I | INTRODUCTION |
Cambodia, country in Southeast Asia, also known as
Kâmpŭchéa. More than a thousand years ago, Cambodia was the center of the Khmer
(Cambodian) kingdom of Angkor, a great empire that dominated Southeast Asia for
600 years. A monarchy since ancient times, Cambodia was a French protectorate
from 1863 to 1953. A republic replaced the monarchy in 1970, and in 1975 a
Communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge took power, naming the country
Democratic Kâmpŭchéa. The Khmer Rouge’s brutal repression and radical socialist
reforms devastated Cambodia’s society and economy. In 1979 anti-Khmer Rouge
Communist forces from Vietnam and Cambodia overthrew the Khmer Rouge and
established a more moderate socialist state. In 1989 the country abandoned
socialism, and in 1993 a new constitution restored the monarchy. Cambodia’s
official name is the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Cambodia is bounded on the northeast by Laos,
on the east and southeast by Vietnam, on the west and northwest by Thailand, and
on the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand (Siam). The country’s capital and
largest city is Phnom Penh.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Cambodia covers an area of 181,035 sq km
(69,898 sq mi). Most of the country consists of a low-lying alluvial plain that
occupies the central part of the country. To the southeast of the plain lies the
delta of the Mekong River. To the east of the plain, ranges of undulating hills
separate Cambodia from Vietnam. To the southwest a mountain range, the Chuŏr
Phnum Krâvanh, fringes the plain and forms a physical barrier along the
country’s coast. Cambodia’s highest peak, Phnom Aural (1,813 m/5,948 ft) rises
in the eastern part of this range. To the north, the Chuŏr Phnum Dângrêk
mountains separate Cambodia from Thailand.
A | Rivers and Lakes |
Cambodia’s most important river is the
Mekong, the longest river in Southeast Asia and the tenth largest in the world.
The Mekong flows from north to south through Cambodia and is navigable for much
of its course. Other rivers in the country include the Tônlé Srêpôk and the
Tônlé Sab.
Cambodia’s principal lake, the Tônlé Sap
(Great Lake), is the largest in Southeast Asia. From the northwest, the Tônlé
Sap drains into the Mekong via the Tônlé Sab River, entering the Mekong at Phnom
Penh. Each year during the monsoon season (approximately May to October), the
waters of the Mekong increase and reverse the flow of the Tônlé Sab, which
begins to drain into the lake. The lake then expands dramatically, flooding the
provinces along its banks. When dry weather returns, the river reverses its
course again and flows back into the Mekong, draining the northwestern
provinces. At the height of the flooding, the Tônlé Sap reaches more than 10,000
sq km (4,000 sq mi), or about four times its size in the dry season. The lake is
one of the richest sources of freshwater fish in the world.
B | Plants and Animals |
Forests cover 58 percent of Cambodia’s land.
The densest forests thrive in the mountains and along the southwestern coast.
Higher plains and plateaus contain savannas covered with high, sharp grass.
Plants growing in Cambodia include rubber, kapok (a tree with seeds that yield a
cotton-like fiber), palm, coconut, and banana, all of which are exploited
commercially.
Wildlife in Cambodia includes elephants,
deer, wild ox, panthers, bears, and tigers. Cormorants, cranes, parrots,
pheasants, and wild ducks are also found, and poisonous snakes are numerous.
Logging and mining activities, along with unregulated hunting, have diminished
the country’s wildlife rapidly.
C | Natural Resources |
Of Cambodia’s total land area, only 21
percent is cultivated. Areas surrounding the Mekong and the Tônlé Sap are the
most fertile regions. The country's once-ample timber resources have been poorly
managed and are being rapidly depleted by local and foreign entrepreneurs.
Although Cambodia is not rich in mineral resources, Bătdâmbâng province in
northwestern Cambodia contains limited quantities of zircons, sapphires, and
rubies. The central part of the country contains commercial deposits of salt,
manganese, and phosphate. The Gulf of Thailand is thought to contain petroleum
deposits, but the extent and accessibility of the reserves have yet to be
determined.
D | Climate |
Cambodia has a tropical monsoon climate.
December and January are the coolest months, while March and April are the
hottest. The country’s rainy season extends from May to October. Average annual
rainfall is about 1,400 mm (about 55 in) on the central plain and increases to
as much as 3,800 mm (150 in) in the mountains and along the coast. The average
annual temperature is about 27°C (about 80°F).
E | Environmental Issues |
Deforestation is the most serious threat
to Cambodia’s environment. In the 1960s and 1970s Cambodian forests and wetlands
were harmed by bombings and defoliants used in the Vietnam War. In the 1970s and
1980s the damage continued with the disastrous agricultural policies of the
Khmer Rouge regime and civil war. In the relatively peaceful 1990s, timber
became an important export for Cambodia. More than 800,000 hectares (2 million
acres) of Cambodian forest were cut down from 1990 to 1995. In 1995 the
government responded by banning log exports, but illegal timber exporting has
led to continued deforestation. The annual rate of deforestation in 1990–2005
was 1.29 percent.
Many of the mangrove swamps crucial to
the country’s fisheries and wildlife have been destroyed. The loss of wildlife
habitat and the negative environmental effects of logging and mining industries
have caused a decline in biodiversity. In 2004, 103 species were listed as
threatened in Cambodia, including 23 species of mammals. In addition, the
pollution and contamination of streams and lakes has made much of the country’s
fresh water unsafe. Only 41 percent (2004) of all Cambodian people have access
to safe, drinkable water, and only 17 percent (2004) have access to
sanitation.
In addition to banning the export of
lumber, the Cambodian government has declared a large portion— 21.6 percent
(2007)—of the country’s total land area protected. The government has also
ratified international environmental agreements pertaining to climate change,
desertification, endangered species, marine life conservation, ship pollution,
and tropical timber.
III | POPULATION |
The population of Cambodia is 14,241,640
(2008 estimate). Population growth per year is estimated at 1.8 percent, one of
the highest rates in Asia. The rate of infant mortality is also high. The
population density is 81 persons per sq km (209 per sq mi), with the densest
concentrations on the heavily cultivated central plain. The mountainous regions
of the country, where malaria is widespread, are thinly populated, as are the
poorly watered northern provinces. During the late 1970s, under the brutal rule
of the Khmer Rouge, all of Cambodia’s towns were depopulated, and residents were
forcibly relocated to rural areas. A process of reurbanization began in the
1980s.
Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, is situated
at the junction of the Mekong and Tônlé Sab rivers. Other major cities are
Bãtdâmbâng, Kâmpóng Cham, Kâmpôt, and Cambodia’s only deep-water port, Kâmpóng
Saôm, located on the Gulf of Thailand.
