmer Loeu </b><br />
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The Khmer Loeu are the non-Khmer good country tribes in Cambodia. The Khmer Loeu are discovered to be specific in the northeastern territories of Rattanakiri, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Crate. Most Khmer Loeu live in scattered impermanent towns that have just a couple of hundred occupants. These towns as a rule are administered by a gathering of neighborhood older folks or by a town headman.<br />
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The Khmer Loeu develop a wide assortment of plants, however the man harvest is dry or upland rice development by the cut and-smolder system. Chasing, angling, and assembling supplement the developed vegetable sustenances in the Khmer Loeu diet.<br />
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Houses shift from immense multi-family long houses to little single family structures. They may be constructed near the ground or on stilts. The real Khmer Loeu bunches in Cambodia are the Kuy, Phnong, Brao, Jarai, and Rade. Everything except around 160,000 Kuy lived in the northern Cambodia territories of Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, and Stoeng and in addition in nearby Thailand.<br />
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<b>The Cham</b><br />
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The Cham individuals in Cambodia slip from outcasts of the Kingdom of Champa, which one administered quite a bit of Vietnam between Gao Ha in the north and Bien Hao in the south.<br />
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The Cambodian Chams are partitioned into two gatherings, the universal and the customary base on their religious practices. The conventional gathering, which make up around 33% of the aggregate number of Chams in the nation, were found for the most part in Phnom Penh - Oudong zone and in the areas of Takeo and Kapot.<br />
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The conventional Chams were scattered all through the midsection of the nation in the regions of Battambang, Kompong Thom, Kompong Cham, and Pursat. The Chams of both gatherings ordinarily live in towns possessed just by different Chams; the towns may be along the shores of watercourses, or they may be inland. The occupants of the stream towns take part in angling and developing vegetables. They exchange fish to neighborhood Khmer for rice.<br />
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The ladies in these towns win cash by weaving. The Chams who live inland bolster themselves by different means, contingent upon the towns. A few towns spend significant time in metalworking; others raise organic product trees or vegetables. The Chams likewise regularly serve as butchers of cows for their Khmer Buddhist neighbors and are, in a few zones, viewed as adroit water wild ox and ram reproducers.<br />
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<b>The Chinese </b><br />
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The Chinese in Cambodia framed the nation es biggest ethnic minority. Sixty percent of the Chinese were urban tenants drew in for the most part in trade; the other 40 percent were rustic inhabitants acting as retailers, as purchasers and processors of rice, palm sugar, natural product, and fish, and as cash moneylenders.<br />
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It is assessed that 90 percent of the Chinese in Cambodia were in business and that 92 percent of those included in trade in Cambodia were Chinese. In rustic Cambodia, the Chinese were moneylenders, and they wielded extensive financial control over the ethnic Khmer workers through usury.<br />
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The Chinese in Cambodia spoke to five noteworthy phonetic gatherings, the biggest of which was the Teochiu (bookkeeping around 60 percent), trailed by the Cantonese (bookkeeping around 20 percent), the Hokkien (bookkeeping around 7 percent), and the Hakka and the Hainanese (every representing 4 percent). Those having a place with the sure Chinese semantic gatherings in Cambodia had a tendency to incline toward specific occupations.<br />
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The Teochiu, who make up around 90 percent of the provincial Chinese populace, ran town stores, control rustic credit and rice advertising offices, and developed vegetables. In urban zones they were regularly occupied with so much undertakings as the import-trade business, the offer of pharmaceuticals, and road hawking. The Cantonese, who were the lion's share of Chinese gatherings before Teochiu movements started in the late 1930s, live for the most part in the city. Ordinarily, the Cantonese takes part in transportation and in choking, generally as mechanics or woodworkers.<br />
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The Hokkien group was included import-trade and in saving money, and it incorporated a percentage of the countryfs wealthiest Chinese. The Hainanese began as pepper producers in Kompot Province, where they kept on ruling that business. Numerous moved to Phnom Penh , where, in the late 1960s, they allegedly had virtual syndication on the lodging and eatery business. They additionally regularly worked tailor shops. In Phnom Penh, the recently arrived Hakka were commonly society dental specialists, dealers of conventional Chinese pharmaceuticals, and shoemakers.<br />
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<b>The Vietnamese </b><br />
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The Vietnamese group is scattered all through southeastern and focal Cambodia. They were amassed in Phnom Penh, and in Kandal, Prey Veng, and Kampong Cham areas. No nearby social or religious ties exist in the middle of Cambodia and Vietnam.<br />
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The Vietnamese fall inside of the Chinese society circle, rather inside of the Indian, where the Thai and Khmer have a place. The Vietnamese contrast from the Khmer in method of dress, in family relationship association, and in numerous different courses for instance the Vietnamese are Mahayama Buddhists while the vast majority of the Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists. Despite the fact that Vietnamese lived in urban focuses, for example, Phnom Penh, a significant number lived along the lower Mekong and Bassac streams and on the shores of the Tonle Sap, where they occupied with anglin

About Cambodia Khmer history

Khmer History The number of inhabitants in Cambodia today is around 10 million. Around 90-95 percent of the general population are Khmer...

