Background: Following a five-year struggle communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns; over 1 million displaced people died from execution or enforced hardships. A 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and touched off years of fighting.

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 443 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm
Extended economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to October; dry season (December to March; little seasonal temperature variation

Terrain: mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north

Natural resources: timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential

Land use: 16% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 3% meadows and pastures; 76% forest and woodland; 4% other; includes 1% irrigated

Geography
Note: buffer between Thailand and Vietnam

Population: 6,838,033 (July 1989), growth rate 2.2% (1989)

Nationality: noun - Cambodian(s; adjective - Cambodian

Ethnic groups: 90% Khmer (Cambodian), 5% Chinese, 5% other minorities

Languages: Khmer (official), French

Religions: 95% Theravada Buddhism, 5% other

Birth rate: 39 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 17 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Environment
Current issues: a land of paddies and forests dominated by Mekong River and Tonle Sap

Infant mortality rate: 131 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 47 years male, 50 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 4.6 children born/woman (1989)

Literacy: 48%

Country name: conventional long form: none

Government type: disputed

Capital: Phnom Penh

Administrative divisions: 18 provinces (khet, singular and plural) and 1 autonomous municipality* (rottatheanei, singular and plural; Batdambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Spoe, Kampong Thum, Kampot, Kandal, Kaoh Kong, Kracheh, Mondol Kiri, Phnum Penh*, Pouthisat, Preah Vihear, Prey Veng, Rotanokiri, Siemreab-Otdar Meanchey, Stoeng Treng, Svay Rieng, Takev; note - there may be a new province of Banteay Meanchey and Siemreab-Otdar Meanchey may have been divided into two provinces named Siemreab and Otdar Meanchey

Independence: 9 November 1953 (from France)

National holiday: DK Independence Day, 17 April (1975; PRK Liberation Day, 7 January (1979)

Constitution: 27 June 1981

Suffrage: none

Executive branch: Chief of State PRK - Chairman of the Council of State HENG SAMRIN (since 27 June 1981; CGDK - President Prince NORODOM SIHANOUK (since NA July 1982; Head of Government - PRK Chairman of the Council of Ministers HUN SEN (since 14 January 1985; CGDK - Prime Minister SON SANN (since NA July 1982; Vice President in Charge of Foreign Affairs KHIEU SAMPHAN (since NA July 1982)

Legislative branch: PRK - People's Republic of Kampuchea Armed Forces; resistance forces are the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge), Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces, and Sihanoukist National Army

International organization participation: ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, Mekong Committee (inactive), NAM, UN, UNE SCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO for CGDK; none for PRK

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none

Flag description: Democratic Kampuchea - red with the yellow silhouette of a stylized three-towered temple representing Angkor Wat in the center; Noncommunists - three horizontal bands of blue, red (double width), and blue with a white stylized temple representing Angkor Wat centered on the red band; People's Republic of Kampuchea - red with the yellow silhouette of a stylized five-towered temple representing Angkor Wat in the center

Economy overview: The economy is based on agriculture and related industries. Over the past decade Cambodia has been slowly recovering from its near destruction by war and political upheaval. It still remains, however, one of the world's poorest countries, with an estimated per capita GDP of under $100. The food situation is precarious; during the 1980s famine has been averted only through international relief. In 1986 the production level of rice, the staple food crop, was able to meet only 80% of domestic needs. The biggest success of the nation's recovery program has been in new rubber plantings and in fishing. In 1985 small quantities of rubber were exported, and the fish catch came to 65,000 tons. Industry, other than rice processing, is almost nonexistent. Foreign trade is primarily with the USSR and Vietnam. Statistical data on the economy continues to be sparse and unreliable.

Agriculture products: mainly subsistence farming except for rubber plantations; main crops - rice, rubber, corn; food shortages - rice, meat, vegetables, dairy products, sugar, flour

Industries: rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $3 million (f.o.b., 1986)
Commodities: natural rubber, rice, pepper, wood
Partners: Vietnam, USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, India

Imports: $17 million (c.i.f., 1986)
Commodities: international food aid; fuels, consumer goods
Partners: Vietnam, USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, India

Debt external: $NA

Exchange rates: riels (CR) per US$1 - 100.00 (1987), 30.00 (1986), 7.00 (1985)

Electricity
Capacity: 125,000 kW capacity; 143 million kWh produced, 21 kWh per capita (1988)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: NA

Airports: 25 total, 12 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Waterways: 3,700 km navigable all year to craft drawing 0.6 meters; 282 km navigable to craft drawing 1.8 meters

Disputes international: three short sections of the boundary with Vietnam are in dispute; occupied by Vietnam on 25 December 1978