A | Ethnic Groups and Languages |
Ethnic Cambodians, or Khmer, constitute
90 percent of the population. About 5 percent of the country’s inhabitants are
of Vietnamese origin, and 1 percent are Chinese. Seminomadic tribal groups
concentrated in the mountainous northeast make up the remaining 4 percent of the
population.
Cambodia’s official language is Khmer, or
Cambodian, which belongs to the Mon-Khmer family of languages (see
Austro-Asiatic Languages). French was formerly an important secondary
language in the country, but English gained considerable ground in the 1990s.
Other languages spoken include Vietnamese and an assortment of South Chinese
dialects.
B | Religion |
At least 85 percent of Cambodia’s
inhabitants adhere to Theravada Buddhism, which is the dominant religion in most
Southeast Asian nations. Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century bc and arrived in Cambodia during the
first centuries ad. At first
Mahayana Buddhism predominated, but after the 14th century Theravada gradually
replaced the older school as the primary religion. Nevertheless, a minority of
modern Cambodians still practices Mahayana Buddhism. Other religions practiced
in Cambodia include Roman Catholicism and Islam.
C | Education |
An estimated 71 percent of Cambodia’s
adult population is literate. Public education is free and compulsory for the
first 6 years. Primary school attendance increased rapidly in the 1990s, and by
2002–2003 virtually all children were enrolled, as well as many older people who
were unable to attend school in earlier years. Secondary education was more
limited, with only 25 percent of eligible children enrolled. Seven institutions
of higher learning, including the University of Phnom Penh, the University of
Fine Arts, and the University of Agricultural Sciences, operate in the country.
Only 3 percent of Cambodians of usual university age were enrolled in these
schools in 2002–2003.
Perennially handicapped by insufficient
funding, Cambodia’s educational system was devastated in the late 1970s when the
Khmer Rouge regime closed schools and executed thousands of teachers. The regime
viewed intellectuals, among others, as potential sources of opposition to its
attempt to create an ideal socialist, agrarian society. In the 1980s thousands
more teachers fled the country or sought better-paying work. Ever since then,
efforts to revive the education system have been hampered by a shortage of funds
and trained personnel.
D | Way of Life |
Eighty percent of Cambodia’s people live
in rural areas, where their principal occupation is subsistence farming on
family-operated holdings. In rural Cambodia, most houses are built of palm leaf
and bamboo and are often raised on stilts for protection from annual floods. A
rural village (phum) consists of a group of houses, usually clustered
around a Buddhist monastery, or wat.
In the cities, life for the poor
resembles life in the countryside, but sanitary conditions are worse and violent
crime is much more frequent. Wealthy and middle-class Cambodians value material
possessions, which reflect their social standing. In the 1990s hundreds of
extravagant villas were built for members of the political and commercial
elite.
Most rural Cambodians wear simple
clothing and have few material possessions. Women usually dress modestly in
cotton shirts and ankle-length skirts, reserving their multicolored, locally
woven silks for religious festivals. A cotton garment called a krama is
worn by both men and women as a head covering, as a loincloth (for bathing), and
as a carrying bag. Urban Cambodians usually wear Western-style clothing. Rice
and fish form the basis of the Cambodian diet.
Cambodian families are large, but infant
mortality, especially from intestinal disorders, remains high. Women head a
large proportion of family units because many men were killed in the warfare of
the 1970s and 1980s. In most families, females manage the household economy.
Women also constitute the majority of vendors at local markets. Traditionally,
boys became monks for a few months during their adolescence, but this practice
is fading.
IV | ARTS AND CULTURE |
Throughout Cambodia’s history, religious
principles guided and inspired its arts. A unique Khmer style emerged from the
combination of indigenous animistic beliefs and the originally Indian religions
of Hinduism and Buddhism. These two religions, along with the Sanskrit language
and other elements of Indian civilization, arrived in mainland Southeast Asia
during the first few centuries ad.
Seafaring merchants following the coast from India to China brought them to the
port cities along the Gulf of Thailand, which were then controlled by the state
of Funan in Cambodia. At varying times, Cambodian culture also absorbed
Javanese, Chinese, and Thai influences.
Between the 9th and 15th centuries, a
prosperous and powerful empire flourished in northwestern Cambodia. The Khmer
kingdom of Angkor, named for its capital city, dominated much of what is now
Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. The kingdom drew its religious and political
inspiration from India. The literary language of the court was Sanskrit; the
spoken language was Khmer. Massive temples from this period, including Angkor
Wat and the Bayon at Angkor Thum, testify to the power of Angkor and the
grandeur of its architecture and decorative art. The unparalleled achievements
in art, architecture, music, and dance during this period served as models for
later cultural development in Cambodia.
Angkor faded into obscurity after the
capital moved south to Phnom Penh in the 15th century, probably due in part to
frequent invasions by the neighboring Thais. The jungle rapidly grew over the
monuments. In the centuries that followed, frequent wars reduced the territory,
wealth, and power of Cambodian monarchs. However, an independent state with its
capital near Phnom Penh survived until the 19th century. The most important work
of Cambodian literature, the Reamker (a Khmer-language version of the
Indian myth of the Ramayana), was composed during this time.
France, which began administering Cambodia
in 1863, rediscovered the temples at Angkor and worked to preserve them
beginning in the early 20th century. Cambodia’s traditional culture and the
monuments of Angkor were endangered between 1970 and 1990 due to civil war. The
Communist Khmer Rouge regime, which opposed and mistrusted religion and
education, banned all of Cambodia’s traditional arts and its written language.
Since 1991, when Cambodia’s warring factions signed a peace accord,
international organizations have helped the Cambodian government restore the
sites at Angkor and revive Cambodia’s traditional crafts.
A | Literature |
Myths and legends passed down orally
through the generations form the heart of Cambodian literature. These popular
legends are based on the great epics of ancient India, the Mahabharata
and the Ramayana, and on the Jataka tales, stories about the previous
lives of the Buddha. Episodes from the Reamker have been portrayed
throughout history in all Cambodian arts, from scenes carved in stone at Angkor
to mural paintings on the enclosure wall of the Royal Palace at Phnom Penh.
Cambodia’s earliest written documents are stone slabs inscribed in Sanskrit
(dating from the 6th century) and Khmer (dating from the early 7th century),
which provide a genealogy of Khmer kings and their endowments to the
temples.
