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Cambodia is a small country located in Southeast Asia. The countries Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam border it on three sides and the Gulf of Thailand borders it on the fourth. Buddhism is the predominant religion in Cambodia. It is a home of many ancient statues, such as the Tower of Bayon, in Angkor Thom. The education in Cambodia is poor, as the students only have to go to school from the ages of six to twelve. There is a high percentage of adult illiteracy. Only the rich can afford to send their children to the one university in the country. There is a severe shortage of textbooks, laboratories, and equipment. Farming is the main occupation for most of the people in Cambodia.

GOVERNMENT

Cambodia is ruled by a multiparty liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy established in September 1993. The chief of state is King Norodom Sihanouk, and the head of government is Prime Minister Hun Sen. Cambodia gained its independence from France on November 9th, 1953. The Constitution was promulgated on September 21st, 1993. Its legal system is primarily a civil law mixture of French-influenced codes from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period, royal decrees, and acts of the legislature, with influences of customary law and remnants of communist legal theory; increasing influence of common law in recent years. The Cabinet is a Council of Ministers appointed by the Monarch.

HISTORY

Around 2000 B.C, Cambodia had domesticated cattle, pigs, and water buffalo and had learned how to cultivate rice. They probably learned how to grow rice from the Chinese, who had already discovered how to do it. Around 600 B.C, Cambodians learned how to work with iron. Before, they had only been using bronze. India influenced Cambodia in many different ways. India brought their jewelry, their names, and their language, Sanskrit, to Cambodia. Sanskrit influenced Cambodia’s modern language of Khmer in many different ways. Funan, the Chinese name for Cambodia, was derived from the Khmer word Phnom, meaning hill. Between around 350 A.D .and 550 A.D., Cambodia was a rich trading center between India and China. It also extended its boundaries north and east. But around the year 550 A.D., disastrous floods began to weaken the government.

CLIMATE

Cambodia is located between 10 and 15 degrees north of the equator, with a result that it is always warm. The temperature hovers around 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 60 degrees at night. Cambodia has monsoons, like most of South and Southeast Asia. A monsoon is a kind of wind that changes direction twice a year, which governs the weather. The monsoon season takes place form May to October. In the monsoon season it rains almost everyday, usually about an hour in the afternoon. Towards the end of the monsoon season the rains get very heavy. By the end of the rainy season, most of the country is one foot beneath the water. Because of this, most of the country is on stilts.

ATTRACTIONS

Two major attractions in Cambodia are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Angkor Wat is a temple mountain, like Bayon. A temple mountain is a monument whose purpose was to associate the king with his personal deity. Angkor Thom is a large walled area in which Bayon is located. Bayon has many different statues and towers, all which stand for a different person or god. For example, Jayavarman the seventh created Bayon’s giant faces to stand for bodhisattva.