Cambodia Geography

12:05 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia Geography</span><br />
Cambodia has an area range of 181,035 square kilometers in the southwestern piece of the Indochina landmass, around 20 percent of which is utilized for farming. It lies totally inside of the tropics with its southern most focuses marginally more than 10° over the Equator. The nation capital city is Phnom Penh.<br />
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Universal fringes are imparted to Thailand and the Lao People's Democratic Republic on the West and the North, and the Social Republic of Viet Nam on the East and the Southeast. The nation is limited on the Southeast by the Gulf of Thailand. In examination with neighbors, Cambodia is a land contact nation authoritatively made out of 20 areas, three of which have generally short sea limits, 2 regions, 172 regions, and 1,547 cooperatives. The nation has a coastline of 435 km and broad mangrove stands, some of which are generally undisturbed.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia Map </span><br />
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The overwhelming components of the Cambodian scene are the extensive, for the most part found, Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the Bassac River Systems and the Mekong River, which crosses the nation from North to South. Encompassing the Central Plains which secured seventy five percent of the nation's zone are the all the more thickly forested and inadequately populated good countries, including: the Elephant Mountains and Cardamom Mountain of the southwest and western districts; the Dangrek Mountains of the North connecting of the Korat Plateau of Thailand; and Rattanakiri Plateau and Chhlong high countries on the east converging with the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.<br />
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The Tonle Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands district comprises for the most part of fields with heights by and large of under 100 meters.<br />
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As the rise expands, the territory turns out to be all the more moving and analyzed.<br />
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The Cardamom Mountains in the southwest ascent to more than 1,500 meters and is situated by and large in a northwest-southeast course. The most astounding mountain in Cambodia –Phnom Aural, at 1.771meters – is in the eastern piece of this extent.<br />
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The Elephant Range, an expansion of Cardamom Mountains, runs towards the south and the southeast and ascends to rises of somewhere around 500 and 1,000 meters. These two territory are verged on the west are slender beach front plain confronting the bay of Thailand that contains Kampong Som Bay. The Dangrek Mountains at the northern edge of Tonle Sap Basin, comprising of a precarious ledge on the southern edge of the Korat Plateau in Thailand, denote the limit in the middle of Thailand and Cambodia. The normal height of around 500 meters with the most elevated focuses coming to more than 700 meters. Between the northern piece of the Cardamom ranges and the western piece of the Dangrek, falsehoods and expansion of the Tonle Sap Basin that converges into the fields in Thailand, permitting simple gets to from the outskirt of Bangkok.<br />
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The Mekong River Cambodia's biggest stream, rules the hydrology of the nation. The stream begins in territory China, courses through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand before entering Cambodia. At Phnom Penh, with option arms, the Bassak River from the south, and the Tonle Sap River connecting with the " Great Lake " itself –Tonle Sap – frame northwest. It proceeds encourage southeastward to its lower delta in Viet Nam and toward the South China Sea.<br />
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The area of Mekong River going through Cambodia exists in the topical wet and dry zone. It has a maintained dry season amid the Northern Hemisphere winter, with around 80 percent of the yearly precipitation happening amid the southwest storm in May-October. The Mekong River normal yearly stream at Kratié of 441 km3 is evaluated as 93 percent of the aggregate Mekong keep running off release into the ocean. The release at Kratié ranges from at least 1,250m3/s to the greatest 66,700m3/s.<br />
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The part of Tonle Sap as a support of the Mekong River framework surges and the wellspring of valuable dry season streams warrants clarification. The Mekong River swells with waters amid the storm coming to a surge release of 40,000m3/s at Phnom Penh. By about mid-June, the stream of Mekong and the Bassak River encouraged by rainstorm downpours increments to a point where its outlets through the delta can't deal with the gigantic volume of water, flooding broad nearby floodplains for 4-7 months. As of right now, rather than flooding its backs, its floodwaters hold the stream of the Tonle Sap River (around 120 km long), which then has the most extreme inflow rate of 1.8m/s and enters the Grate Lake, the biggest normal lake in Southeast Asia, expanding the measure of the lake from around 2,600 km2 to 10,00 km2 and incredibly to 13,000 km2 and raising the water level by and normal 7m at the stature of the flooding. This specificity of the Tonle Sap makes it the main "stream with return " on the planet.<br />
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After the Mekong's water peak (when its downstream channels can deal with the volume of water), the stream turns around and water streams out of the engorged lake. The Great Lake then goes about as a characteristic surge maintenance bowl. At the point when the surges die down, water begins streaming out of the Great Lake, coming to a most extreme outpouring rate of 2.0m/s and, over the dry season, expand standard streams by around 16 percent, in this manner decreasing saltiness interruption in the lower Mekong Delta in Viet Nam. When the lake water level drops to its base surface size, a band 20-30 km wide of immerse backwoods is left dry with stores of another layer of silt. This backwoods, which is of extraordinary centrality for fish, is presently enormously diminished in size through salvation and deforestation. The range surge around Phnom Penh and down to the Vietnamese outskirt is around

About Cambodia Cambodia Geography

Cambodia Geography Cambodia has an area range of 181,035 square kilometers in the southwestern piece of the Indochina landmass, around 20 p...