The first Cambodian novel, Suphat,
by Rim Kin, was published in 1938 after the French introduced printing
techniques to Cambodia. During the Khmer Rouge regime, literature was restricted
to poems, written on themes of peasant and agricultural development, and
revolutionary songs. Most Cambodian literary works published during the late
20th century were written by Cambodian refugees living abroad, mainly in France
and Thailand.
B | Art and Architecture |
To ensure order and harmony in the
universe, Angkor’s architects and sculptors created stone temples that
symbolized the cosmic world and decorated them with wall carvings and sculptures
of Hindu gods and the Buddha. Religious guidelines dictated that a basic temple
layout include a central shrine, a courtyard, an enclosing wall, and a moat.
More than 60 of these temple complexes survive in the Angkor region. In
addition, several stone bridges and reservoirs built in the Angkor period are
still in use. Many Cambodian public buildings, such as the Royal Palace in Phnom
Penh, are decorated in the Khmer architectural style and use motifs such as the
garuda, a mythical bird in the Hindu religion.
After the devastation of culture in the
Khmer Rouge era, the traditional arts and handicrafts of Cambodia are reviving.
Notable among these traditional arts are textiles, silver work, basketry,
woodcarving, stone sculpture, and painting. Artisans use cotton to weave the
krama, a rectangular scarf made in colorful checks and stripes, and the
sampot, a skirt for women. Beautiful silk sampots with elaborate,
multicolored patterns, often entwined with gold or silver thread, are woven
using the ikat technique, in which each individual thread is tied.
Cambodia’s long tradition of metal work nearly disappeared, but the French
revived it in the early 20th century. Silversmiths produced popular items of the
period, such as animal-shaped boxes, intricately decorated, that were used to
hold the ingredients of a preparation known as betel, which is chewed as a
stimulant and tonic.
C | Music, Dance, and Theater |
Khmer classical dance derived from Indian
court dance, which traces its origins to the apsarases of Hindu
mythology, heavenly female nymphs who were born to dance for the gods. The
traditions of Thailand and Java (in Indonesia) also influenced the music and
dance of Cambodia. In classical Cambodian dance, women, dressed in brightly
colored costumes with elaborate headdresses, perform slow, graceful movements
accompanied by a percussive ensemble known as the pinpeat. Pinpeat
orchestras include drums, gongs, and bamboo xylophones. In Cambodia’s villages,
plays performed by actors wearing masks are popular. Shadow plays, performed
using black leather puppets that enact scenes from the Reamker, are also
enjoyed. Folk dancing is popular in rural Cambodia and is performed
spontaneously to a drumbeat.
D | Museums |
The Khmer Rouge closed cultural
institutions during their rule, but many were reopened in the 1980s. The
National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh is Cambodia’s largest museum, with
objects dating from prehistory to the 18th century. The museum houses the
largest collection of Khmer art in the world and is renowned for its Angkor-era
bronze and stone images. The museum’s exhibits also include ceramics, wooden
ornaments, musical instruments, weaving looms, lacquer, and silver. The
University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh is responsible for preserving Khmer
culture. It has reopened with departments in music, dance, painting,
architecture, and the plastic arts.
The Tuol Sleng Museum (Museum of
Genocide), also in Phnom Penh, is a former high school that was used by the
Khmer Rouge as a killing center and since then has been converted into a museum.
Displays focus on the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and include torture
instruments and photographs of those killed.
V | ECONOMY |
Cambodia is one of the world’s poorest
nations. In 2006 its total gross domestic product (GDP) was $7.3 billion,
yielding a per capita GDP of just $511.30, among the lowest in the world.
Even before being plunged into civil conflict
in the 1970s, Cambodia lacked significant industrial development, with most of
the labor force engaged in agriculture. The country was self-sufficient in food
and produced exportable surpluses of its principal crops of rice and corn. In
spite of relatively low yields and a single harvest per year, Cambodia annually
exported hundreds of thousands of tons of rice.
The civil war from 1970 to 1975, the Khmer
Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979, and the Cambodia-Vietnam War from 1978 to 1979
virtually destroyed Cambodia’s economy. By 1974, under wartime conditions, rice
had to be imported, and production of Cambodia’s most profitable export crop,
rubber, fell off sharply. The civil unrest also disrupted Cambodia’s fledgling
manufacturing industry and severely damaged road and rail networks.
In 1975 the newly installed Khmer Rouge
government nationalized all means of production in Cambodia. Money and private
property were abolished, and agriculture was collectivized (ownership was
transferred to the people as a group, represented by the state). The Khmer Rouge
Four-Year Plan, a utopian document drafted in 1976, envisaged multiple plantings
of rice and a vastly expanded irrigation system. The plan aimed to increase
income from exports of rice and other products and to use this income to buy
machinery with which to industrialize the country. The Four-Year Plan was poorly
thought out, brutally enforced, and unsuccessful. Rice production rose slightly,
but between 1976 and 1978, hundreds of thousands of people died from
malnutrition, overwork, and mistreated or misdiagnosed diseases. The Khmer Rouge
executed hundreds of thousands more people whom they judged to be enemies of the
regime. The atrocities of the Khmer Rouge period decimated Cambodia’s labor
force.
After the Khmer Rouge were overthrown in
early 1979, the government’s grip on agricultural production loosened, and
millions of Cambodians attempted to resume their lives as subsistence farmers.
By the mid-1990s Cambodia once again achieved self-sufficiency in rice
production and began to export small quantities of rice. The country’s
infrastructure improved gradually in the 1990s, largely due to massive infusions
of foreign assistance. Other sectors of the economy were less fortunate,
however. By 1995 the country’s economy as a whole was performing at only 40 to
50 percent of its pre-1970 capacity. For many visitors to the country,
Cambodia’s poverty is masked by the apparent prosperity of sections of Phnom
Penh.
A | Labor |
In 2006 Cambodia had a labor force of 6.9
million. Agriculture was the largest employer, engaging 60 percent of the
workers. It is followed by services (27 percent) and industry (13 percent).
Underemployment in urban areas is high, and working conditions in developing
industries, such as clothing manufacturing, are poor. Efforts to unionize
factory workers have encountered significant opposition from factory
owners.
B | Agriculture and Fishing |
Agriculture is the largest sector of
Cambodia’s economy, contributing 30 percent of the GDP in 2006. Rice is
Cambodia’s most important crop and the staple food of the Khmer diet. More than
one-half of cultivated land—much of it of poor quality—is planted in rice.
Rubber, Cambodia’s other important export crop, is grown in plantations in the
eastern part of the country. Corn, cassava, soybeans, palm sugar, and pepper are
also grown commercially, while cucumbers and fruits, including mangoes, bananas,
watermelons, and pineapples, are raised for local consumption. Chicken and pigs
are widely domesticated, while cattle and water buffalo are used for
agricultural work.
