cambodia

Cambodia is the traditional English name, taken from the French Cambodge, while Kâmpŭchea , formerly the name of the country in English, is the direct transliteration, more faithful to the Khmer pronunciation.

In 1863, King Norodom, who had been installed by Thailand,[24] sought the protection of France from the Thai and Vietnamese, after tensions grew between them. In 1867, the Thai king signed a treaty with France, renouncing suzerainty over Cambodia in exchange for the control of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces which officially became part of Thailand. The provinces were ceded back to Cambodia by a border treaty between France and Thailand in 1906.



Cambodia has an area of 181,035 square kilometers (69,898 sq mi) and lies entirely within the tropics. It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. It has a 443-kilometer (275 mi) coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.

Most of the country lies at elevations of less than 100 metres above sea level, the exceptions being the Cardamom Mountains and their southeast extension the Dâmrei Mountains ("Elephant Mountains"), as well the steep escarpment of the Dângrêk Mountains along the border with Thailand's Isan region.

Cambodia's climate, like that of the rest of Southeast Asia is dominated by Monsoons, which are known as tropical wet and dry because of the distinctly marked seasonal difference.

Cambodia has a wide variety of plants and animals. There are 212 mammal species, 536 bird species, 240 reptile species, 850 freshwater fish species (Tonle Sap Lake area), and 435 marine fish species. Much of this biodiversity is contained around the Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding biosphere.



The Khmer language is a member of the Mon-Khmer subfamily of the Austroasiatic language group. French, once the language of government in Indochina, is still spoken by some older Cambodians. French is also the language of instruction in some schools and universities that are funded by the government of France. Cambodian French, a remnant of the country's colonial past, is a dialect found in Cambodia and is sometimes used in government.

Cambodia is the 81th country visiting this blog