Cambodian History

12:00 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodian history</span><br />
Nobody knows for certain to what extent individuals have lived in what is presently Cambodia, as investigations of its ancient times are undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a collapse northwestern Cambodia recommends that individuals utilizing stone instruments lived as a part of the cavern as right on time as 4000 bc, and rice has been developed on Cambodian soil since well before the first century promotion. The primary Cambodians likely arrived much sooner than both of these dates. They most likely relocated from the north, albeit nothing is thought about their dialect or their lifestyle.<br />
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By the start of the first century promotion, Chinese merchants started to report the presence of inland and waterfront kingdoms in Cambodia. These kingdoms as of now owed much to Indian society, which gave letter sets, artistic expressions, design styles, religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and a stratified class framework. Nearby convictions that focused on the significance of familial spirits existed together with the Indian religions and stay effective today.<br />
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Cambodia's modem-day society has its roots in the first to sixth hundreds of years in a state alluded to as Funan, known as the most seasoned Indianized state in Southeast Asia. It is from this period that advanced Cambodia's dialect, a portion of the Mon-Khmer family, which contains components of Sanskrit, its antiquated religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. History specialists have noted, for instance, that Cambodians can be recognized from their neighbors by their attire - checkered scarves known as Kramas are worn rather than straw caps.<br />
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Funan offered path to the Angkor Empire with the ascent to force of King Jayavarman II in 802. The accompanying 600 years saw intense Khmer lords rule quite a bit of present day Southeast Asia, from the outskirts of Myanmar east toward the South China Sea and north to Laos. It was amid this period that Khmer lords constructed the most broad convergence of religious sanctuaries on the planet - the Angkor sanctuary complex. The best of Angkor's rulers, Jayavarman II, Indravarman I, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII, additionally conceived a perfect work of art of antiquated building: an advanced watering system framework that incorporates barays (massive man-made lakes) and trenches that guaranteed upwards of three rice trims a year. Some portion of this framework is still being used today.<br />
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The Khmer Kingdom (Funan)<br />
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Early Chinese scholars alluded to a kingdom in Cambodia that they called Funan. Current archeological discoveries give confirmation of a business society fixated on the Mekong Delta that prospered from the first century to the sixth century. Among these discoveries are unearthings of a port city from the first century, situated in the area of Oc-Eo in what is currently southern Vietnam. Served by a system of trenches, the city was an essential exchange join in the middle of India and China. Progressing unearthings in southern Cambodia have uncovered the presence of another vital city close to the present-day town of Angkor Borei.<br />
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A gathering of inland kingdoms, referred to on the whole to the Chinese as Zhenla, prospered in the sixth and seventh hundreds of years from southern Cambodia to southern Laos. The principal stone engravings in the Khmer dialect and the first block and stone Hindu sanctuaries in Cambodia date from the Zhenla period.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Angkor Era </span><br />
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Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom The titan faces cut on the Bayon sanctuary at the Angkor Thum complex in northwestern Cambodia speak to both the Buddha and King Jayavarman VII (ruled around 1130-1219). In spite of the fact that a Buddhist sanctuary, Angkor Thum was designed according to the considerable Hindu sanctuary complex of Angkor Wat.<br />
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In the mid ninth century a Khmer (ethnic Cambodian) ruler came back to Cambodia from abroad. He most likely touched base from adjacent Java or Sumatra, where he might have been held prisoner by island rulers who had declared control over segments of the Southeast Asian territory.<br />
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In a progression of services at diverse destinations, the sovereign pronounced himself leader of another autonomous kingdom, which bound together a few neighborhood realms. His kingdom in the long run came to be focused close present-day Siemreab in northwestern Cambodia. The ruler, referred to his successors as Jayavarman II, introduced a clique regarding the Hindu god Shiva as a devaraja (Sanskrit term signifying "god-lord"). The faction, which legitimized the lord's guideline by connecting him with Shiva, held on at the Cambodian court for more than two hundred years.<br />
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Between the mid ninth century and the mid fifteenth century, 26 rulers managed progressively over the Khmer kingdom (known as Angkor, the advanced name for its capital city).<br />
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Jayavarman<br />
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The successors of Jayavarman II manufactured the colossal sanctuaries for which Angkor is well known.<br />
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Antiquarians have dated more than a thousand sanctuary locales and over a thousand stone engravings (the greater part of them on sanctuary dividers) to this period.<br />
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Remarkable among the Khmer manufacturer lords were Suyavarman II, who constructed the sanctuary known as Angkor Wat in the mid-twelfth century, and Jayavarman VII, who fabricated the Bayon sanctuary at Angkor Thum and a few other extensive Buddhist sanctuaries a large portion of a century later. Jayavarman VII, an intense Buddhist, additionally manufactured doctor's facilities and rest houses along the streets that confused the kingdom. The majority of the rulers, be that as it may, appear to have been more worried with showing and expanding their energy than with the welfare of their subjects.<br />
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Old City of Angkor This guide demonstrates the format of the old city of Angkor, capital of the Cambodian Khmer kingdom from the ninth century to the fifteenth century. The city's tremendous stone sanctuaries were both city focuses and religious images of the Hindu universe. History specialists trust that Angkor's system of waterways and barays (supplies) were utilized for watering system.<br />
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At its most noteworthy degree, in the twelfth century, the Khmer kingdom included (notwithstanding show day Cambodia) parts of present-day Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar (some time ago Burma), and the Malay Peninsula. Thailand Laos still contain Khmer remains and engravings. The lords at Angkor got tribute from littler kingdoms toward the north, east, and west, and led exchange with China. The capital city was the focal point of a noteworthy system of stores and trenches, which students of history hypothesize supplied water for watering system. Numerous history specialists trust that the bottomless harvests made conceivable by watering system bolstered an expansive populace whose work could be attracted on to build the rulers' sanctuaries and to battle their wars. The enormous sanctuaries, broad streets and waterworks, and sure engravings give a hallucination of security that is undermined by the way that numerous Khmer lords picked up the throne by vanquishing their forerunners. Engravings show that the kingdom habitually experienced uprisings and remote intrusions.<br />
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Students of history have not possessed the capacity to completely clarify the decrease of the Khmer kingdom in the thirteenth and fourteenth hundreds of years. On the other hand, it was presumably connected with the ascent of capable Thai kingdoms that had once paid tribute to Angkor, and to populace misfortunes taking after a progression of wars with these kingdoms. Another variable may have been the presentation of Theravada Buddhism, which taught that anybody could accomplish edification through worthy behavior and reflection. These populist thoughts undermined the various leveled structure of Cambodian culture and the force of conspicuous Hindu families. After a Thai intrusion in 1431, what stayed of the Cambodian first class moved southeastward to the region of Phnom Penh.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia Dark Age </span><br />
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This guide of Southeast Asia in the mid-sixteenth century demonstrates the significant focuses of force in the area before the entry of Europeans. Amid this period, these kingdoms were always at war. Inevitably the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (advanced Thailand) extended toward the north and east, engrossing a lot of Lan Na and Lan Xang (current Laos). Dai Viet (advanced Vietnam) extended toward the south, assuming control over the remaining region of the Kingdom of Champa and the southern tip of the Kingdom of Lovek (cutting edge Cambodia). Toungoo developed into advanced Myanmar.<br />
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The four centuries of Cambodian history taking after the relinquishment of Angkor are inadequately recorded, and in this manner antiquarians know minimal about them past the uncovered blueprints. Cambodia held its dialect and its social personality in spite of regular attacks by the effective Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya and invasions by Vietnamese strengths. In reality, for a lot of this period, Cambodia was a moderately prosperous exchanging kingdom with its capital at Lovek, close present-day Phnom Penh. European guests composed of the Buddhist devotion of the tenants of the Kingdom of Lovek. Amid this period, Cambodians made the nation's most vital work of writing, the Reamker (in light of the Indian myth of the Ramayana).<br />
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In the late eighteenth century, a common war in Vietnam and jumble taking after a Burmese intrusion of Ayutthaya overflowed into Cambodia and crushed the territory. In the mid nineteenth century, recently settled lines in Vietnam and Thailand sought control over the Cambodian court. The fighting that resulted, starting in the l830s, verged on crushing Cambodia.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">French Rule </span><br />
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Phnom Penh, as arranged by the French, came to take after a town in commonplace France. By the second 50% of the nineteenth century, France had started to extend its pioneer entrance of Indochina (the landmass in the middle of India and China). In 1863 France acknowledged the Cambodian lord's welcome to force a protectorate over his seriously debilitated kingdom, stopping the nation's dismantling by Thailand and Vietnam. For the following 90 years, France ruled Cambodia. In principle, French organization was roundabout, yet practically speaking the expression of French authorities was last on every real subject including the choice of Cambodia's rulers. The French left Cambodian foundations, including the government, set up, and bit by bit added to a Cambodian common administration, sorted out along French lines. The French organization ignored instruction however manufactured streets, port offices, and other open works. Phnom Penh, as arranged by the French, came to look like a town in commonplace France.