Freshwater fish are an important ingredient
of the typical Cambodian diet. Most of the annual catch is consumed locally.
Important types of fish caught include perch, carp, lungfish, and smelt. The
Tônlé Sap is the most concentrated source of freshwater fish in Southeast Asia.
Commercial fishing in the Gulf of Thailand, on the other hand, is relatively
undeveloped.
C | Mining and Manufacturing |
In 2006 industry, primarily manufacturing,
contributed 26 percent of Cambodia’s GDP. Although mining is not a major
industry, Cambodia produces limited quantities of zircons, sapphires, and
rubies, and exploits commercial deposits of salt, manganese, and phosphate. In
the early 1990s Cambodia began exploring for petroleum in the Gulf of Thailand,
but Thailand and Vietnam, who claim offshore areas of the gulf, have contested
the exploration projects.
Cambodia’s manufacturing base was severely
damaged in the civil war of the 1970s and was later mismanaged under the Khmer
Rouge. Manufacturing activity recovered slowly in the 1980s and 1990s but still
represents a relatively minor sector of the national economy. Manufactured
products include bricks, tile, cement, processed rubber, textiles, clothing, and
furniture.
D | Services |
Services, especially small-scale
commercial activities, account for 44 percent of Cambodia’s GDP. Since the late
1980s Cambodia has encouraged tourism as an important source of foreign
exchange, and the annual number of visitors rose from less than 1,000 in 1987 to
1,700,000 in 2006. Tourist spending in 2006 was 963 million U.S dollars. Most
tourists are from Asian countries, and popular destinations are Phnom Penh and
the ruins of Angkor.
E | Foreign Trade |
Before the civil war, Cambodia’s principal
exports were rice, rubber, and corn. In 1971 these were valued at $60 million.
Exports fell sharply under wartime conditions and later under the Khmer Rouge.
Cambodia’s export economy recovered slowly in the 1980s and more rapidly in the
1990s, when the major exports were rubber, timber, and soybeans. Trade in forest
products continued after the government ban on logging in 1995, but by 1997 the
value of forest product exports dropped by one-half. Total exports in 2004 were
valued at $2,798 million. Vietnam, Thailand, the United States, Singapore, and
China purchase most of Cambodia’s exports.
Cambodia’s primary imports have always been
manufactured goods, such as textiles, motor vehicles, machinery, and processed
foods. In 1996 imports were valued at $2.1 billion. Thailand, Singapore,
Vietnam, and Japan supply most of the goods that Cambodia imports.
F | Currency and Banking |
Cambodia’s unit of currency is the
riel, consisting of 100 sen. The value of the riel shrank from 700
riels per U.S.$1 in 1991 to an average of 4,103 riels per U.S.$1 in 2006.
Currency is issued by the National Bank of Kâmpŭchéa, established in 1980. There
are relatively few private banks in Cambodia. Most of them are foreign-owned
banks operating in Phnom Penh and other cities.
G | Transportation |
Cambodia has a relatively undeveloped road
system. In 2004 the country had 38,257 km (23,772 mi) of roads, of which only 6
percent were paved. A modern highway links Phnom Penh with the deepwater port of
Kâmpóng Saôm. Foreign nations, especially Japan, have donated money to help
repair roads connecting other Cambodian cities. In the mid-1990s the entire
railroad system extended about 600 km (about 370 mi). A rail line runs between
Phnom Penh and Bãtdâmbâng and extends to the Thai border. Another line connects
the capital with Kâmpóng Saôm. The Mekong River, which is navigable in central
and southern Cambodia, serves as another transportation artery. In early 1999
construction began on a bridge over the Mekong. The bridge, located to the
northeast of Phnom Penh, is scheduled for completion in 2002. The country’s main
international airport is in Phnom Penh. The national airline is Royal Air
Cambodge.
H | Communications |
The government controls all electronic
communications in Cambodia. Telephone service is barely adequate in the capital
and almost nonexistent elsewhere. In 2000 only 8.3 television sets existed for
every 1,000 people. Radios are more common, totaling 128 for every 1,000 people.
About 20 newspapers are published in Cambodia, most of them not widely available
outside of Phnom Penh. The Cambodia Daily is published in a combination
of English and Khmer. The most important Khmer-language daily is Reaksmei
Kâmpŭchéa (Light of Cambodia). The Phnom Penh Post is published
biweekly in English.
VI | GOVERNMENT |
A monarchy ruled Cambodia from ancient times
until 1970, surviving under a French protectorate from 1863 to 1953. In 1970 a
right-wing coup ended the monarchy, and the coup’s leaders established the Khmer
Republic. A civil war ensued, and in 1975 a Communist-dominated insurgency
movement known as the Khmer Rouge, or Red Khmers, took control of Cambodia.
Renamed Democratic Kâmpŭchéa (DK), the country waged war against neighboring
Vietnam starting in 1977. The Khmer National United Front for National Salvation
(KNUFNS), a group of Cambodian Communist rebels backed by more than 100,000
Vietnamese troops, deposed the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and established the
pro-Vietnamese regime of the Peoples’ Republic of Kâmpŭchéa (PRK). However, only
a few foreign governments recognized the PRK as Cambodia’s legitimate
government, and the DK retained Cambodia’s seat in the United Nations (UN) until
1990.
Vietnam stationed troops in Cambodia
throughout the 1980s. During this time, the Kâmpŭchéan People’s Revolutionary
Party (KPRP), the only legal political party, ran the PRK on socialist
principles. After Vietnam withdrew its troops in 1989, the PRK renamed itself
the State of Cambodia (SOC), abandoned socialism, and introduced free-market
reforms. Fighting between the forces of the PRK and the DK, which had reached a
stalemate during the Vietnamese occupation, flared up again. The KPRP changed
its name to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in 1991.
International negotiations under UN auspices
led to a peace accord, signed in Paris in 1991. The agreement called for a UN
protectorate to help rule the country until national legislative elections could
be held in 1993. More than 20 political parties participated in the 1993
elections. However, two parties obtained more than 85 percent of the vote: A
royalist party, known by its French acronym, FUNCINPEC, won the most seats,
while the CPP, led by the incumbent prime minister, Hun Sen, won the next
largest bloc. Following the elections, a three-party coalition formed a
government headed by two prime ministers; Prince Norodom Ranariddh of FUNCINPEC
became first prime minister, while Hun Sen took the post of second prime
minister. In September 1993 a new constitution restored the monarchy and
established the Kingdom of Cambodia.
In July 1997, Hun Sen ousted Ranariddh while
he was abroad, replacing him with Ung Huot, a more pliable member of FUNCINPEC.
