About Cambodia
Cambodia is a nation that has an abundance of beautiful scenery and is renowned throughout the world for it's friendly and welcoming populace. In recent years Cambodia has experienced an emergence into the modern world and with a series of innovative reforms is truly developing into a 21 st century country. To help you understand Cambodia better we have provided some general information outlining the country below.
Please be advised that all the information contained on this page is liable to change without prior warning. If you would like more comprehensive or up to date information please contact a travel expert before departing for Cambodia.
Official Name: Kingdom of Cambodia, also known simply as Cambodia or Kampuchea. Cambodia 's name has change a number of times in the 20 th century and former names for the country have included Khmer Republic, Democratic Kampuchea, People's republic of Kampuchea, and the State of Cambodia.
Capital: The capital of Cambodia is Phnom Penh, which is located roughly in the center of the country along the banks of the Mekong River. Phnom Penh is the economic and cultural capital of the nation as well as being the seat of political power.
Location : Cambodia is located in South East Asia and shares land borders with Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The country has immediate access to the Gulf of Thailand and boasts a number of large and successful sea ports because of this.
Size: The total size of Cambodia is approximately 181,040 Square Kilometers, and this makes the nation slightly smaller than the American state of Oklahoma.
Climate: Cambodia has a tropical climate and as such experiences clearly defined wet and dry seasons. The wet season occurs from May through October and it is at this time when there are wide spread floods. The Dry season is from November through April, however much of this is characterized by high temperatures and oppressive humidity. Many tourists choose to visit Cambodia during December and January as the weather is cooler at this time than at any other point during the year.
Population: There is an estimated population of 13.9 million in Cambodia, however due to the presence of HIV/Aids and a number of other health risks this number fluctuates regularly and can be difficult to estimate.
Life expectancy at birth: Cambodians have an average life expectancy of 61.29 years at birth. This is one of the lowest life expectancies in the world and is primarily due to the fact that the country experiences annual widespread famine and that the healthcare infrastructure and social services network are not well developed.
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS: Approximately 2.6% of the Cambodian population has HIV/Aids. This means that approximately 170,000 people live with the disease making Cambodia home to one of the highest Aids rates in Asia.
Major illnesses: There are a number of major disease risks in Cambodia. Serious health threats include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, Hepatitis A, B, C, and E, Typhoid Fever, Dengue Fever, Malaria, Japanese Encephalitis, and H5N1 (bird flu) has been identified in the wild and captive bird populations of the country.
Ethnic Groups: Cambodia is a fairly homogenous society with approximately 90% of the population being of Khmer ethnicity. Other major ethnicities in the country include Vietnamese (5%), Chinese (1%) and other miscellaneous (4%).
Languages: The official language of Cambodia is Khmer, which roughly 95% of the population speaks. English and French are also widely spoken and used in many official scenarios. It is important to note, however, that while much of the population speaks Khmer, many of the outlying regions will speak a local dialect that can be untranslatable into Khmer.
Religion: The majority of the population in Cambodia is Buddhist (95%) and as such the nation displays Buddhist ideas and ideals. There are other religions practiced in Cambodia however these are often hard to notice.
Government: Cambodia is a Multi Party Democratic Constitutional Monarchy. This essentially means that there is a democratic regime taking place underneath a central monarchy, however the royal family has very little overall power and it is the head of government that has the most control of the country. The Cambodian government is very similar to the government of Thailand.
Head of State: The Cambodian Head of State is King Norodom Shiamoni. The king is a cultural figure head only and holds very little power, he is, however, well respected and his “advice” often carries great weight with the Cambodian political establishment.
Head of Government: Prime Minister Hun Sen is the head of the Cambodian government and the leader of the coalition majority party, he is the political strength of the country.
Military: There is mandatory military service for all males aged 18 – 30 with an 18 month conscription obligation in Cambodia. This military service may apply even if the individual has become a naturalized citizen of another nation. At present there is a large military in Cambodia.
Economy : In the 20 th century Cambodia was characterized by frequent social upheaval and civil strife, this had a major impact on the state of the nations economic development. After the Khmer Rouge was overthrown and with the establishment of a populist government Cambodia began to make wide sweeping reforms in regards to the state of its economy. Since 1999 the Cambodian market and economy has grown by an average of 6.4% a year and the nation is quickly emerging as a new potential Asian Economic powerhouse and this has lead to high levels of foreign investment and trade. The main industry in Cambodia is tourism, which continues to grow rapidly and is seen as the benchmark for the rest of the economy to aspire to.
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 has not reached its full potential there is still room for lots of improvement.
For more information about Cambodia, the international health insurance plans that we can offer there, or to receive a free quote, please contact one of our expert advisers today.
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