Cambodia Map

A saucer around the Tonle Sap

Cambodia occupies the south-western part of the Indochinese Peninsula, 181,035 km² bordered by Thailand to the west and north-west, Laos to the north and Vietnam to the east and south-east, with about 440 km of coast on the Gulf of Thailand. It has about 17.8 million people (UN World Population Prospects, 2025 estimate). The country is shaped like a shallow saucer: a broad central lowland of rice fields and floodplain, rimmed by hills and mountains along most of its borders, with the Mekong flowing north to south through the east.

At the centre lies the Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Every wet season the Mekong rises so high that the Tonle Sap River, which joins it at Phnom Penh, reverses direction and pushes water back into the lake, which then swells to several times its dry-season area and floods the surrounding forest. When the Mekong falls in October and November the flow turns round again, an event celebrated at the Water Festival (Bon Om Touk). The lake's fishery is one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world and supplies much of the protein Cambodians eat.

Mountains, coast and the north-east

The Cardamom Mountains in the south-west hold the highest point, Phnom Aural (about 1,810 m), and one of the largest remaining rainforests in mainland Southeast Asia; the Elephant Mountains continue towards the sea at Kampot and Kep. Along the northern border with Thailand the Dangrek Mountains form a long escarpment, and the temple of Preah Vihear stands on its edge. In the north-east, the provinces of Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri rise to forested plateaus that are home to many of Cambodia's indigenous highland peoples. On the Mekong at Kratie, a small population of endangered Irrawaddy dolphins survives. The coast includes the port of Sihanoukville and offshore islands such as Koh Rong.

Wet and dry seasons

The south-west monsoon brings rain from about May to October, heaviest in September and October; roads in the north-east can become difficult. November to February is dry and relatively cool, the best time to visit Angkor, while March to May is hot, with temperatures around 35-40°C. The Tonle Sap's floating villages are reachable by boat most easily from about August to December, when water is high.

Major Cities

Cambodia is divided into 24 provinces (khaet) plus the capital, Phnom Penh, which has its own municipal status.

• Phnom Penh - The capital, with 2.3 million people at the 2019 census, at the "Four Arms" where the Tonle Sap and Bassac rivers meet the Mekong; site of the Royal Palace and, since September 2025, the new Techo International Airport.
• Siem Reap - The town north of the Tonle Sap that serves the temples of Angkor, with its own new international airport opened in 2023.
• Battambang - The centre of the rich north-western rice belt on the Sangkae River, known for its French-era shophouses and its circus school.
• Sihanoukville - Cambodia's only deep-water seaport, transformed in the 2010s by Chinese-funded casinos and construction.
• Poipet - The busiest land crossing to Thailand, on the road from Bangkok, lined with casinos; the crossing was closed during the 2025 border dispute.

Angkor and the making of modern Cambodia

The Khmer Empire, founded around 802 CE, ruled from Angkor over much of mainland Southeast Asia until the 15th century. Its greatest temple, Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century under Suryavarman II and dedicated to Vishnu before becoming Buddhist, is the largest religious monument in the world and appears on the national flag. After Angkor declined, Cambodia lost territory to Siam in the west and Vietnam in the Mekong Delta, and France made it a protectorate in 1863. Independence came in 1953 under King Norodom Sihanouk.

The Khmer Rouge took power in 1975 and emptied the cities; by January 1979, when Vietnamese forces drove them out, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people had died from execution, forced labour, starvation and disease. After the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements and UN-run elections in 1993 the monarchy was restored. Hun Sen led the government from 1985 to 2023, when his son Hun Manet succeeded him as prime minister; the Cambodian People's Party dominates politics. Cambodia joined ASEAN in 1999.

The Thai border dispute

Much of the border with Thailand dates from Franco-Siamese treaties of 1904-07, and some sections were never fully demarcated. In July 2025 fighting broke out around the Ta Muen Thom and Ta Krabey temples and spread along the frontier, killing dozens before a ceasefire mediated by Malaysia on 28 July. A peace declaration was signed in Kuala Lumpur in October 2025, but heavy fighting resumed in December, ending with a new ceasefire on 27 December 2025; across the year well over 100 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced on both sides. In 2026 the frontier was reported quiet, but many border crossings remained closed.

Economy and heritage

Garments, footwear and travel goods are the main exports, alongside rice, cassava and rubber, and tourism centres on Angkor. GDP per capita was about US$2,900 in 2025 (World Bank). The riel is the national currency, but US dollars are used for most larger transactions. Khmer is the official language and Theravada Buddhism the religion of more than 90% of people. Cambodia's World Heritage Sites are Angkor, the temple of Preah Vihear, the pre-Angkorian temple zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, the 10th-century capital of Koh Ker, and, since 2025, three memorial sites of the Khmer Rouge period: the Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison, the Choeung Ek killing field and the M-13 prison. The Royal Ballet of Cambodia, the classical dance tradition often called Apsara dance, is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.