Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire that extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the empire, ushering in a long period of decline. The king placed the country under French protection in 1863, and it became part of French Indochina in 1887. Following the Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia gained full independence from France in 1953. In April 1975, after a seven-year struggle, communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh and evacuated all cities and towns. At least 1.5 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off 20 years of civil war.
land: 176,515 sq km
water: 4,520 sq km
border countries (3): Laos 555 km; Thailand 817 km; Vietnam 1158 km
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m
mean elevation: 126 m
arable land: 22.7% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 8.5% (2018 est.)
forest: 56.5% (2018 est.)
other: 11.4% (2018 est.)
16,891,245 (2023 est.)
noun: Cambodian(s)
adjective: Cambodian
Khmer 95.4%, Cham 2.4%, Chinese 1.5%, other 0.7% (2019-20 est.)
Khmer (official) 95.8%, minority languages 2.9%, Chinese 0.6%, Vietnamese 0.5%, other 0.2% (2019 est.)
major-language sample(s):
សៀវភៅហេតុការណនៅលើពិភពលោក។ ទីតាំងពត៏មានមូលដានគ្រឹះយាងសំខាន់។. (Khmer)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Buddhist (official) 97.1%, Muslim 2%, Christian 0.3%, other 0.5% (2019 est.)
Cambodia is a predominantly rural country with among the most ethnically and religiously homogenous populations in Southeast Asia: more than 95% of its inhabitants are Khmer and more than 95% are Buddhist. The population’s size and age structure shrank and then rebounded during the 20th century as a result of conflict and mass death. During the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 as many as 1.5 to 2 million people are estimated to have been killed or died as a result of starvation, disease, or overwork – a loss of about 25% of the population. At the same time, emigration was high, and the fertility rate sharply declined. In the 1980s, after the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, fertility nearly doubled and reached pre-Khmer Rouge levels of close to 7 children per woman, reflecting in part higher infant survival rates. The baby boom was followed by a sustained fertility decline starting in the early 1990s, eventually decreasing from 3.8 in 2000 to 2.9 in 2010, although the rate varied by income, education, and rural versus urban location. Despite continuing fertility reduction, Cambodia still has a youthful population that is likely to maintain population growth through population momentum. Improvements have also been made in mortality, life expectancy, and contraceptive prevalence, although reducing malnutrition among children remains stalled. Differences in health indicators are pronounced between urban and rural areas, which experience greater poverty.Cambodia is predominantly a country of migration, driven by the search for work, education, or marriage. Internal migration is more prevalent than international migration, with rural to urban migration being the most common, followed by rural to rural migration. Urban migration focuses on the pursuit of unskilled or semi-skilled jobs in Phnom Penh, with men working mainly in the construction industry and women working in garment factories. Most Cambodians who migrate abroad do so illegally using brokers because it is cheaper and faster than through formal channels, but doing so puts them at risk of being trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Young Cambodian men and women migrate short distances across the Thai border using temporary passes to work in agriculture, while others migrate long distances primarily into Thailand and Malaysia for work in agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, and domestic service. Cambodia was a refugee sending country in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime, its ousting by the Vietnamese invasion, and the resultant civil war. Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled to Thailand; more than 100,000 were resettled in the US in the 1980s. Cambodia signed a multi-million dollar agreement with Australia in 2014 to voluntarily resettle refugees seeking shelter in Australia. However, the deal has proven to be a failure because of poor conditions and a lack of support services for the few refugees willing to accept the offer.
0-14 years: 29.47% (male 2,518,910/female 2,459,235)
15-64 years: 65.39% (male 5,362,180/female 5,682,247)
65 years and over: 5.14% (2023 est.) (male 308,931/female 559,742)
total dependency ratio: 53.4
youth dependency ratio: 45
elderly dependency ratio: 8.5
potential support ratio: 11.8 (2021 est.)
total: 27.6 years (2023 est.)
male: 26.6 years
female: 28.5 years
1.04% (2023 est.)
18.8 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
5.7 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-2.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
population concentrated in the southeast, particularly in and around the capital of Phnom Penh; further distribution is linked closely to the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers
urban population: 25.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2.281 million PHNOM PENH (capital) (2023)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.55 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
23.3 years (2021-22 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
218 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 28.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 32.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 25.1 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 71 years (2023 est.)
male: 69.2 years
female: 73 years
2.2 children born/woman (2023 est.)
1.08 (2023 est.)
56.3% (2014)
improved: urban: 99.3% of population
rural: 80.6% of population
total: 85.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.7% of population
rural: 19.4% of population
total: 14.9% of population (2020 est.)
