Kampuchea

Kampuchea is the Khmer-language name for the Southeast Asian country commonly known in English as Cambodia. The term also designates historical states, most notably Democratic Kampuchea, the name used by the Khmer Rouge regime that governed from 1975 to 1979.

Kampuchea is bordered by Thailand to the west and northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh. The country features a predominantly low-lying terrain with the Mekong River and Tonle Sap Lake among its most important waterways. The official language is Khmer, and the population is primarily Khmer with minority communities.

Historically, the name derives from the ancient Khmer Kingdoms and the Khmer Empire centered at Angkor. In the modern era, Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953 under King Norodom Sihanouk. A civil conflict culminated in the Khmer Rouge seizing power in 1975 and implementing radical agrarian policies that caused widespread famine and executions. Vietnam invaded in 1978–79 and installed the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, which lasted until the 1990s. The Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 led to UN-administered elections and a transition to a constitutional monarchy.

Today Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with a king and a prime minister as head of government. The state operates under a constitution and a multiparty system, though the Cambodian People’s Party has been dominant in recent decades. An international tribunal has pursued accountability for Khmer Rouge crimes, though full justice remains incomplete.