Elections held in 1998 gave the CPP a plurality of votes, but Ranariddh and
another opposition candidate, Sam Rainsy, contested the outcome, claiming that
the elections had not been conducted fairly. In November 1998 the CPP and
FUNCINPEC reached a compromise agreement resulting in a new coalition
government. Hun Sen became the sole prime minister, while Ranariddh became the
president of the National Assembly.
Cambodia is divided for administrative
purposes into 20 provinces and 3 municipalities. These units are administered by
governors.
A | Executive |
Cambodia’s head of state is the king,
whose role is largely ceremonial and advisory. The king, on the advice of the
legislature, formally appoints the prime minister to head the government. The
prime minister must be a member of the winning party in legislative elections.
The prime minister heads a cabinet made up of members of the legislature.
Cabinet members are chosen by the prime minister, ratified by the legislature,
and formally appointed by the king.
B | Legislature |
A bicameral (two-chamber) parliament holds
legislative power. The more powerful lower house is called the National
Assembly. Established in 1993, the assembly consists of 122 members who serve
five-year terms. Members are chosen through popular elections in which people
over 18 years of age are entitled to vote. The National Assembly may dismiss
cabinet members or the entire cabinet with a two-thirds majority vote. The upper
house, or Senate, was created by constitutional amendment in 1999, in accordance
with provisions of the 1998 agreement. The 61-member Senate serves as an
advisory body to the National Assembly; it has the power to recommend amendments
to legislation passed by the assembly, but the lower house can reject the
recommendations on a second vote. Members of the Senate are elected to a term of
six years.
C | Judiciary |
The 1993 constitution provided for an
independent judiciary under a Supreme Court. However, the exact structure and
laws of the courts were not yet determined as of early 2000.
D | Political Parties |
Thirty-nine parties participated in the
1998 elections, but only three received enough votes to obtain seats in the
National Assembly. Official results awarded the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP)
64 seats, FUNCINPEC 43 seats, and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP, formerly the Khmer
Nation Party) 15 seats. FUNCINPEC’s political platform supports the maintenance
of the monarchy, economic development, closer regional ties, and democratic
government. The SRP advocates adherence to democratic principles and respect for
human rights, land reform, and protection of the environment. Under the 1998
agreement between the CPP and FUNCINPEC, Ranariddh became president of the
assembly, even though FUNCINPEC did not hold the majority. The CPP headed the
Senate after it was convened in 1999. The agreement also divided control of the
cabinet ministries between the two parties. Each party assumed control of some
of the ministries, while others were to be placed under joint control.
E | Defense |
In 2004 the Cambodian armed forces had
124,300 members. This figure includes an army of 75,000, a navy of 2,800, and an
air force of 1,500; the remainder make up provincial forces. From 1979 to 1997
the army was engaged in fighting Khmer Rouge remnants and their anti-Vietnamese
allies in the northern and western parts of the country, on both sides of the
Thai border. After the Khmer Rouge resistance collapsed in the late 1990s, the
foreign nations who provide aid to Cambodia exerted pressure on the Cambodian
government to reduce the size of its armed forces.
F | International Organizations |
Cambodia is a member of the United Nations
(UN). It was scheduled for admission into the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in July 1997, but its entry was delayed by the political
struggle between Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh and the instability of the
government following the 1998 elections. ASEAN admitted Cambodia in April 1999.
VII | HISTORY |
No one knows for certain how long people
have lived in what is now Cambodia, as studies of its prehistory are
undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a cave in northwestern Cambodia suggests
that people using stone tools lived in the cave as early as 4000 bc, and rice has been grown on Cambodian
soil since well before the 1st century ad. The first Cambodians likely arrived
long before either of these dates. They probably migrated from the north,
although nothing is known about their language or their way of life.
By the beginning of the 1st century ad, Chinese traders began to report the
existence of inland and coastal kingdoms in Cambodia. These kingdoms already
owed much to Indian culture, which provided alphabets, art forms, architectural
styles, religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and a stratified class system. Local
beliefs that stressed the importance of ancestral spirits coexisted with the
Indian religions and remain powerful today.
A | The Khmer Kingdoms |
Early Chinese writers referred to a
kingdom in Cambodia that they called Funan. Modern-day archaeological findings
provide evidence of a commercial society centered on the Mekong Delta that
flourished from the 1st century to the 6th century. Among these findings are
excavations of a port city from the 1st century, located in the region of Oc-Eo
in what is now southern Vietnam. Served by a network of canals, the city was an
important trade link between India and China. Ongoing excavations in southern
Cambodia have revealed the existence of another important city near the
present-day village of Angkor Borei.
A group of inland kingdoms, known
collectively to the Chinese as Zhenla, flourished in the 6th and 7th centuries
from southern Cambodia to southern Laos. The first stone inscriptions in the
Khmer language and the first brick and stone Hindu temples in Cambodia date from
the Zhenla period.
B | Angkor Era |
In the early 9th century a Khmer (ethnic
Cambodian) prince returned to Cambodia from abroad. He probably arrived from
nearby Java or Sumatra, where he may have been held hostage by island kings who
had asserted control over portions of the Southeast Asian mainland. In a series
of ceremonies at different sites, the prince declared himself ruler of a new
independent kingdom, which unified several local principalities. His kingdom
eventually came to be centered near present-day Siĕmréab in northwestern
Cambodia. The prince, known to his successors as Jayavarman II, inaugurated a
cult honoring the Hindu god Shiva as a devaraja (Sanskrit term meaning
“god-king”). The cult, which legitimized the king’s rule by linking him
with Shiva, persisted at the Cambodian court for more than two hundred
years.
Between the early 9th century and the
early 15th century, 26 monarchs ruled successively over the Khmer kingdom (known
as Angkor, the modern name for its capital city). The successors of Jayavarman
II built the great temples for which Angkor is famous. Historians have dated
more than a thousand temple sites and over a thousand stone inscriptions (most
of them on temple walls) to this era. Notable among the Khmer builder-kings were
Suyavarman II, who built the temple known as Angkor Wat in the mid-12th century,
and Jayavarman VII, who built the Bayon temple at Angkor Thum and several other
large Buddhist temples half a century later. Jayavarman VII, a fervent Buddhist,
also built hospitals and rest houses along the roads that crisscrossed the
kingdom. Most of the monarchs, however, seem to have been more concerned with
displaying and increasing their power than with the welfare of their
subjects.
At its greatest extent, in the 12th
century, the Khmer kingdom encompassed (in addition to present-day Cambodia)
parts of present-day Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma), and the
Malay Peninsula. Thailand and Laos still contain Khmer ruins and inscriptions.
