Country information - Cambodia

Recent history in brief

The independence of the former French colony in 1953 was followed by years of domestic war and violence until the communist Khmer Rouge conquered the capital of Phnom Penh in 1975 and started to evacuate its inhabitants to the countryside. Under the brutal regime led by Pol Pot over 1.5 million people (10% of the total population) were murdered or died from continuous violence and starvation.

In 1978 neighboring Vietnam stood an attack of Pol Pot's regime and subsequently occupied Cambodia for the 10 years to follow. In the early nineties the parties agreed on a cease-fire and the country saw democratic elections supervised by the UN.

Only in 1999 the remaining living members of the Khmer Rouge surrendered. A few of them are still awaiting trial at a UN sponsored tribunal, which is not in place yet. Cambodia last held elections in 2003, which were relatively peaceful.

Country and lifestyle

The Mekong River and Lake Tonle Sap make Cambodia an extremely fertile country. Agriculture is still very important; its main products are rice, rubber, corn, vegetables, cashew nuts, and tapioca. Other than tourism Cambodia does not have a real industry though it does have rice processing, timber and fishery. The countryside offers very little work other than livestock farming and fruit cultivation. This leaves few dreams for young Cambodians. "I want to be a pilot or CEO when I grow up' is not ambition they would know of.

Over 50% of the population is below 20 years of age. Levels of education are low and the infrastructure is in a deplorable state. Less than 50 years ago Pol Pot evacuated everybody from the cities and murdered everybody believed to be 'an intellectual'. It thus comes hardly as a surprise that Cambodians rather not return to the cities. Even more so, educating the younger generation is a huge challenge. How can one fulfill such an enormous demand when little if any teachers remain? Even more so, land mines are everywhere and the recent history and current government do not add to an environment in which Cambodians trust other people easily.

Facts & figures