Cambodia - Geography
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.)
Geographical data of Cambodia
| 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 | 34.6% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 23.3% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 2.8% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 8.5% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 43.9% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 21.4% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
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
People and Society
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 | |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 0.7 beds/1,000 population (2018 est.) |
| 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 | |
| Education expenditures | |
| 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 | 52.1 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 44 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 8.1 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 12.4 (2024 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.) |
| 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 | 14.5% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 24.9% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 4.7% (2025 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 1.9% (2022) |
| Women married by age 18 | 17.9% (2022) |
| Men married by age 18 | 3.3% (2022) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Cambodia
Want to know more about Cambodia? Check all different factbooks for Cambodia below.