About Cambodia Cambodian History

Cambodian history Nobody knows for certain to what extent individuals have lived in what is presently Cambodia, as investigations of its an...

Cambodia weather & climate

5:44 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cambodia weather & climate</b></span><br />
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Practically speaking, Cambodia has four seasons: 1) December-February, cool and dry; 2) March-May, hot<br />
and dry, 3) June-August, hot and rainy; 4) September-November, cool and diminishing rain. As we go to print in May the hot season has well begun and the monsoon rains are due to start in a month or so. Currently days are mostly rainless and quite warm with mid-day temperatures averaging in the in the mid/upper-30s.<br />
The monsoon rains, when they begin, generally follow a fairly regular pattern with clear mornings and mid-days, and 1-3 hour rains in the mid-late afternoon, making them fairly easy to plan your day around. The monsoon rains ordinarily trickle off by the end of October or beginning of November.<br />
Though cool-dry season is considered the most comfortable time of year, the monsoon season has its advantages for the temple visitor. The countryside and temples of Angkor are particularly picturesque with their moats and pools full, the vegetation is green and lush. The colors in the wet temple stone stands much brighter and more apparent when wet.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>cambodia fact file</b></span><br />
Country Name: The King-dom of Cambodia Country Name in Khmer language: Kampuchea<br />
Motto: Nation - Religion - King<br />
Capital City: Phnom Penh<br />
Language: Khmer (Cambodian). Some English and<br />
French spoken.<br />
Population of Cambodia: 14.86 million (2012 est.)<br />
Important/Major Cities: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap,<br />
Sihanoukville, Battambang, Kampong Cham<br />
Major Rivers/Lakes: Tonle Sap River, Mekong River,<br />
Bassac River, Tonle Sap Lake<br />
Ethnic Groups: Khmer, ethnic-Chinese, Cham, ethnic-<br />
Vietnamese, several ethnic minorities (hill tribes) in the<br />
northeast.<br />
Bordering Countries: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam<br />
Intl Airports: Phnom Penh (PHN), Siem Reap (REP)<br />
Religion: Theravada Buddhism, Islam (Cham,) Animism<br />
Land Area of Cambodia: 181,035 km2<br />
Land Area of Siem Reap: 10,299 km2<br />
Currency: Riel (US$1=~4000R)<br />
Voltage: 220v/50Hz<br />
Time: GMT +7 hours<br />
Country Calling Code: 855<br />
Internet TLD: .kh

About Cambodia General Information Cambodia weather & climate

Cambodia weather & climate Practically speaking, Cambodia has four seasons: 1) December-February, cool and dry; 2) March-May, hot an...

Phnom Penh Capital of Cambodia

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<span style="font-size: large;">Phnom Penh City</span></div>
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The capital of the <st1:placetype w:st="on">Kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:placename>, <st1:city w:st="on">Phnom Penh</st1:city>, is located at the confluence of three rivers - the Mekong, the Bassac and <st1:place w:st="on">Tonle Sap</st1:place>.  The city is divided into three sections - the north, an attractive residential area; the south or the French part of the city with its ministries, banks and colonial houses; and the centre or the heart with its narrow lanes, markets, foods stalls and shops.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the past four years, the city has undergone tremendous changes - businesses are springing up constantly and tourism is once again booming.  <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> has one of the most liberal investment laws to further boost managed to retain its charm and character - cyclos that weave through traffic with ease, broad boulevards, old colonial buildings, parks and green spaces that reminds one of the country's French heritage, and above all its people who always have a smile for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A stone's throw away from the <st1:place w:st="on">Tonle Sap</st1:place> is the royal Palace built on the site of the Banteay Kev, a citadel built in 1813. The Palace grounds contain several buildings: the Throne Room of Prasat Tevea Vinichhay which is used for the coronation of kings, official receptions and traditional ceremonies; the Chan Chhaya Pavilion which is a venue for dance performances; the king's official residence called the Khemarin; the Napoleon Pavilion and the spectacular Silver Pagoda. This pagoda is worth exploring.  It owes its name to the 5,000 silver tiles weighing 1kg each which cover the entire floor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The emerald Buddha sits on a pedestal high atop the dias.  In front of the dias stands a life-size Buddha made of solid gold and weighs 75kg. It is decked with precious gems including diamonds, the largest of which is 25 carats.  Also on display at the sides are the coronation apparel and numerous miniature Buddha in gold and silver.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The walls surrounding the compound which is the oldest part of the palace, are covered with frescos depicting scenes from the Khmer version of the Ramayana.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT</b></div>
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The monument was built in 1958 to symbolise the independence that <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> gained from <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region> in 1953. The French fully abandonned their interests in Indochina following defeat by the Vietnamese at the battle of <st1:place w:st="on">Dien Bien Phu</st1:place> in May 1954. <st1:city w:st="on">Independence</st1:city> is marked in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> on the 9th November. The monument has a unique and peculiar style and doubles as a memorial to Cambodian patriots who died for their country.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<st1:place w:st="on"><b><st1:placename w:st="on">NATIONAL</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">MUSEUM</st1:placetype></b></st1:place></div>
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The NATIONAL MUSEUM of Cambodia is housed in a graceful terracotta structure of traditional design (built 1917-20) just north of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Royal</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Palace</st1:placetype></st1:place>. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 to 11 am and from 2 to 5 pm; entry is $3. Photography is prohibited inside. The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Fine Arts</st1:placename></st1:place> (École des Beaux-arts) has its headquarters in a structure behind the main building.</div>
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<b><a href="http://cambodiasmarttravel.blogspot.com/2014/05/wat-phnom-phnom-penh_6.html" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">WAT PHNOM</a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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You may also want to check out WAT PHNOM which sits on a tree covered hill about 30m high in the northeast of the city.  It is said that the first pagoda was built in 1373 to house four statues of the Buddha deposited here by the <st1:place w:st="on">Mekong</st1:place> river. It was discovered by a woman named Penh.  Thus, the name <st1:city w:st="on">Phnom Penh</st1:city>, the hill of Penh. The people believe that this temple is powerful in that anyone who makes a wish will have it granted. It is not surprising to see many people coming here to pray for protection or healing.  Many bring lotus flowers as offerings for prayers answered.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the bottom of the hill is a small zoo, but its most endearing residents, the monkeys, live free in the trees.  See more...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<st1:place w:st="on"><b><st1:placename w:st="on">TUOL</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">SLENG</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">MUSEUM</st1:placetype></b></st1:place></div>
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In 1975,<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Tuol</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Svay</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Prey</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">High School</st1:placetype></st1:place> was taken over by Pol Pot's security force and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21) It soon became the largest such centre of detention and torture in the country. Over 17,000 people held at S-21 were taken to the extermination camp at Choeung Ek to be executed; detainees who die during torture were buried in mass graves in the prison grounds. See more...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>CHEUNG EK KILLING FIELD</b></div>
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Between 1975 and 1978,aabout 17,000 men, women, children and infants (including nine westerners), detained and tortured at S-21 prison (now <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Tuol</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Sleng</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place>), were transported to the extermination to death to avoid wasting precious bullets. See more...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>NEW CENTRAL MARKET</b></div>
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<st1:place w:st="on">Central MarketA</st1:place> visit to the markets and market halls is a must as they give an opportunity to be acquainted with the country's local produce and also to buy textiles, antiques, gold and silver jewellery.</div>
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The four wings of the yellow coloured Central Market are teeming with numerous stalls selling gold and silver jewellery, antique coins, clothing, clocks, flowers, food, fabrics, shoes and luggage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>TUOL TOM PONG MARKET</b></div>
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For some good paintings or if you prefer antiques, head fro the Tuol Tom Poong Market also known as the Russian Market.  A word of caution though: you need to sharpen your bargaining skills as the prices here can be outrageously high.</div>