The kings at Angkor received tribute from smaller kingdoms to the north, east,
and west, and conducted trade with China. The capital city was the center of an
impressive network of reservoirs and canals, which historians theorize supplied
water for irrigation. Many historians believe that the abundant harvests made
possible by irrigation supported a large population whose labor could be drawn
on to construct the kings’ temples and to fight their wars. The massive temples,
extensive roads and waterworks, and confident inscriptions give an illusion of
stability that is undermined by the fact that many Khmer kings gained the throne
by conquering their predecessors. Inscriptions indicate that the kingdom
frequently suffered from rebellions and foreign invasions.
Historians have not been able to fully
explain the decline of the Khmer kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries.
However, it was probably associated with the rise of powerful Thai kingdoms that
had once paid tribute to Angkor, and to population losses following a series of
wars with these kingdoms. Another factor may have been the introduction of
Theravada Buddhism, which taught that anyone could achieve enlightenment through
meritorious conduct and meditation. These egalitarian ideas undermined the
hierarchical structure of Cambodian society and the power of prominent Hindu
families. After a Thai invasion in 1431, what remained of the Cambodian elite
shifted southeastward to the vicinity of Phnom Penh.
C | Cambodia’s “Dark Ages” |
The four centuries of Cambodian history
following the abandonment of Angkor are poorly recorded, and therefore
historians know little about them beyond the bare outlines. Cambodia retained
its language and its cultural identity despite frequent invasions by the
powerful Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya and incursions by Vietnamese forces. Indeed,
for much of this period, Cambodia was a relatively prosperous trading kingdom
with its capital at Lovek, near present-day Phnom Penh. European visitors wrote
of the Buddhist piety of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Lovek. During this
period, Cambodians composed the country’s most important work of literature, the
Reamker (based on the Indian myth of the Ramayana).
In the late 18th century, a civil war in
Vietnam and disorder following a Burmese invasion of Ayutthaya spilled over into
Cambodia and devastated the area. In the early 19th century, newly established
dynasties in Vietnam and Thailand competed for control over the Cambodian court.
The warfare that ensued, beginning in the l830s, came close to destroying
Cambodia.
D | French Rule |
By the second half of the 19th century,
France had begun to expand its colonial penetration of Indochina (the peninsula
between India and China). In 1863 France accepted the Cambodian king’s
invitation to impose a protectorate over his severely weakened kingdom, halting
the country’s dismemberment by Thailand and Vietnam. For the next 90 years,
France ruled Cambodia. In theory, French administration was indirect, but in
practice the word of French officials was final on all major subjects—including
the selection of Cambodia’s kings. The French left Cambodian institutions,
including the monarchy, in place, and gradually developed a Cambodian civil
service, organized along French lines. The French administration neglected
education but built roads, port facilities, and other public works. Phnom Penh,
as planned by the French, came to resemble a town in provincial France.
The French invested relatively little in
Cambodia’s economy compared to that of Vietnam, which was also under French
control. However, they developed rubber plantations in eastern Cambodia, and the
kingdom exported sizable amounts of rice under their rule. The French also
restored the Angkor temple complex and deciphered Angkorean inscriptions, which
gave Cambodians a clear idea of their medieval heritage and kindled their pride
in Cambodia’s past. Because France left the monarchy, Buddhism, and the rhythms
of rural life undisturbed, anti-French feeling was slow to develop.
During World War II (1939-1945),
Japanese forces entered French Indochina but left the compliant French
administration in place. On the verge of defeat in 1945, the Japanese removed
their French collaborators and installed a nominally independent Cambodian
government under the recently crowned young king, Norodom Sihanouk. France
reimposed its protectorate in early 1946 but allowed the Cambodians to draft a
constitution and to form political parties. Soon afterward, fighting erupted
throughout Indochina as nationalist groups, some with Communist ideologies,
struggled to win independence from France. Most of the fighting took place in
Vietnam, in a conflict known as the First Indochina War (1946-1954). In
Cambodia, Communist guerrilla forces allied with Vietnamese Communists gained
control of much of the country. However, King Sihanouk, through skillful
maneuvering, managed to gain Cambodia’s independence peacefully in 1953, a few
months earlier than Vietnam. The Geneva Accords of 1954, which marked the end of
the First Indochina War, acknowledged Sihanouk’s government as the sole
legitimate authority in Cambodia.
E | The Modern State |
Sihanouk’s campaign for independence
sharpened his political skills and increased his ambitions. In 1955 he abdicated
the throne in favor of his father to pursue a full-time political career, free
of the constitutional constraints of the monarchy. In a move aimed at
dismantling Cambodia’s fledgling political parties, Sihanouk inaugurated a
national political movement known as the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (People’s
Socialist Community), whose members were not permitted to belong to any other
political group. The Sangkum won all the seats in the national elections of
1955, benefiting from Sihanouk’s popularity and from police brutality at many
polling stations. Sihanouk served as prime minister of Cambodia until 1960, when
his father died and he was named head of state. Sihanouk remained widely popular
among the people but was brutal to his opponents.
In the late 1950s the Cold War (period
of tension between the United States and its allies and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, or USSR, and its allies) intensified in Asia. In this
climate, foreign powers, including the United States, the USSR, and China,
courted Sihanouk. Cambodia’s importance to these countries stemmed from events
in neighboring Vietnam, where tension had begun to mount between a Communist
regime in the north and a pro-Western regime in the south. The USSR supported
the Vietnamese Communists, while the United States opposed them, and China
wanted to contain Vietnam for security reasons. Each of the foreign powers hoped
that Cambodian support would bolster its position in the region. Sihanouk
pursued a policy of neutrality that drew substantial economic aid from the
competing countries.
In 1965, however, Sihanouk broke off
diplomatic relations with the United States. At the same time, he allowed North
Vietnamese Communists, then fighting the Vietnam War against the United States
and the South Vietnamese in southern Vietnam, to set up bases on Cambodian soil.
As warfare intensified in Vietnam, domestic opposition to Sihanouk from both
radical and conservative elements increased. The Cambodian Communist
organization, known as the Workers Party of Kâmpŭchéa (later renamed the
Communist Party of Kâmpŭchéa, or CPK), had gone underground after failing to win
any concessions at the Geneva Accords, but now they took up arms once again. As
the economy became unstable, Cambodia became difficult to govern
single-handedly. In need of economic and military aid, Sihanouk renewed
diplomatic relations with the United States. Shortly thereafter, in 1969, U.S.
president Richard Nixon authorized a bombing campaign against Cambodia in an
effort to destroy Vietnamese Communist sanctuaries there (see Secret
Bombing of Cambodia).
