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Cambodia
/ Population
Photo: Owning the largest lake of Southeast Asia, Tonle Sap,
and having the region's largest river, Mekong, crossing their
country, Cambodians have always lived in close contact with water.
Until today, houses are often built over water, either on stilts
or floating in a river (see below).
According
to Asiaweek's issue of July 6, 1994, Cambodia at that time
counted a population of 8.9 Millions. This makes Cambodia the
second smallest country in Southeast Asia in terms of population.
Most other Southeast Asian countries outnumber the population
of Cambodia several times: Indonesia with 191.1 Millions, Vietnam
with 73 Millions, the Philippines with 65.6 Millions, Thailand
with 59.5 Millions, Burma with 45 Millions and Malaysia with 19.4
Millions. Only Laos is less populated, with 4.5 Millions.
By comparison, the city state of Singapore counts a population
of around 3.1 Millions.
In 1975 Cambodia's
population numbered 7.2 Millions. During the fouryears reign of
the Khmer Rouge the population dropped to around 6 Millions
mostly due to the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge
but also owing to starvation and migration of large numbers of
people, especially ethnic Vietnamese.
The dominant
ethnic group are the Khmer, about 85 % of the population. The
remainder are mostly Vietnamese, along with around 100,000
ethnic Chinese, and some 100,000 Muslim Chams. A
number of primitive tribes make the remainder.
Photo: Houses on Mekong river, near Phnom Penh.
The Vietnamese
presently still count for more than 5 %, maybe even as much as
10 % of the population. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge
a large portion of Cambodia's Vietnamese population fled to
Vietnam but returned after the Vietnamese military invasion
in 1979, along with further Vietnamese imigrants.
After the
Khmer Rouge in 1993 attacked Cambodian families
of Vietnamese origin and cruelly killed entire families, including
women and children, at least 20,000 Cambodians of Vietnamese origin
fled to Vietnam.
In Cambodia
tensions between Khmer and ethnic Vietnamese have been the norm
for centuries, and ethnic Vietnamese are poorly integrated
into the Khmer population. Hatred of the Vietnamese and
anything Vietnamese is the only emotion the Khmer Rouge
can still incite in their countrymen.
Compared
to the ethnic Vietnamese the ethnic Chinese are better
integrated into the Khmer population.
Before the
Khmer Rouge took power in April 1975 the Chinese, or Khmer
families with Chinese ancestry, played an important part in the
Cambodian economy and in politics. Lon Nol, the dictator
who ruled Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge, had a Chinese
grandparent.
During the
reign of the Khmer Rouge the Chinese population of Cambodia,
too, suffered excessively, and many fled. Another wave of Cambodians
of Chinese origin left the country after the Vietnamese military
invasion in 1979 when relations between Vietnam and
China were anything but good.
In the middle
of the 90's the Chinese part of the Cambodian population was estimated
at about 100,000, equalling slightly less than 1 %.
The number
of remaining Chams is also around 100,000 (before Pol Pot's
rule there had been twice as many). The Chams had for several
centuries settled in the territory north of Phnom Penh but
originally they were from the Danang area in presentday
Vietnam. Until the 15th century the kingdom of Champa, centered
near presentday Danang, ruled the trade route between China and
Southeast Asia.
Subsequently,
the Chams were pushed farther and farther to the South
and West by the more numerous Vietnamese (Annamese). During
the time of the decline of the realm of Angkor they settled in
the territory of presentday Cambodia.
In the 17th
century, after the Khmer king Chan converted to Islam and
invited Malay Muslims into Cambodia, most Cham embraced Islam.
The influence of Malay Muslims can be recognized today
in many Cham customs, including the way they dress.
Only small
numbers of ethnic Thais and Laotians live in Cambodia
today. Their settlement areas are restricted to the western Cambodian
town of Battambang and the respective border areas. One reason
for the low penetration of Cambodia from these two neighbouring
countries is the topography of the border regions with
Thailand and Laos. While there are no natural boundaries between
Cambodia and South Vietnam (the region is one geographic entity)
the borders with Laos and Thailand clearly follow the mountain
ranges.
Statistical
Details
After 25
years of civil war Cambodia's number of illiterates is
among the highest worldwide. According to a report in Asiaweek
of July 6, 1994, about 65 % of the Cambodian population above
the age of 15 can neither read nor write.
Higher percentages
of illiterates in Asia are only found in Afghanistan (more than
70 %) and in Nepal (almost 75 %). By comparison, in Thailand the
number of illiterates above the age of 15 is 7 %, in Vietnam 12
%.
Infant
mortality (death within the first year of life) in Cambodia
is 111 per 1,000 live births, only surpassed by Bhutan (129) and
Afghanistan (164). In Thailand it is only 26, in Vietnam 37, in
Germany at 6 and in Japan at 4.
The average
life expectancy in Cambodia is 51 years. In Asia it is lower
only in Afghanistan (43 years). In Thailand it is 69 years, in
Vietnam 64, in Germany 76 and in Japan 79 years.
In Cambodia
there is one physician per 16,365 people. Only Nepal is
worse off with 16,830 people per doctor. In Thailand there is
one doctor per 4,361 people, in Vietnam per 2,857. In Germany
there is one physician per 333 people, in Italy even per 210 people.
Cambodia
is top of the list in its lack of telephones. 1,212 persons
share one phone. In well provided Thailand it is only 26.3, in
Vietnam 386 people per telephone. In Germany statistically 1.8
persons share one phone, in Switzerland only 1.1 persons.
This page: http://www.cockatoo.com/cambodia/e-01land/ec-lan13.htm
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