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INTRODUCTION
Background: Following a five-year struggle,
communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in 1975 and ordered
the evacuation of all cities and towns; over 1 million displaced
people died from execution or enforced hardships. A 1978 Vietnamese
invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and touched
off 13 years of fighting. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped
restore some semblance of normalcy, as did the rapid diminishment
of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1990s. A coalition government, formed
after national elections in 1998, brought renewed political stability
and the surrender of remaining Khmer Rouge forces.
GEOGRAPHY
Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the
Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.
Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 105 00 E
Area: total: 181,040 sq km
land: 176,520 sq km
water: 4,520 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 2,572 km
border countries: Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam 1,228 km.
Climate: tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry
season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation.
Natural resources: timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese,
phosphates,
and hydropower potential.
note: a land of paddies and forests dominated
by the Mekong River
and Tonle Sap.
PEOPLE
Population: 12,491,501
note: estimates for this country explicitly take
into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can
result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death
rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution
of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.25% (male 2,626,821;
female 2,526,510)
15-64 years: 55.28% (male 3,253,611; female 3,651,129)
65 years and over: 3.47% (male 177,577; female 255,853) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.25% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 33.16 births/1 000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 10.65 deaths/1 000 population (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 56.82 years
male: 54.62 years
female: 59.12 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.74 children born/woman (2001
est.)
Ethnic groups: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
Religions: Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5%
Languages: Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 35%
male: 48%
female: 22% (1990 est.)
GOVERNMENT
Government type: multiparty liberal democracy
under a constitutional monarchy
established in September 1993
Capital: Phnom Penh
Administrative divisions: 20 provinces (khett, singular and
plural) and 4 municipalities*
(krong, singular and plural); Banteay Mean Cheay, Batdambang, Kampong
Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Spoe, Kampong Thum, Kampot, Kandal,
Kaoh Kong, Keb*, Kracheh, Mondol Kiri, Otdar Mean Cheay, Pailin*,
Phnum Penh*, Pouthisat, Preah Seihanu* (Sihanoukville), Preah Vihear,
Prey Veng, Rotanah Kiri, Siem Reab, Stoeng Treng, Svay Rieng, Takev
Independence: 9 November 1953 (from France)
National holiday: Independence Day, 9 November (1953)
Legal system: primarily a civil law mixture of French-influenced
codes from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
(UNTAC) period, royal decrees, and acts of the legislature, with
influences of customary law and remnants of communist legal theory;
increasing influence of common law in recent years
Executive branch:
chief of state: King Norodom SIHANOUK (reinstated 24 September 1993).
head of government: Prime Minister HUN SEN (since
30 November 1998) and Deputy Prime
Ministers SAR KHENG (since NA) and TOL LAH (since NA).
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch.
Elections: none; the monarch is chosen by
a Royal Throne Council; prime minister appointed by the monarch
after a vote of confidence by the National Assembly.
ECONOMY
Economy - overview: Cambodia's economy slowed
dramatically in 1997-98 due to the regional economic crisis, civil
violence, and political infighting. Foreign investment and tourism
fell off. In 1999, the first full year of peace in 30 years, progress
was made on economic reforms and growth resumed at 4%. GDP growth
for 2000 had been projected to reach 5.5%, but the worst flooding
in 70 years severely damaged agricultural crops, and high oil prices
hurt industrial production and growth for the year is estimated
at only 4%. Tourism is Cambodia's fastest growing industry, with
arrivals up 34% in 2000. The long-term development of the economy
after decades of war remains a daunting challenge. The population
lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden
countryside, which suffers from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure.
Fear of renewed political instability and corruption within the
government discourage foreign investment and delay foreign aid.
On the brighter side, the government is addressing these issues
with assistance from bilateral and multilateral donors.
GDP: purchasing power parity
- $16.1 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1300 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 43%
industry: 20%
services: 37% (1998 est.)
Population below poverty
line: 36% (1997 est.)
Household income or Consumption
by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 33.8% (1997)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.6% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 6 million (1998 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2.8% (1999 est.)
Budget: revenues: $363 million
expenditures: $532 million, including capital expenditures of $225
million (2000 est.)
Industries: garments, tourism, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood
products,
rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles.
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Agriculture - products:
rice, rubber, corn and vegetables.
Exports: $942 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: timber, garments, rubber, rice and fish.
Exports - partners: Vietnam 18%, Thailand 15%, US 10%, Singapore
8%, China 5%
(1997).
Imports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: cigarettes, gold, construction materials,
petroleum products, machinery, motor vehicles
Imports - partners: Thailand 16%, Vietnam 9%, Japan 7%, Hong Kong
5%, China
5% (1997)
Debt - external: $829 million (1999 est.)
Currency: riel (KHR)
Currency code: KHR
Exchange rates: riels per US dollar - 3 909.0 (January 2001), 3
840.8 (2000),
3 807.8 (1999), 3 744.4 (1998), 2 946.3
(1997), 2 624.1 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar
year
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