CAMBODIA
Travel Information |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Introduction
The Kingdom of Cambodia is bordered to the north by Thailand
and Laos, to the East and the South by Vietnam, and to
the South and West by the Gulf of Siam and Thailand.
Area :
181,035 square kilometres
Cities :
Capital : Phnom Penh (population 1 million)
Other cities : Battambang, Siem Riep, Sihanoukville
Population :
Total : Approximately 9 million
Ethnic Division : Khmer(90-95%), Vietnamese(5%), Chinese
and others(1%)
Language :
Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. Older and
educated Khmers speak
and read French. Younger Cambodians study English as their
second language.
Currency :
The unit is riel. Riel denominations are 100, 200 and
500. Exchange rate :
1US$=2500riel (vary all the time!) US$ are generally accepted
throughout the
country. Some credit cards can be used.
Local Time : +7 hours GMT
Visa : 20US Dollars or 1,000 Baht
Airport Tax :
International 25 USD, Domestic 6 USD
çHistory
Funan
The first civilization of Cambodia existed
from the 1st to 6th century in a State referred to as
Funan. It was the oldest Indianized state in Southeast
Asia, and from this period Cambodia's
first writing language Sanskrit began. Influenced by Indian
cultures, Funan accepted Hinduism, which was latter converted
to Buddhism. What makes Cambodians different from its
neighbors is due to the fact that Cambodians wear scarves,
called Kramas, rather than straw hats.
Angkor
From 9th to 13th century Angkor period existed. The period
began with King Jayavarman II taking the throne in 802.
At its peak, Angkor Empire extended from the
border of modern day Burma east to the South China Sea
and north to Laos. Of great Kings who built famous temples
were King Suryavarman II who built the world's renowned
Angkor Wat, whereas King Jayavarman VII successfully made
aggressive construction of most of largest temples of
Angkor, particularly Great City known as Angkor Thom.
Not only the temples were the success of those Angkor
Kings, but also vast man-made lakes with water exits for
centuries together with its sophisticated system of irrigation
such as canals and dikes. This enabled rice cultivation
for 3 times a year, and that Angkor was a wealthy empire.
As Angkor period ended, the city moved to Longvek, then
to Oudong and finally to the present day capital of Phnom
Penh. The fall of Angkor marked the collapse of Cambodia
Empire, which resulted in invasion and ransacks by its
neighbors including the Thais and Vietnamese from the
15th to 17th centuries. This was mainly to conflict by
royal courts.
The post Angkor era also brought about a rapid expansion
of Theravada Buddhism.
Present Day
In 1863, Cambodia agreed to protection
from France that ruled Cambodia for nearly
100 years. Like other colonial countries, France introduced
modern Western government structure, education, courts
and architectural styles on its land, thus one can see
today many colonial buildings remain. In 1945, the Japanese
briefly ousted the French protectorate. After the defeat
of Japan in World War II, the French returned and ruled
until 1953 when Cambodia gained full
independence. King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated the throne
to his father and led political party to unite the country
from 1950 to 1960, during which Cambodia
reached its peak surpassing its Southeast Asian nations.
In 1970, Vietnamese war spilled over into Cambodia,
and King Norodom Sihanouk was overthrown by General Lon
Nol. Lon Nol government was defeated by the Khmer Rouges
in 1975, then Cambodia embarked a dark
period for more than 3 years. During the Khmer Rouges
time, the country's entire infrastructure was completely
destroyed. No religion, no money, no education, no school
and so on that the historical wheel turned to year zero.
In 1979, The Khmer Rouges was toppled by Vietnamese backed
movement People's Republic of Kampuchea which administered
the country against the Khmer Rouges who was then ousted
to northern jungles.
In 1991, Paris Peace Accords was signed, which then brought
United Nations to temporarily administered and organized
a free and fair elections in 1993 whereby an internationally
recognized Cambodia government headed
by two prime ministers was created. Monarchy has also
been reinstated and King Norodom Sihanouk is a head of
State. This was by no means putting an end to Cambodia
civil war. In 1997, factional fighting between ruling
political parties took place in the capital of Phnom Penh
until cease fire was agreed to and next national elections
administered by Cambodians themselves was conducted in
May,1998.
After creation of new coalition government headed by Prime
Minister Hun Sen, and with establishment of House of Senates
in addition to the lower law making institution the National
Assembly, Cambodia has experienced stability
in terms of politics and economics. This allows Asean
to accept Cambodia as its final 10th
member. Being part of regional groupings, Cambodia
needs to look forward to attracting investments from the
region and elsewhere.
Geography
Cambodia has a land area of 181,035 square kilometers
in the southwestern part of the Indochina peninsula, about
20 percent of which is used for agriculture. It lies completely
within the tropics with its southern most points slightly
more than 10? above the Equator. The country capital city
is Phnom Penh.