About Cambodia Phnom Penh Capital of Cambodia

Phnom Penh City The capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia , Phnom Penh , is located at the confluence of three rivers - the Mekong, the ...

Cambodian People

7:33 AM 0

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The population of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> today is about 10 million. About 90-95 percent of the people are Khmer ethnic. The remaining 5-10 percent include Chinese-Khmers, Khmer Islam or Chams, ethnic hill-tribe people, known as the Khmer Loeu, and Vietnamese. About 10 percent of the population lives in <st1:city w:st="on">Phnom Penh</st1:city>, the capital, making <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> largely a country of rural dwellers, farmers and artisans.<br /></div>
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The ethnic groups that constitute Cambodian society possess a number of economic and demographic commonalties- for example. Chinese merchants lived mainly in urban centers and play middlemen in many economic cycles, but they also preserve differences in their social and cultural institutions. They were concentrated mostly in central and in southeastern <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region>, the major differences among these groups lie in social organization, language, and religion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The majority of the inhabitants of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cambodia</st1:country-region> are settled in fairly permanent villages near the major bodies of water in the Tonle Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands region. The Khmer Loeu live in widely scattered villages that are abandoned when the cultivated land in the vicinity is exhausted. The permanently settled Khmer and Cham villages usually located on or near the banks of a river or other bodies of water. Cham villages usually are made up almost entirely of Cham, but Khmer villages, especially in central and in southeastern of Cambodia, typically include sizable Chinese communities.<o:p></o:p><br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Khmer Loeu</span></b></div>
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The Khmer Loeu are the non-Khmer highland tribes in Cambodia. The Khmer Loeu are found namely in the northeastern provinces of Rattanakiri, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Crate. Most Khmer Loeu live in scattered temporary villages that have only a few hundred inhabitants. These villages usually are governed by a council of local elders or by a village headman.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Khmer Loeu cultivate a wide variety of plants, but the man crop is dry or upland rice growth by the slash-and-burn method. Hunting, fishing, and gathering supplement the cultivated vegetable foods in the Khmer Loeu diet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Houses vary from huge multi-family long houses to small single family structures. They may be built close to the ground or on stilts. The major Khmer Loeu groups in Cambodia are the Kuy, Phnong, Brao, Jarai, and Rade. All but about 160,000 Kuy lived in the northern Cambodia provinces of Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, and Stoeng as well as in adjacent Thailand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Cham</span></b></div>
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The Cham people in Cambodia descend from refugees of the Kingdom of Champa, which one ruled much of Vietnam between Gao Ha in the north and Bien Hao in the south.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Cambodian Chams are divided into two groups, the orthodox and the traditional- base on their religious practices. The orthodox group, which make up about one-third of the total number of Chams in the country, were located mainly in Phnom Penh - Oudong area and in the provinces of Takeo and Kapot.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The traditional Chams were scattered throughout the midsection of the country in the provinces of Battambang, Kompong Thom, Kompong Cham, and Pursat. The Chams of both groups typically live in villages inhabited only by other Chams; the villages may be along the shores of watercourses, or they may be inland. The inhabitants of the river villages engage in fishing and growing vegetables. They trade fish to local Khmer for rice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The women in these villages earn money by weaving. The Chams who live inland support themselves by various means, depending on the villages. Some villages specialize in metalworking; others raise fruit trees or vegetables. The Chams also often serve as butchers of cattle for their Khmer Buddhist neighbors and are, in some areas, regarded as skillful water buffalo and ram breeders.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Chinese</span></b></div>
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The Chinese in Cambodia formed the country es largest ethnic minority. Sixty percent of the Chinese were urban dwellers engaged mainly in commerce; the other 40 percent were rural residents working as shopkeepers, as buyers and processors of rice, palm sugar, fruit, and fish, and as money lenders.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is estimated that 90 percent of the Chinese in Cambodia were in commerce and that 92 percent of those involved in commerce in Cambodia were Chinese. In rural Cambodia, the Chinese were moneylenders, and they wielded considerable economic power over the ethnic Khmer peasants through usury.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Chinese in Cambodia represented five major linguistic groups, the largest of which was the Teochiu (accounting about 60 percent), followed by the Cantonese (accounting about 20 percent), the Hokkien (accounting about 7 percent), and the Hakka and the Hainanese (each accounting for 4 percent). Those belonging to the certain Chinese linguistic groups in Cambodia tended to gravitate to certain occupations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Teochiu, who make up about 90 percent of the rural Chinese population, ran village stores, control rural credit and rice marketing facilities, and grew vegetables. In urban areas they were often engaged in such enterprises as the import-export business, the sale of pharmaceuticals, and street peddling. The Cantonese, who were the majority of Chinese groups before Teochiu migrations began in the late 1930s, live mainly in the city. Typically, the Cantonese engages in transportation and in constriction, for the most part as mechanics or carpenters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Hokkien community was involved import-export and in banking, and it included some of the countryfs richest Chinese. The Hainanese started out as pepper growers in Kompot Province, where they continued to dominate that business. Many moved to Phnom Penh , where, in the late 1960s, they reportedly had virtual monopoly on the hotel and restaurant business. They also often operated tailor shops. In Phnom Penh, the newly arrived Hakka were typically folk dentists, sellers of traditional Chinese medicines, and shoemakers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Vietnamese</span></b></div>
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The Vietnamese community is scattered throughout southeastern and central Cambodia. They were concentrated in Phnom Penh, and in Kandal, Prey Veng, and Kampong Cham provinces. No close cultural or religious ties exist between Cambodia and Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Vietnamese fall within the Chinese culture sphere, rather within the Indian, where the Thai and Khmer belong. The Vietnamese differ from the Khmer in mode of dress, in kinship organization, and in many other ways- for example the Vietnamese are Mahayama Buddhists while most of the Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists. Although Vietnamese lived in urban centers such as Phnom Penh, a substantial number lived along the lower Mekong and Bassac rivers as well as on the shores of the Tonle Sap, where they engaged in fishing.</div>

