Cambodia

Cambodia lies in Southeast Asia. The country was a part of French Indochina up until 1953 where the country obtained full independence.

The country has a constitutional monarchy led by Norodom Sihamoni who has been on the throne since 2004. During the Vietnam War, both, the Americans and the Vietnamese had interest in Cambodia. Thus, a period under the terror regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge was a fact and up to 1.5 million innocent people lost their lives. Towards the end of the 1980s, Vietnam invaded the country in order to expel the Khmer Rouge, and ended up staying for about 10 years until a peace accord in 1991 sent Vietnam out of the country. Elections in 1993 were the first steps towards peaceful times for the troubled country, and the last remaining Khmer Rouge elements surrendered in 1999.

The country has natural resources within bauxite, gold, iron ore, precious gems and rubber trees. In addition, oil deposits have been discovered off the coast of Cambodia which can help to lift the country substantially. There is also a large textile industry. However, there still exist big problems with illegal fishing as well as illegal lumber activities that are destroying parts of the country. Large parts of the population in the countryside are lacking potable water and basic infrastructure.
Capital: Phnom Penh
Size: 181,035 square kilometers
Religion: Buddhist 96.4% - 2.1% Muslim – Other 15.5% - Unspecified 0.2%
Population: 14,952,665
Government: Unitary Parliamentary / Constituional Monarchy
 
Infant Mortality Rate: 52.7 dead/1000 births
Hospital beds: 0,1 beds/1000 people
Life Expectancy: 63.41 Years
Health Expenditure: 5.7 % of GDP
Main Diseases: Malaria, Tuberculosis, Parasitic Diseases
Human Development Index Rank: 138 out of 186
 
Percentage of population living for less than $2 a day: 20 %