International borders are shared with 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 country is bounded on the Southeast by
the Gulf of Thailand. In comparison with neighbors, Cambodia
is a geographical contact country administratively composed
of 20 provinces, three of which have relatively short
maritime boundaries, 2 municipalities, 172 districts,
and 1,547 communes. The country has a coastline of 435
km and extensive mangrove stands, some of which are relatively
undisturbed.
The dominant features of the Cambodian landscape are the
large, almost generally located, Tonle Sap (Great Lake)
and the Bassac River Systems and the Mekong River, which
crosses the country from North to South. Surrounding the
Central Plains which covered three quarters of the country’s
area are the more densely forested and sparsely populated
highlands, comprising: the Elephant Mountains and Cardamom
Mountain of the southwest and western regions; the Dangrek
Mountains of the North adjoining of the Korat Plateau
of Thailand; and Rattanakiri Plateau and Chhlong highlands
on the east merging with the Central Highlands of Viet
Nam.
The Tonle Sap Basin-Mekong Lowlands region consists mainly
of plains with elevations generally of less than 100 meters.
As the elevation increases, the terrain becomes more rolling
and dissected. The Cardamom Mountains in the southwest
rise to more than 1,500 meters and is oriented generally
in a northwest-southeast direction. The highest mountain
in Cambodia –Phnom Aural, at 1.771meters – is in the eastern
part of this range.
The Elephant Range, an extension of Cardamom Mountains,
runs towards the south and the southeast and rises to
elevations of between 500 and 1,000 meters. These two
range are bordered on the west are narrow coastal plain
facing the gulf of Thailand that contains Kampong Som
Bay. The Dangrek Mountains at the northern rim of Tonle
Sap Basin, consisting of a steep escarpment on the southern
edge of the Korat Plateau in Thailand, marks the boundary
between Thailand and Cambodia. The average elevation of
about 500 meters with the highest points reaching more
than 700 meters. Between the northern part of the Cardamom
ranges and the western part of the Dangrek, lies and extension
of the Tonle Sap Basin that merges into the plains in
Thailand, allowing easy accesses from the border of Bangkok.
The Mekong River Cambodia’s largest river, dominates the
hydrology of the country. The river originates in mainland
China, flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand before entering
Cambodia. At Phnom Penh, with alternative arms, the Bassak
River from the south, and the Tonle Sap River linking
with the " Great Lake " itself -Tonle Sap -
form northwest. It continues further southeastward to
its lower delta in Viet Nam and to the South China Sea.
The section of Mekong River passing through Cambodia lies
within the topical wet and dry zone. It has a pronounced
dry season during the Northern Hemisphere winter, with
about 80 percent of the annual rainfall occurring during
the southwest monsoon in May-October. The Mekong River
average annual flow at Krati? of 441 km3 is estimated
as 93 percent of the total Mekong run-off discharge into
the sea. The discharge at Krati? ranges from a minimum
of 1,250m3/s to the maximum 66,700m3/s.
The role of Tonle Sap as a buffer of the Mekong River
system floods and the source of beneficial dry season
flows warrants explanation. The Mekong River swells with
waters during the monsoon reaching a flood discharge of
40,000m3/s at Phnom Penh. By about mid-June, the flow
of Mekong and the Bassak River fed by monsoon rains increases
to a point where its outlets through the delta cannot
handle the enormous volume of water, flooding extensive
adjacent floodplains for 4-7 months. At this point, instead
of overflowing its backs, its floodwaters reserve the
flow of the Tonle Sap River (about 120 km in length),
which then has the maximum inflow rate of 1.8m/s and enters
the Grate Lake, the largest natural lake in Southeast
Asia, increasing the size of the lake from about 2,600
km2 to 10,00 km2 and exceptionally to 13,000 km2 and raising
the water level by and average 7m at the height of the
flooding. This specificity of the Tonle Sap makes it the
only "river with return " in the world.
After the Mekong’s water crest (when its downstream channels
can handle the volume of water), the flow reverses and
water flows out of the engorged lake. The Great Lake then
acts as a natural flood retention basin. When the floods
subside, water starts flowing out of the Great Lake, reaching
a maximum outflow rate of 2.0m/s and, over the dry season,
increase mainstream flows by about 16 percent, thus helping
to reduce salinity intrusion in the lower Mekong Delta
in Viet Nam. By the time the lake water level drops to
its minimum surface size, a band 20-30 km wide of inundate
forest is left dry with deposits of a new layer of sediment.
This forest, which is of great significance for fish,
is now greatly reduced in size through salvation and deforestation.
The area flood around Phnom Penh and down to the Vietnamese
border is about 7,000 km2 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
