|
Official Name: Known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, also known simply as Cambodia or Kampuchea. Cambodia's name has been altered numerous times with previous names including the Khmer Republic, Democratic Kampuchea, the State of Cambodia and The People's Republic of Kampuchea.
Capital: Phnom Penh is Cambodia’s capital, and is found geographically near the center of the nation surrounding the banks of the Mekong River. Phnom Penh is culturally and economically the heart of Cambodia, as well as the seat of government.
Location: Cambodia is situated in South East Asia. The country shares terrestrial borders with Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The country has direct access to the Gulf of Thailand and because of this it hosts a large number of seaports and fisheries in the region.
Size: The total size of Cambodia is approximately 181,040 Square kilometers, and the figure ranks 96th globally. The size of Cambodia is comparable to the US state of Oklahoma.
Climate: Cambodia’s climate is primarily tropical, with clearly delineated dry and wet seasons. The Dry season occurs from November through April, although most of the season is dominated by high temperatures and intense levels of humidity. The wet season takes place from May through October and is to blame for the widespread flooding that occurs in the country. Many visitors decide to travel to Cambodia during December and January as this coincides with the coolest and most moderate conditions of the year.
Population: The population of Cambodia is approximately 14.5 million. This figure, however, will fluctuate due to the presence of major illnesses as well as HIV/AIDS that make a definite number hard to determine.
Life expectancy at birth: The average life expectancy in Cambodia is 62.1 years at birth. This figure translates to one of the lowest life expectancies worldwide at 177th. This low figure can be accredited to an annual widespread famine that plagues the country as well as major illnesses and poor sanitation in many regions. Poorly developed healthcare infrastructure and social service networks are unable to combat much of these issues.
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS: Roughly 2.6% of the Cambodian populace has HIV/AIDS. This means that around 170,000 people are living with the illness, making Cambodia the country with one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in Asia and the world.
Major illnesses: Cambodia has a great number of serious medical disease threats. Serious health risks include Hepatitis A, B, C, and E, Typhoid Fever, bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue Fever, Malaria, and H5N1 (bird flu) which has been identified in the wild and captive bird populations of the country. Most recently Cambodia has had confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu.
Ethnic Groups: Cambodia comprises a handful of ethnicities. The most prevalent of these is the Khmer ethnicity at approximately 90% which originates from the old Angkor Empire of the 10th to 13th centuries. Other major ethnicities in the nation are as follows: Vietnamese (5%), Chinese (1%) and other miscellaneous ethnicities (4%).
Languages: Cambodia’s official language is Khmer, and approximately 95% of the population speaks the language. French and English are also spoken in the country and used in many official state procedures. It is important to note, however, that while most people speak Khmer as their mother tongue, many of the outlying islands and territories will speak local dialects that have no relation to the official language.
Religion:The main religion of Cambodia is Buddhist (96.4%) and as such the country’s influences are largely Buddhist in nature. The most predominant of these is the Theravada Buddhism. Other religions include Muslim (2.1%), others (1.3%) and unspecified religions (0.2%).
Government: Cambodia is a multi party democracy that functions under a constitutional monarchy. The democracy is the entity that truly governs the nation, under the Prime Minister, with the central monarchy and King serving mostly as a figure head and representative of the nation for official state engagements. The Cambodian government is modeled very similarly to the government of Thailand.
Head of State: Cambodia’s Head of State is King Norodom Sihamoni. The king is a cultural figure head only and holds very little power. This being the case, the king is much admired for his insight on political issues and his views often hold great importance with the Cambodian political order. The king is chosen by a royal throne council and is not always necessarily the direct successor in more traditional terms.
Head of Government: The head of the Cambodian government and the leader of the coalition majority party is Prime Minister Hun Sen. His role is to serve as the major decision maker and day to day leader of the government, thus holding most of the power in the nation.
Military: There is compulsory military service for all males aged 18 through 30, and this involves an 18 month long conscription in any branch of the Cambodian forces. This military service is still applicable even if the person has become naturalized in another country. The government spends around 3% of its GDP on military expenditures which ranks 48th in the world.
Economy: In the 20th Century Cambodia was going through major civil disorder and political restructuring. This in turn affected the country’s ability to achieve any real major economic development. Once the Khmer Rouge was totally overthrown in the late 90s, the populist government of Cambodia began to implement significant reforms in an attempt to begin to turn the tide of weak economic growth. Since 1999 the Cambodian economy has continued steady and consistent growth averaging around 6.4% a year which has allowed it to begin to assert itself as one of the new rapidly expanding economies of South East Asia. This has sparked an increase in foreign investment and trade. The main industry in Cambodia is primarily clothing with 320,000 people employed by an industry that accounts for over 85% of its exports. Tourism is also growing rapidly with around 2 million visitors arriving each year in 2007-08. 2005’s discovery of oil deposits off the Cambodian coast will no doubt add to the country’s continual growth as the next important South East Asian economy.
GDP: Cambodia has a GDP purchasing power parity of US$ 38.8 billion with an actual GDP of US$ 6.6 billion, this means that while the country is reaching new heights of economic prosperity there is still room for much improvement.
|