7.5% of GDP (2020)
0.19 physicians/1,000 population (2014)
1.9 beds/1,000 population (2016)
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: 69.3% of population
total: 76.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: 30.7% of population
total: 23.2% of population (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
animal contact diseases: Rabies
3.9% (2016)
total: 4.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 4.12 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 21.1% (2020 est.)
male: 36.1% (2020 est.)
female: 6% (2020 est.)
16.3% (2022)
66.4% (2023 est.)
3.1% of GDP (2020 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.9%
male: 88.4%
female: 79.8% (2021)
illegal logging activities throughout the country and strip mining for gems in the western region along the border with Thailand have resulted in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural fisheries); soil erosion; in rural areas, most of the population does not have access to potable water; declining fish stocks because of illegal fishing and overfishing; coastal ecosystems choked by sediment washed loose from deforested areas inland
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation
agricultural land: 32.1% (2018 est.)
arable land: 22.7% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 8.5% (2018 est.)
forest: 56.5% (2018 est.)
other: 11.4% (2018 est.)
urban population: 25.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
0.84% of GDP (2018 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 17.8 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 9.92 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 14.88 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 1.089 million tons (2014 est.)
fresh water lake(s): Tonle Sap - 2,700-16,000 sq km
Mekong (shared with China [s], Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam [m]) - 4,350 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Pacific Ocean drainage: Mekong (805,604 sq km)
municipal: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 30 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 2.05 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
476.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
one of the fastest growing economies; tourism and clothing exports; substantial manufacturing and construction sectors; COVID-19 declines and the suspension of EU market preferential access; massive reductions in poverty, but rural areas remain disproportionately poor
$72.238 billion (2021 est.)
$70.116 billion (2020 est.)
$72.356 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
3.03% (2021 est.)
-3.1% (2020 est.)
7.05% (2019 est.)
$4,400 (2021 est.)
$4,300 (2020 est.)
$4,500 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$22.09 billion (2017 est.)
2.92% (2021 est.)
2.94% (2020 est.)
1.94% (2019 est.)
Moody’s rating: B2 (2007)
Standard & Poors rating: N/A (2014)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 25.3% (2017 est.)
industry: 32.8% (2017 est.)
services: 41.9% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 76% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 5.4% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 21.8% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 1.2% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 68.6% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -73% (2017 est.)
cassava, rice, maize, vegetables, sugar cane, soybeans, rubber, oil palm fruit, bananas, pork
tourism, garments, construction, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles
9.37% (2021 est.)
9.345 million (2021 est.)
0.61% (2021 est.)
0.33% (2020 est.)
0.15% (2019 est.)
note: high underemployment, according to official statistics
total: 1.8% (2021 est.)
male: 1.6%
female: 2.1%
16.5% (2016 est.)
37.9 (2008 est.)
on food: 42.3% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 2.2% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 28% (2013 est.)
revenues: $7.254 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $6.452 billion (2019 est.)
-1.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
30.4% of GDP (2017 est.)
29.1% of GDP (2016 est.)
17.89% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
calendar year
-$12.321 billion (2021 est.)
-$2.197 billion (2020 est.)
-$4.065 billion (2019 est.)
$20.126 billion (2021 est.)
$20.29 billion (2020 est.)
$21.072 billion (2019 est.)
note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.
United States 35%, China 7%, Germany 7%, Vietnam 7%, Japan 6% (2021)
clothing and footwear, trunks and cases, rice, rubber, light fixtures (2021)
note: Cambodian methamphetamine production remains a significant illicit trade export
$32.83 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$23.091 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$25.516 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
China 27%, Thailand 25%, Vietnam 15%, Singapore 8% (2019)
refined petroleum, clothing, gold, cars, flavored water (2019)
$20.27 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$21.328 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$18.771 billion (31 December 2019 est.)
$11.87 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$10.3 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
riels (KHR) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
4,098.723 (2021 est.)
4,092.783 (2020 est.)
4,061.149 (2019 est.)
4,051.167 (2018 est.)
4,050.58 (2017 est.)
population without electricity: 4 million (2020)
electrification - total population: 82.5% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 98.9% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 77.1% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 2.954 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 10,288,340,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 3.063 billion kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 1.187 billion kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 52% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 45.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 2.974 million metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 3.311 million metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 64,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
43,030 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
13.844 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 4.837 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 9.007 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
13.629 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 6 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 25
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 1,411,059 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 680,000 (2018) mt-km
XU
16 (2021)
6
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
10
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
1 (2021)
total: 642 km (2014)
narrow gauge: 642 km (2014) 1.000-m gauge
note: under restoration
total: 47,263 km (2013)
paved: 12,239 km (2013)
unpaved: 35,024 km (2013)
3,700 km (2012) (mainly on Mekong River)
total: 242 (2022)
by type: container ship 2, general cargo 159, oil tanker 18, other 63
major seaport(s): Sihanoukville (Kampong Saom)
river port(s): Phnom Penh (Mekong)
manyapis