F | Coup of 1970 and the Khmer Republic |
In March 1970 Cambodia’s legislature,
the National Assembly, deposed Sihanouk while he was abroad. The conservative
forces behind the coup were pro-Western and anti-Vietnamese. General Lon Nol,
the country’s prime minister, assumed power and sent his poorly equipped army to
fight the North Vietnamese Communist forces encamped in border areas. Lon Nol
hoped that U.S. aid would allow him to defeat his enemies, but American support
was always geared to events in Vietnam. In April U.S. and South Vietnamese
troops invaded Cambodia, searching for North Vietnamese, who moved deeper into
Cambodia. Over the next year, North Vietnamese troops destroyed the offensive
capacity of Lon Nol’s army.
In October 1970 Lon Nol inaugurated the
Khmer Republic. Sihanouk, who had sought asylum in China, was condemned to death
despite his absence. By that time, Chinese and North Vietnamese leaders had
persuaded the prince to establish a government in exile, allied with North
Vietnam and dominated by the CPK, whom Sihanouk referred to as the Khmer Rouge
(French for “Red Khmers”).
The United States continued bombing
Cambodia until the Congress of the United States halted the campaign in 1973. By
that time, Lon Nol’s forces were fighting not only the Vietnamese but also the
Khmer Rouge. The general lost control over most of the Cambodian countryside,
which had been devastated by U.S. bombing. The fighting severely damaged the
nation’s infrastructure and caused high numbers of casualties. Hundreds of
thousands of refugees flooded into the cities. In 1975, despite massive
infusions of U.S. aid, the Khmer Republic collapsed, and Khmer Rouge forces
occupied Phnom Penh. Three weeks later, North Vietnamese forces achieved victory
in South Vietnam.
G | Democratic Kâmpŭchéa |
Immediately after occupying Cambodia’s
towns, the Khmer Rouge ordered all city dwellers into the countryside to take up
agricultural tasks. The move reflected both the Khmer Rouge’s contempt for urban
dwellers, whom they saw as enemies, and their utopian vision of Cambodia as a
nation of busy, productive peasants. The leader of the regime, who remained
concealed from the public, was Saloth Sar, who used the pseudonym Pol Pot. The
government, which called itself Democratic Kâmpŭchéa (DK), claimed to be seeking
total independence from foreign powers but accepted economic and military aid
from its major allies, China and North Korea.
Without identifying themselves as
Communists, the Khmer Rouge quickly introduced a series of far-reaching and
often painful socialist programs. The people given the most power in the new
government were the largely illiterate rural Cambodians who had fought alongside
the Khmer Rouge in the civil war. DK leaders severely restricted freedom of
speech, movement, and association, and forbade all religious practices. The
regime controlled all communications along with access to food and information.
Former city dwellers, now called 'new people,' were particularly badly treated.
The Khmer Rouge killed intellectuals, merchants, bureaucrats, members of
religious groups, and any people suspected of disagreeing with the party.
Millions of other Cambodians were forcibly relocated, deprived of food,
tortured, or sent into forced labor.
The Khmer Rouge also attacked
neighboring countries in an attempt to reclaim territories lost by Cambodia many
centuries before. After fighting broke out with Vietnam (then united under the
Communists) in 1977, DK’s ideology became openly racist. Ethnic minorities in
Cambodia, including ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese, were hunted down and expelled
or massacred. Purges of party members accused of treason became widespread.
People in eastern Cambodia, suspected of cooperating with Vietnam, suffered
severely, and hundreds of thousands of them were killed. While in power, the
Khmer Rouge murdered, worked to death, or killed by starvation close to 1.7
million Cambodians—more than one-fifth of the country’s population.
The war with Vietnam went badly for
Cambodia, and in the second half of 1978 the DK tried to open the country up to
the wider world, inviting journalists to visit and extending diplomatic
recognition to several nonsocialist countries. In December 1978 the Vietnamese
launched a blitzkrieg assault on Cambodia, using more than 100,000 troops. A
group of Cambodian Communist rebels, the Khmer National United Front for
National Salvation (KNUFNS), accompanied them. On January 7, 1979, the invading
forces occupied Phnom Penh, which the Khmer Rouge leaders had abandoned the day
before. Pol Pot, his colleagues, and hundreds of thousands of followers sought
refuge over the next few months along the Thai-Cambodian border. There they were
protected by the Thai regime, which was hostile to Vietnam.
H | Vietnamese Domination |
Vietnam established a satellite regime
called the People’s Republic of Kâmpŭchéa (PRK) in January 1979. The new
government included many former members of the Khmer Rouge who had defected to
Vietnam, as well as some Cambodians who had sought refuge in Vietnam before the
Khmer Rouge victory in 1975. After coming to power, the regime restored much of
Cambodia’s pre-1975 way of life, including the practice of Buddhism and a
nationwide education system. For the time being, however, agriculture remained
collectivized. Like all previous regimes, the new government treated its
opponents harshly; like the Khmer Rouge, it severely limited people’s freedom of
expression. The pro-Vietnamese Kâmpŭchéan Peoples’ Revolutionary Party (KPRP)
monopolized political power and swept the 1981 elections for the National
Assembly.
Meanwhile, remnants of the Khmer Rouge
and other Cambodians who had fled to Thailand formed an anti-Vietnamese
government in exile, which continued to be known as DK. China, Thailand, and the
United States had disapproved of the overthrow of DK, viewing it as Vietnamese
aggression, and encouraged the formation of the government in exile. With the
support of these countries, DK retained Cambodia’s seat in the United Nations
(UN). Only a few foreign governments, including the USSR and India, recognized
the PRK as Cambodia’s legitimate government. Foreign aid to Cambodia was largely
limited to the Soviet-led bloc of Communist nations.
Throughout the 1980s, Vietnam maintained
more than 100,000 troops in Cambodia. Conflict between PRK and DK forces,
combined with Cambodia’s relative isolation, produced continuing economic
instability. Thousands of people were killed in battle or maimed by landmines.
In 1985 Cambodia’s foreign minister, Hun Sen, became prime minister of the
PRK.
Weary of socialism and the harsh
conditions inside Cambodia, more than 500,000 Cambodians sought asylum in
Thailand in the 1980s. More than 300,000 of these people eventually resettled in
other countries, especially France and the United States. This outflow deprived
Cambodia of thousands of trained personnel and removed many members of the small
elite, whose ranks had already been thinned through execution and fatal
illnesses under the Khmer Rouge.
