Following a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns; over 1 million displaced people died from execution or enforced hardships. A 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and touched off 13 years of fighting. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy, as did the rapid diminishment of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1990s. A coalition government, formed after national elections in 1998, brought renewed political stability and the surrender of remaining Khmer Rouge forces.

Cambodia is now officially the Kingdom of Cambodia. Cambodia owns large forests of the most precious woods and the most productive gem mines of the world (except diamonds). Much of the country is a fertile plain nurtured by one of the most powerful rivers of Asia, the Mekong.

from CIA World Fact Book and various sources

For more information on our Cambodia affairs, please contact:
Frances Zwenig
Counselor covering Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam
fzwenig@usasean.org or

Sarah Chambers
Manager, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos Affairs
schambers@usasean.org

Please contact Sarah Chambers at schambers@usasean.org for upcoming Cambodia event in the works.

more upcoming events

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GDP: $25.79 billion (2007 est.)
GDP Growth Rate: 9.1% (2007 est.)
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Export-Import
U.S. export to Cambodia: $ 138.8 million (2007)
U.S. import from Cambodia: $ 2,463.3 million (2007)
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Currency Rate