Page 80 - Ancient Kingdoms: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam

the Vietnamese installed a new government. Until 1990 civil war continued sporadically in
Cambodia, but gradually the murderous followers of Pol Pot were eliminated from power. Pol
Pot died under house arrest in 1998.

Recent Years

?S]Z`RSZ`_ _SP $$ ɪ^ @YT_PO 9L_TZY^ [PLNPVPP[TYR PʬZ]_^ SPW[PO ^_LMTWTeP _SP NZ`Y_]d
-d $$" L RZaP]YXPY_ LXYP^_d NZYaTYNPO XZ^_ 6SXP] =Z`RP [L]_T^LY^ _Z NPL^P ʭRS_TYR
and on October 4, 2004 the Cambodian National Assembly agreed with the U.N. to set up
LY TY_P]YL_TZYLW bL] N]TXP^ _]TM`YLW _Z _]d ^PYTZ] 6SXP] =Z`RP ZʯNTLW^ QZ] _SP RPYZNTOP ZQ
_SP $" ^ ?SP ʭ]^_ _]TLW MPRLY TY $ LRLTY^_ _SP QZ]XP] SPLO ZQ _SP TYQLXZ`^ ?`ZW >WPYR
Prison, Brother Dutch. He was convicted of crimes against humanity in 2010, and although he
appealed, the conviction was upheld in 2012. More leaders are expected to be tried over the
next decade.

,YZ_SP] ^_LMTWTeTYR TYʮ`PYNP O`]TYR ]PNPY_ OPNLOP^ SL^ MPPY _SP ]P_`]Y ZQ _SP XZYL]NSd
in 1993, when King Sihanouk was restored to the throne. In 2004, ill health forced him to
abdicate in favor of his son, Norodom Sihamoni, who currently reigns as a constitutional
monarch (similar to the system in Great Britain). But even after abdicating, King Sihanouk
NZY_TY`PO _Z MP L [Z[`WL] ʭR`]P LYO XLYd bP]P ^LOOPYPO bSPY SP [L^^PO LbLd ZY :N_ZMP]
15th, 2012 from a heart attack only 16 days before his 90th birthday.

Recent events in Cambodia have focused on the government’s approval of a controversial
hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Mekong River. Known as Lower Sesan 2, the dam could
provide much-needed electric power and improve Cambodia’s relations with other countries
(some of the funding is coming from abroad, mostly China). But opponents fear the dam’s
impact on the ecology and the thousands of villagers who will need to be moved from the
ʮZZO[WLTY^

Vietnam

Facts & Figures

• Area: 127,800 square miles

• Capital: Hanoi

• Languages: ATP_YLXP^P ZʯNTLW 0YRWT^S TYN]PL^TYRWd QLaZ]PO L^ L ^PNZYO WLYR`LRP
some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and
Malayo-Polynesian)

• Ethnicities: Kinh (Viet) 85.7%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.8%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.5%, Mong
1.2%, Nung 1.1%, other 5.3%

• Location: Vietnam is bordered by the South China Sea (“the East Sea”), China, Laos,
and Cambodia.

80