Fast Facts

Location

• Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos

Population

• 13,607,069
  note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)

Coastline

• 443 km

Climate

• tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation

Terrain

• mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north

Land Use

• arable land: 20.96%
  permanent crops: 0.61%
  other: 78.43% (2001)

Natural Hazards

• monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding; occasional droughts

Age Structure of Population

• 0-14 years: 37.3% (male 2,559,734/female 2,510,235)
  15-64 years: 59.7% (male 3,887,642/female 4,232,313)
  65 years and over: 3.1% (male 150,862/female 266,283) (2005 est.) (More than 50% of the population is 20 years or younger. )

Ethinc Groups

• Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%

Religion

• Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5%

Languages

• Khmer (official) 95%, French, English

Government Type

• multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy established in September 1993