About Cambodia Cambodian People

The population of Cambodia today is about 10 million. About 90-95 percent of the people are Khmer ethnic. The remaining 5-10 percent incl...

Cambodia Nature

3:16 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia Nature</span><br />
About one quarter of Cambodia is made up of protected areas and national parks. Four national parks regularly draw visitors for their combination of natural attractions and activities: vast Virachey, in the far northeast, spanning Ratanakiri and Stung Treng provinces; Kirirom, just off the road to Sihanoukville, famous for its pine forests; Ream, a maritime park near Sihanoukville, with idyllic tropical beaches; and beautiful Bokor, a former French hill station near Kampot. The Cardamom Mountain range now includes the biggest protected area in Cambodia and has a lot of potential for ecotourism activities. Some environmentalists contend that Cambodia’s may have a biodiversity of species as rich as any in Asia. There has been little study of the country's flora and fauna due to the long years of conflict.<br />
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The country’s large mammals include tigers, leopards, bears, elephants, wild cows and deer, although precise numbers are uncertain.<br />
The many bird species in the country include cormorants, cranes, kingfishers and pelicans.<br />
Keen birders can see a number of very rare water birds in Cambodia. Popular places include the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary, which is home to rare water birds such as lesser and greater adjutants, milky storks and spot-billed pelicans, as well as Ang Trapeng Thmor in Banteay Meanchey province, home to the sarus crane.<br />
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The Mekong is second only to the Amazon in  fish biodiversity and provides a home for one of the world's largest freshwater fish, the three metre long giant catfish. The rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin also inhabits stretches of the Mekong north of Kratie.<br />
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The Royal Government of Cambodia strongly supports the growth of the tourism sector in Cambodia. The government operates an open skies policy to encourage visitors to the kingdom. Tourism investment is positively encouraged and not just in the popular centres of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, but throughout the country. With a large network of national parks, the more remote<br />
areas of Cambodia have potential for ecotourism which the government plans to encourage in cooperation with international conservation organizations.<br />
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Cambodia also has a rich cultural heritage which draws many people to the country. Ancient temples dot the landscape and have the potential to encourage visitors to book longer stays. Living culture in the form of Cambodian dance, music and arts is also staging a strong comeback which the government supports.<br />
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Cambodia hosts a wide spectrum of NGOs working with the Cambodian government to alleviate poverty. The Cambodian government supports pro-poor tourism which seeks to channel the benefits of tourism to some of the most disenfranchised communities in the kingdom.<br />
Sustainable tourism can bring many benefits to the people of Cambodia and the government fully supports responsible tourism initiatives throughout the country.<br />
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About Cambodia Tourism site Cambodia Nature

Cambodia Nature About one quarter of Cambodia is made up of protected areas and national parks. Four national parks regularly draw visitors...

