Page 78 - Ancient Kingdoms: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam

• Location: Cambodia is bordered by Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

• Geography: The ancient Khmer kingdom we now call Cambodia is a nation of 16.2
million people in a country about the size of Missouri. This is a country of geographical
contrasts—the borders of Cambodia are mountainous and rugged, but a rich, alluvial
plain dominates the center of the country. Here the Mekong River, the Tonle Sap River,
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• Population: 16,204,486

• Religion: -`OOST^_ $! $ 8`^WTX $ Z_SP] `Y^[PNTʭPO #

• Time Zone: Cambodia is on Indochina Time, twelve hours ahead of U.S. EST. When it is
6am in Washington D.C., it is 6pm in Phnom Penh.

National Holidays: Cambodia

In addition to the holidays listed below, 03/08 International Women Day
Cambodia celebrates a number of national
05/01 Labor Day
holidays that follow a lunar calendar. To
ʭYO Z`_ TQ dZ` bTWW MP _]LaPWTYR O`]TYR _SP^P 09/24 Constitutional Day
holidays, please visit www.timeanddate.
com/holidays. 10/15 Commemoration Day of King’s Father

01/01 New Year’s Day 10/29 King’s Coronation Day

01/07 Victory over Genocide Day 11/09 Independence Day
12/10 International Human Rights Day

Historical Overview of Cambodia
Early History

Cambodia was once the center of the great Khmer empire that ruled much of central Southeast
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when Cambodia was part of the Kingdom of Funan. The Khmer people broke away from the
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invaded and conquered by warriors from Java. By A.D. 800, under Jayavarman II, the great
Khmer temples were built and a centralized government ruled the land from the Tonle Sap to
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they controlled what are now Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

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During a period of peace and prosperity from 1181 to 1201, the Khmer rulers conceived and
built an elaborate capital at Angkor Thom. Perhaps because of the lavish lifestyle and the costs
associated with the construction of Angkor Thom, the Khmer empire began a gradual decline
from this opulent peak, hastened by a series of wars with the Siamese.

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