I | Cambodia Under Hun Sen |
In September 1989, as the Cold War ended
and Soviet financing of the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia fell sharply, Vietnam
withdrew its troops from Cambodia. The withdrawal left the Cambodian regime,
under Prime Minister Hun Sen, in a precarious position, deprived of all
substantial foreign aid and threatened militarily by the forces of the Khmer
Rouge and their allies on the Thai-Cambodian border. Soon afterward the PRK
officially abandoned socialism, renamed itself the State of Cambodia (SOC), and
introduced a range of reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment and
increasing the popularity of the ruling KPRP, renamed the Cambodian People’s
Party (CPP).
A program of privatization, which ended
collectivized agriculture, and a headlong rush toward free-market economics from
1989 to 1992 widened the inequities in Cambodian society. Some members of the
government became millionaires overnight, while the national economy was still
stumbling to its feet. As markets opened in Thailand and Vietnam, exploitation
of Cambodia’s gem and timber resources by foreign businesses became widespread.
Meanwhile, fighting between government and Khmer Rouge forces intensified, as
the Khmer Rouge occupied large areas in the relatively inhospitable northern
part of the country.
I1 | Power-Sharing Agreement |
In October 1991 Cambodia’s warring
factions, the UN, and a number of interested foreign nations signed an agreement
in Paris intended to end the conflict in Cambodia. The agreement provided for a
temporary power-sharing arrangement between a United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and a Supreme National Council (SNC) made up of
delegates from the various Cambodian factions. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the
former king and prime minister of Cambodia, served as president of the SNC.
The Paris accords and the UN
protectorate pushed Cambodia out of its isolation and introduced competitive
politics, dormant since the early 1950s. UNTAC sponsored elections for a
National Assembly in May 1993, and for the first time in Cambodian history a
majority of voters rejected an armed, incumbent regime. A royalist party, known
by its French acronym FUNCINPEC, won the most seats in the election, followed by
the CPP, led by Hun Sen. Reluctant to give up power, Hun Sen threatened to upset
the election results. Under a compromise arrangement, a three-party coalition
formed a government headed by two prime ministers; FUNCINPEC’s Prince Norodom
Ranariddh, one of Sihanouk’s sons, became first prime minister, while Hun Sen
became second prime minister.
I2 | Restoration of the Monarchy |
In September 1993 the government
ratified a new constitution restoring the monarchy and establishing the Kingdom
of Cambodia. Sihanouk became king for the second time. After the 1993 elections,
no foreign countries continued to recognize the DK as Cambodia’s legal
government. The DK lost its UN seat as well as most of its sources of
international aid.
I3 | Violent Coup |
The unrealistic power-sharing
relationship between Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen worked surprisingly well for
the next three years, but relations between the parties were never smooth. The
CPP’s control over the army and the police gave the party effective control of
the country, and it dominated the coalition government. In July 1997 Hun Sen
staged a violent coup against FUNCINPEC and replaced Prince Ranariddh, who was
overseas at the time, with Ung Huot, a more pliable FUNCINPEC figure. Hun Sen’s
action shocked foreign nations and delayed Cambodia’s entry into the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). By the end of 1997, Cambodia was the only
nation in the region that was not a member.
I4 | Elections of 1998 |
Despite the coup, elections scheduled
for July 1998 proceeded as planned. Hundreds of foreign observers who monitored
the elections affirmed that voting was relatively free and fair; however, the
CPP harassed opposition candidates and party workers before and after the
elections, when dozens were imprisoned and several were killed. The elections
gave the CPP a plurality of votes, but results, especially in towns, where
voting could not be dictated by local authorities, indicated that the party did
not enjoy widespread popular support.
Prince Ranariddh and another
opposition candidate, Sam Rainsy, took refuge abroad and contested the outcome
of the election. In November the CPP and FUNCINPEC reached an agreement whereby
Hun Sen became sole prime minister and Prince Ranariddh became president of the
National Assembly. The parties formed a coalition government, dividing control
over the various cabinet ministries. In early 1999 the constitution was amended
to create an upper house in the legislature, the Senate, as called for in the
1998 agreement. These signs that Cambodia’s political situation was stabilizing
encouraged ASEAN to admit Cambodia to its membership a short time later.
I5 | Khmer Rouge Tribunal |
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in
1998, and by early 1999 most of the remaining Khmer Rouge troops and leaders had
surrendered. Rebel troops were integrated into the Cambodian army. In 1999 two
Khmer Rouge leaders were arrested and charged with genocide for their part in
the atrocities. They were tried and convicted by a domestic military court.
Several other high-ranking Khmer Rouge leaders who had surrendered to the
government were allowed to live freely in Cambodia.
In June 2003 the United Nations (UN)
and the Cambodian government signed an agreement to set up a UN-assisted
genocide tribunal to try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The agreement capped
years of difficult negotiations, which had faltered over the level of foreign
control of the tribunal. The compromise agreement allows the majority of the
judges to be Cambodian but requires at least one foreign judge to support a
tribunal ruling.
I6 | Elections of 2003 |
The CPP, led by Prime Minister Hun
Sen, won a clear majority in the July 2003 election, beating its nearest rival
FUNCINPEC, the royalist party led by Prince Ranariddh. However, the CPP lacked
the two-thirds majority required by the constitution to form a new government.
FUNCINPEC then forged an alliance with the country’s third largest party, the
Sam Rainsy Party, to block attempts to form a new coalition. The country drifted
for almost a year, with no functioning legislature and a powerless caretaker
government. To end the stalemate, Hun Sen finally clinched a coalition deal with
Prince Ranariddh in July 2004. FUNCINPEC insisted on increasing the number of
ministerial posts, including the addition of 100 new cabinet members. The Sam
Rainsy Party boycotted the National Assembly, claiming the other two parties
violated constitutional procedures in forming the new government.
Citing ill health and weariness from
all the political wrangling, King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in October 2004. He
was succeeded by his son Norodom Sihamoni, a former ballet dancer whose only
previous public role was as Cambodia’s ambassador to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While the reigning
monarch formerly had great authority in Cambodia, the position is now largely
symbolic and wields no real power.
I7 | Cambodia’s Prospects |
Since the Paris Accords of 1991,
Cambodia’s economic growth has depended on millions of dollars of foreign aid.
Foreign interest in Cambodia has decreased, however, and the country has
received diminishing economic assistance. This development, along with the
continued lack of openness in Cambodian politics, has made Cambodia’s prospects
for democratization dim, as well as its chances for sustained economic
growth.
The Arts and Culture section of this
article was contributed by Dawn F. Rooney. The remainder of the article was
contributed by David Chandler.
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