Cambodian People and Culture

2:50 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodian People and Culture</span><br />
The last census in Cambodia in 1998 put the population at 11.8 million people. However, the today's figure is likely to be about 15 million. About 40% of the population is under the age of 15.The majority of people in Cambodia are ethnic Khmer and have inhabited this area since the beginning of recorded history. There are also significant populations of ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese in Cambodia, some who have been here for several generations. There is also a large population of Cham Muslims in the provinces around Phnom Penh<br />
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Cambodia is also home to a diverse population of chunchiets (ethnolinguistic minorities) who traditionally live in the country’s remote mountainous regions in the northeast. Today, there are about sixty to seventy thousand minority people, including the Kreung and Jarai in Ratanakiri and the Pnong in Mondulk.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Language</span><br />
The official language of Cambodia is Khmer (Cambodian), spoken by the vast majority of the population. Derived from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, written Khmer can be traced back to the 6th century when the first inscriptions appeared on temples.<br />
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English is the most popular international language and is widely spoken in urban centres. French was the language of choice in the 1950s and 1960s and many older Cambodians still speak some. Chinese and Vietnamese are quite widely understood among those populations, as well as some Lao or Thai<br />
in areas near the Lao and Thai borders.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Religion</span><br />
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Theravada Buddhism is the leading religion in Cambodia and defines the lives of many Khmers. Buddhism and other religions suffered greatly during the Khmer Rouge period, but in the past decade there has been a dramatic resurgence in religious worship with Buddhism once again leading the way. Hinduism flourished alongside Buddhism from the 1st century AD until the 14th century and some cultural elements of this ancient Indian religion are still incorporated into important ceremonies involving birth, marriage and death.<br />
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There is also a significant minority of Cham and Malay people who practise Islam, as well as a very<br />
small number of Christians.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Economy</span><br />
The Cambodian economy is small compared with some of its neighbours, but it has been growing<br />
rapidly in recent years. Before the civil war, rubber was a major industry and this is once again being<br />
redeveloped. Tourism is the biggest industry in Cambodia today and the temples of Angkor are now attracting around two million visitors a year, including domestic tourists. The garment sector is another<br />
big industry. Cambodia has succeeded in carving out a niche for itself as an ethical producer with<br />
good labour conditions. Other up and coming industries in Cambodia include mineral exploitation<br />
and oil and gas exploration.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Festivals and Events</span><br />
The festivals of Cambodia follow the lunar calendar, so the dates vary from year to year.<br />
Some of the most important festivals include: Late January or early February<br />
Chinese New Year – The Chinese community celebrates its new year with dragon dances in the streets of Phnom Penh and many businesses close for a few days. This is Tet to the Vietnamese who also let loose for several days.<br />
<br />
<b>Mid-April</b><br />
Chaul Chnam – Khmer New Year is the most important festival in the Cambodian calendar, like Christmas, New Year and birthdays all rolled into one. Held in mid-April, this three days celebration often extends to a week. Cambodians make offerings at WATS, clean their homes and plaster each other in water and talc throughout the country.<br />
<br />
<b>Early-May</b><br />
Chat Preah Nengkal – The Royal Ploughing ceremony is a ritual agricultural festival in which the royal oxen determine whether it will be a good harvest or a bad one. It takes place in front of the National Museum in Phnom Penh.<br />
<br />
<b>Late-May, early-June</b><br />
Visakha Puja – This celebrates Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinibbana (passing in<br />
nirvana). The festival falls on the eighth day of the fourth moon and is best seen at Angkor Wat, where there is a candle-lit processions of monks.<br />
<br />
<b>Mid-September or early October</b><br />
P’chum Ben – This festival is a kind of All Souls’ Day, when respects are paid to dead relatives through offerings made at wats.<br />
<br />
<b>Late-October or early-November</b><br />
Bon Om Tuk – This festival commemorates Jayavarman VII's victory over the Chams in 1177 and the reversal of the Tonle Sap river. This is one of the most important festivals in the Khmer calendar and a lively time to be in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap.<br />
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<br /></div>

About Cambodia Cambodian People and Culture

Cambodian People and Culture The last census in Cambodia in 1998 put the population at 11.8 million people. However, the today's figure...

Cambodia Profile

2:36 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Location & Geography</span><br />
Cambodia is located in the heart of Southeast Asia. The country shares borders to the north<br />
and west with Thailand, to the northeast with Laos and to the east with Vietnam. The south<br />
of the country has a long and beautiful coastline on the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia covers an area of 181,035 sq km, which is about half the size of Germany. Water is a dominant feature of the Cambodian landscape and the mighty Mekong River cuts through the country from north to south. Cambodia is also<br />
home to the Tonle Sap (Great Lake), Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake and a rich source of fish.<br />
There are three main mountainous regions in the country. The Elephant and Cardamom<br />
Mountains are in the southwest, the Dangkrek Mountains form the northern border with<br />
Thailand, and the Eastern Highlands rise towards the Laotian and Vietnamese borders.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Climate</span><br />
Some Cambodians joke that the country has three seasons: hot, hotter and hottest. There is some<br />
truth to this, as Cambodia does have three main seasons: the wet season which usually starts in<br />
May or June and continues until September or October; the windy season which starts in November<br />
and continues through January; and the dry hot season which starts in February and lasts until<br />
May. Even during the wet season, it rarely rains all day. Most downpours come in the afternoon and,<br />
even then, only sporadically.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia History</span><br />
The history of Cambodia has been profoundly influenced by its location midway between the two<br />
great cultures of India and China. Indian traders brought their great religions, Hinduism and<br />
Buddhism, their written languages, Sanskrit and Pali, and their sculpture and arts. The Chinese<br />
brought their scholars and diplomats who were the first to record the emerging kingdoms of the<br />
Funan period. Eventually these disparate kingdoms were united under the reign of Jayavarman II and Cambodia entered the golden age of Angkor. Jayavarman II proclaimed himself a devaraja (God king), the earthly representative of Shiva, in 802 and set about consolidating his kingdom. The capital settled at Angkor and from the 9th to the 13th centuries, the Khmer kings created the largest empire mainland Southeast Asia has ever seen.<br />
<br />
At its height it stretched from the borders of modern-day Burma in the west to the Mekong Delta in the east, from modern day Laos in the north to what is southern Thailand today. By the reign of Jayavarman VII in the late-12th century, Angkor had a population of almost one million when London was a city of just<br />
40,000. However, disaster was lurking in the wings. Overpopulation, deforestation and siltation conspired to choke the vast hydraulic system that helped fuel and feed the empire.<br />
Religious rivalry and dynastic intrigue sparked small-scale civil wars and ascendant neighbours began to conquer the outposts.<br />
<br />
Siam sacked Angkor several times, but in 1431 there was to be no recovery. The Khmer kings decided to relocate the capital to the area around Phnom Penh, strategically safer and closer to the old trade routes that had created the empire. The period from the 15th to 19th centuries was a time of weakness and insecurity for Cambodia, as neighboring Thailand and Vietnam grew more powerful. Cambodia was in danger of disappearing from the map until the French entered in 1863 and made the country a protectorate. The French did little to develop Cambodia's infrastructure during their 90 years of rule, but they did help the country to survive as a recognized entity and negotiated the successful return of Angkor and the western provinces from Siam (now Thailand).<br />
Cambodia achieved independence in 1953 and enjoyed a long period of prosperity and stability. However, as the conflict in Vietnam began to escalate, Cambodia found itself sucked into the vortex. Prince Sihanouk was overthrown in a coup in March 1970 and Lon Nol moved closer to the USA. Full scale civil war erupted: Prince Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge on one side and Lon Nol and the Americans on the other. It was a bloody conflict with thousands killed on both sides, including many<br />
victims of US bombing. Eventually the Khmer Rouge came to power on 17 April 1975 and embarked on one of the most radical revolutions the world has ever seen. Cities were evacuated, money abolished and the clocks turned back to Year Zero in a complete break from the past.<br />
<br />
Cambodia became a prison without walls. By the time of their overthrow in January 1979, millions of<br />
Cambodians were dead through execution, starvation, disease and overwork.<br />
The Cambodian resistance and their Vietnamese allies took Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979 and set<br />
about rebuilding the shattered country. It was an almost impossible task thanks to a desperate<br />
famine and the geopolitics of the Cold War. A new phase of civil war rumbled on until 1991, when the<br />
United Nations successfully negotiated a peace agreement with all sides. Free elections were held<br />
in 1993 which saw the Cambodian People's Party and Funcinpec form a coalition which has continued<br />
in one form or another until today. Cambodia became a member of ASEAN in 1999 and joined the WTO in 2005.<br />
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<br /></div>

