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.
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/english/cambodia/cambodia_people.htm
