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Cambodia vs Vietnam

Cambodia

vs

Vietnam

Green highlights the higher value (or higher GDP per capita). Figures are approximate.

Linked by the Mekong

Cambodia and Vietnam share a land border of roughly 1,200 km, and the Mekong River flows from Cambodia into Vietnam before reaching the sea through the Mekong Delta. That delta was once part of the Khmer world: Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) began as a Khmer settlement called Prey Nokor, and the region came under Vietnamese control in the 17th and 18th centuries. A Khmer Krom minority still lives there, and some Cambodians regard the loss of the delta as a historical grievance.

Angkor and the Vietnamese south

Cambodia's high point was the Khmer Empire, centred on Angkor from the 9th to the 15th century; Angkor Wat appears on its flag. Vietnam grew southward over the same centuries, absorbing Champa and then the delta. Under French rule both became part of French Indochina. Their languages, Khmer and Vietnamese, both belong to the Austroasiatic family, but they look nothing alike: Khmer has its own script, while Vietnamese uses Latin letters.

1979 and its legacy

The modern relationship turns on the Khmer Rouge period. The regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 killed or caused the deaths of a large share of the population and raided Vietnamese border villages. Vietnam invaded in December 1978, captured Phnom Penh in January 1979 and installed a new government, then kept troops in the country until 1989. Cambodians remember this both as liberation from the Khmer Rouge and as a decade of occupation, and questions about border demarcation and ethnic Vietnamese residents in Cambodia remain politically sensitive.

Economies and new projects

Vietnam has about six times Cambodia's population and a much larger economy, and is one of Cambodia's main trading partners. Cambodia relies on garments, tourism and construction, and its economy is highly dollarised, with US dollars used alongside the riel. Cambodia's Funan Techo canal, launched in 2024 to link the Mekong near Phnom Penh to its own coast, could reduce its reliance on Vietnamese waterways, and Vietnam has raised questions about its effect on the delta.

Getting across

The busiest crossing is at Bavet–Moc Bai on the road between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City, and boats also run down the Mekong to Chau Doc. Both countries use UTC+7.