Cambodia

Airports

total: 20 usable: 13 with permanent-surface runways: 6 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 8

Highways

total: 13,351 km (some roads in serious disrepair) paved: bituminous 2,622 km unpaved: crushed stone, gravel, or improved earth 7,105 km; unimproved earth 3,624 km

Inland waterways

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

Ports

Kampong Saom, Phnom Penh

Railroads

612 km 1.000-meter gauge, government owned

Telecommunications

service barely adequate for government requirements and virtually nonexistent for general public; international service limited to Vietnam and other adjacent countries; broadcast stations - 1 AM, no FM, 1 TV

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Khmer Royal Armed Forces (KRAF)

created in 1993 by the merger of the Cambodian People's Armed Forces and the two non-Communist resistance armies; note - the KRAF is also known as the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 2,182,912; fit for military service 1,217,357; reach military age (18) annually 67,463 (1994 est.)

Resistance forces

National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge)

Agriculture

accounts for 50% of GDP; mainly subsistence farming except for rubber plantations; main crops - rice, rubber, corn; food shortages - rice, meat, vegetables, dairy products, sugar, flour

Budget

revenues: $350 million expenditures: $350 million, including capital expenditures of $133 million (1994 est.)

Currency

1 new riel (CR) = 100 sen

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $725 million; Western (non-US countries) (1970-89), $300 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $1.8 billion; donor countries and multilateral institutions pledged $880 million in assistance in 1992

Electricity

capacity: 35,000 kW production: 70 million kWh consumption per capita: 9 kWh (1990)

Exchange rates

riels (CR) per US$1 - 2,390 (December 1993), 2,800 (September 1992), 500 (December 1991), 560 (1990), 159.00 (1988), 100.00 (1987)

Exports

$70 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: natural rubber, rice, pepper, raw timber partners: Thailand, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Vietnam

External debt

total outstanding bilateral official debt to OECD members $248 million (yearend 1991), plus 840 million ruble debt to former CEMA countries

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

secondary transshipment country for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle

Imports

$360 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: international food aid; fuels, consumer goods, machinery partners: Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Vietnam

Industrial production

growth rate 15.6% (year NA); accounts for 10% of GDP

Industries

rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

60% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $6 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$600 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

7.5% (1993 est.)

Overview

The Cambodian economy - virtually destroyed by decades of war - is slowly recovering. Government leaders are moving toward restoring fiscal and monetary discipline and have established good working relations with international financial institutions. Despite such positive developments, the reconstruction effort faces many tough challenges. Rural Cambodia, where 90% of almost ten million Khmer live, remains mired in poverty. The almost total lack of basic infrastructure in the countryside will hinder development and will contribute to a growing imbalance in growth between urban and rural areas over the near term. Moreover, the new government's lack of experience in administering economic and technical assistance programs, and rampant corruption among officials, will slow the growth of critical public sector investment. Inflation for 1993 as a whole was 60%, less than a quarter of the 1992 rate, and was declining during the year. The government hoped the rate would fall to 10% in early 1994.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 181,040 sq km land area: 176,520 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Oklahoma

Climate

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

Coastline

443 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation resulting in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural fisheries) natural hazards: monsoonal rains (June to November) international agreements: party to - Marine Life Conservation; signed, but not ratified - Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping

International disputes

offshore islands and sections of the boundary with Vietnam are in dispute; maritime boundary with Vietnam not defined; parts of border with Thailand in dispute; maritime boundary with Thailand not clearly defined

Irrigated land

920 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 2,572 km, Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam 1,228 km

Land use

arable land: 16% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 3% forest and woodland: 76% other: 4%

Location

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand and Vietnam

Map references

Asia, Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential

Note

a land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap

Terrain

mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north

Administrative divisions

20 provinces (khet, singular and plural); Banteay Meanchey, 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

Capital

Phnom Penh

Constitution

promulgated September 1993

Digraph

CB

Diplomatic representation in US

Ambassador SISOWATH SIRIRATH represents Cambodia at the United Nations

Executive branch

chief of state: King Norodom SIHANOUK (reinstated NA September 1993) head of government: power shared between First Prime Minister Prince Norodom RANARIDDH and Second Prime Minister HUN SEN cabinet: Council of Ministers; elected by the National Assembly

FAX

(855) 23-26437

Flag

horizontal band of red separates two equal horizontal bands of blue with a white three-towered temple representing Angkor Wat in the center

Independence

9 November 1949 (from France)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court established under the constitution has not yet been established and the future judicial system is yet to be defined by law

Legal system

currently being defined

Legislative branch

unicameral; a 120-member constituent assembly based on proportional representation within each province was establised following the UN-supervised election in May 1993; the constituent assembly was transformed into a legislature in September 1993 after delegates promulgated the constitution

Member of

ACCT (observer), AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, ITU, LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Kingdom of Cambodia conventional short form: Cambodia local long form: Reacheanachak Kampuchea local short form: Kampuchea

National holiday

Independence Day, 9 November 1949

Political parties and leaders

National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) under Prince NORODOM RANARIDDH; Cambodian Pracheachon Party or Cambodian People's Party (CPP) under CHEA SIM; Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party under SON SANN; Democratic Kampuchea (DK, also known as the Khmer Rouge) under KHIEU SAMPHAN

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

multiparty liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy established in September 1993

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Charles H. TWINING embassy: 27 EO Street 240, Phnom Penh mailing address: Box P, APO AP 96546 telephone: (855) 23-26436 or (855) 23-26438

Birth rate

45.09 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

16.36 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%

Infant mortality rate

110.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

2.5 million to 3 million by occupation: agriculture 80% (1988 est.)

Languages

Khmer (official), French

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 49.26 years male: 47.8 years female: 50.8 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 35% male: 48% female: 22%

Nationality

noun: Cambodian(s) adjective: Cambodian

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

10,264,628 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

2.87% (1994 est.)

Religions

Theravada Buddhism 95%, other 5%

Total fertility rate

5.81 children born/woman (1994 est.)