About Cambodia Cambodia Profile

Location & Geography Cambodia is located in the heart of Southeast Asia. The country shares borders to the north and west with Thailan...

Mekong Tourism

2:17 AM 0

<span style="font-size: large;">About the Mekong Tourism Development</span><br />
<br />
The Mekong Tourism Development Project [MTDP] is being implemented in three countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region [GMS] – Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. This region is the fastest growing tourism destination in the world. Every year, millions of tourists visit the GMS with a wide variety of motivations and preferred styles of travel. Among these, there are thousands of independent<br />
travellers who are interested to contribute to local economies in socially responsible ways,<br />
so that their dollars benefit local people. These types of tourists are increasingly concerned about the effects tourism has on the environment and local way of life. The widening consumer niche market they represent is a critical demand factor that encourages investment in more sustainable forms of travel and<br />
development.<br />
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The current supply of specialised travel literature for the GMS does not meet the growing demand for information on socially responsible travel. The MTDP aims to fill this gap by providing useful information sources for responsible travellers in a guide book specially designed for this market. The Guide<br />
to Responsible Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is the first step by MTDP to serve both<br />
responsible tourism operators in the GMS and responsible travellers.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What is ‘Responsible Tourism’?</span><br />
Responsible travel is a form of tourism that supports cultural and environmental protection, equitable benefit sharing and the alleviation of poverty.<br />
<br />
Specifically, responsible tourism, according to the Centre for Responsible Tourism (www.icrtourism.org):<br />
• minimizes negative economic, environmental and social impacts<br />
• generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the wellbeing of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry<br />
• involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances<br />
• makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world’s biodiversity<br />
• provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues<br />
• provides access for physically challenged people; and<br />
• is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.<br />
<br />
Foreword by the Editor<br />
Tourism is a soft target. Everyone loves to criticize it. But we’re all tourists. Even die-hard critics of tourism are themselves tourists. So the question is: how can we travel the right way – the responsible way?<br />
<br />
There will never be a definitive answer because the subject is wholly subjective.<br />
Nevertheless, it’s better to try and travel responsibly than walk away saying there are too many snags and caveats.<br />
<br />
The Responsible Guide to Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is therefore, we hope, the right book at the right time. Travel to the Greater Mekong Sub region, particularly, Cambodia, Laos and<br />
Vietnam, is growing at over 20% a year and is likely to continue doing so in the years ahead.<br />
But responsible tourism is not about destinations making money at any cost to the environment, heritage, dignity and well-being.<br />
<br />
If responsible tourism is done well, both the host and the visitor benefit by exchanges of understanding and respect – as much as an exchange of currency. So the objective of this book is to show tourists how to meaningfully participate in responsible tourism activities by showing them where and how to do it. We have identified 88 responsible tourism activities that we think tourists should visit. In each write-up we have tried to describe “the experience” (from the tourist’s point of view) and explain “how it helps” (from the host’s point of view).<br />
Our objectives were quite modest. We believed that raising some awareness of worthy activities was better than trying to write the definitive guide with strict rating systems and iron-clad rules for inclusion or exclusion.<br />
We preferred common sense. If there are activities out there we failed to include, we apologize. To make amends we would like to hear about them for consideration in future editions. And if some of the activities included don’t, in your opinion, meet the criteria of responsible tourism, please tell us why and we will respond accordingly.<br />
<br />
Our writers were given free rein to include an activity even if it satisfied just three or four of the seven criteria listed above. We believe tourism operators should be rewarded for good intentions<br />
– and motivated to enhance the ‘responsible’ element of their services. Readers should remember<br />
that many of the operators listed started their responsible tourism business without the benefit<br />
of large amounts of investment, education, training or institutional support. They are doing it<br />
because they feel it’s the right way to do it. And they’re right. The least we can do is forgive them<br />
their lapses and encourage them to make amends and grow.<br />
By the same measure, we as visitors have a responsibility to do our homework, learn about our<br />
hosts’ culture and respect it. A tourist who smiles, learns a few words of the local language, dresses<br />
appropriately and remains easy going, is well on the way to having a great travel experience in the<br />
Greater Mekong Sub region. On the recommended tourism activities, future editions of the book may have more rigorous entry standards. Future editions may have a wider geographical coverage than Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. That is a decision for another day. Today, the Mekong Tourism Development Project and the Mekong Tourism Office have got the ball rolling in the right direction.<br />
We look forward to hearing your feedback. On behalf of the Mekong Tourism Development<br />
Project, we thank you for visiting the Greater Mekong Sub region. We believe it is one of the most awe-inspiring, inspirational, friendly and enchanting destinations in the world.<br />
<br />
With The Responsible Guide to Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to guide you, we hope that<br />
you and your hosts have an enjoyable, rewarding and responsible travel experience.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>

About Cambodia Mekong Tourism

About the Mekong Tourism Development The Mekong Tourism Development Project [MTDP] is being implemented in three countries of the Greater ...