Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Cambodia. A land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap (Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake). Mother's mean age at first birth is 23.3 years (2021-22 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 218 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos |
---|---|
Geographic coordinates | 13 00 N, 105 00 E |
Map references | Southeast Asia |
Tarrain | mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north |
Natural Resources | oil and gas, timber, gemstones, iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential, arable land |
Natural Hazards | monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding; occasional droughts |
Irrigated Land | 3,540 sq km (2012) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Mekong (shared with China [s], Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam [m]) - 4,350 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 2,530 km |
Border Countries | Laos 555 km; Thailand 817 km; Vietnam 1158 km |
Coastline | 443 km |
Climate | tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 176,515 sq km |
Water Area | 4,520 sq km |
comparative Area | one and a half times the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Oklahoma |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 12 nm |
Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
Continental shelf | 200 nm |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Phnum Aoral 1,810 m |
Lowest point | Gulf of Thailand 0 m |
Mean elevation | 126 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 32.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 22.7% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 8.5% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 56.5% (2018 est.) |
Other | 11.4% (2018 est.) |
Population concentrated in the southeast, particularly in and around the capital of Phnom Penh; further distribution is linked closely to the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers
In Cambodia, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Khmer 95.4%, Cham 2.4%, Chinese 1.5%, other 0.7% (2019-20 est.)
Population | |
---|---|
Pop growth rate | 0.99% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 18.2 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 5.7 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 7.5% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 1.9 beds/1,000 population (2016) |
Total fertility rate | 2.17 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 1.06 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 56.3% (2014) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 66.4% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 3.1% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -2.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Cambodian | Cambodian(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Buddhist (official) 97.1%, Muslim 2%, Christian 0.3%, other 0.5% (2019 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 28.9% (male 2,497,056/female 2,436,618) |
15-64 years | 65.8% (male 5,456,941/female 5,765,206) |
65 years and over | 5.3% (2024 est.) (male 323,591/female 584,257) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 53.4 |
Youth dependency ratio | 45 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 8.5 |
Potential support ratio | 11.8 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 27.9 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 26.9 years |
Female | 28.9 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 25.6% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 3.06% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 2.281 million PHNOM PENH (capital) (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.04 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.02 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 0.95 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.55 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.94 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 27.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 31.3 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 24.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 71.4 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 69.6 years |
Female | 73.3 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.3% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 80.6% of population |
Improved: total | total: 85.1% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.7% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 19.4% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 14.9% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 69.3% of population |
Improved: total | total: 76.8% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 30.7% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 23.2% of population (2020 est.) |
Major Infectious diseases | |
Degree of risk | very high (2023) |
Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever |
Vectorborne diseases | dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria |
Animal contact diseases | Rabies |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 4.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 4.12 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 21.1% (2020 est.) |
Male | 36.1% (2020 est.) |
Female | 6% (2020 est.) |
Cambodia is a predominantly rural country with among the most ethnically and religiously homogenous populations in Southeast Asia: more than 95% of its inhabitants are Khmer and more than 95% are Buddhist. The population’s size and age structure shrank and then rebounded during the 20th century as a result of conflict and mass death. During the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 as many as 1.5 to 2 million people are estimated to have been killed or died as a result of starvation, disease, or overwork – a loss of about 25% of the population. At the same time, emigration was high, and the fertility rate sharply declined. In the 1980s, after the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge, fertility nearly doubled and reached pre-Khmer Rouge levels of close to 7 children per woman, reflecting in part higher infant survival rates. The baby boom was followed by a sustained fertility decline starting in the early 1990s, eventually decreasing from 3.8 in 2000 to 2.9 in 2010, although the rate varied by income, education, and rural versus urban location. Despite continuing fertility reduction, Cambodia still has a youthful population that is likely to maintain population growth through population momentum. Improvements have also been made in mortality, life expectancy, and contraceptive prevalence, although reducing malnutrition among children remains stalled. Differences in health indicators are pronounced between urban and rural areas, which experience greater poverty.
Cambodia is predominantly a country of migration, driven by the search for work, education, or marriage. Internal migration is more prevalent than international migration, with rural to urban migration being the most common, followed by rural to rural migration. Urban migration focuses on the pursuit of unskilled or semi-skilled jobs in Phnom Penh, with men working mainly in the construction industry and women working in garment factories. Most Cambodians who migrate abroad do so illegally using brokers because it is cheaper and faster than through formal channels, but doing so puts them at risk of being trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Young Cambodian men and women migrate short distances across the Thai border using temporary passes to work in agriculture, while others migrate long distances primarily into Thailand and Malaysia for work in agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, and domestic service. Cambodia was a refugee sending country in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime, its ousting by the Vietnamese invasion, and the resultant civil war. Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled to Thailand; more than 100,000 were resettled in the US in the 1980s. Cambodia signed a multi-million dollar agreement with Australia in 2014 to voluntarily resettle refugees seeking shelter in Australia. However, the deal has proven to be a failure because of poor conditions and a lack of support services for the few refugees willing to accept the offer.
Want to know more about Cambodia? Check all different factbooks for Cambodia below.