122-484: Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Cambodia have several levels. Cambodia is divided into 24 provinces ( khaet ; Khmer : ខេត្ត ) and the special administrative unit and capital of Phnom Penh . Though a different administrative unit, Phnom Penh is at provincial level, so de facto Cambodia has 25 provinces and municipalities. Each province is divided into districts . As of 2023, there are 162 districts throughout
244-640: A Devaraja . They and their followers instituted the cult of the God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the area from the 9th to the 15th centuries. During the rule of Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by the Mongol army of Kublai Khan ; the king was able to buy peace. Around the 13th century, Theravada missionaries from Sri Lanka reintroduced Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia, having sent missionaries previously in
366-510: A United Nations mission (1992–93). The UN withdrew after the 1993 Cambodian general election , decided by around 90% of registered voters. The 1997 coup d'état consolidated power under Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP). While constitutionally a multi-party state, the CPP dominates the political system and dissolved its main opposition party in 2017, making it
488-842: A de facto one-party state . The UN currently designates it a least developed country . Cambodia is a member of the United Nations , ASEAN , the RCEP , the East Asia Summit , the WTO , the Non-Aligned Movement and La Francophonie , and a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation . Agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade. It
610-579: A pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to avoid being purged by Pol Pot and Ta Mok . It was fully beholden to the occupying Vietnamese army and under the direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam and the Soviet Union. In opposition to
732-817: A 10th-century inscription of a Cambodian dynastic legend in which the hermit Kambu Swayambhuva and the celestial nymph Mera unite and establish the Cambodian Solar royal dynasty (Kambu-Mera), that begins with the Chenla ruler Srutavarman and his son Sreshthavarman . Coedes suggests that the Kambu Swayambhuva legend has its origins in southern India, as a version of the Kanchi Pallava dynasty creation myth. Colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either Srok Khmer ( ស្រុកខ្មែរ Srŏk Khmêr , pronounced [srok kʰmae] ; meaning "Land of
854-512: A God who battled and defeated the wrong doers that threaten the ethical order of the world. Hinduism does not have a single historical founder, a centralized imperial authority in India proper nor a bureaucratic structure, thus ensuring relative religious independence for the individual ruler. It also allows for multiple forms of divinity, centered upon the Trimurti the triad of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva,
976-524: A benign and uncoercive world civiliser and font of global enlightenment," stayed away from explicit "Greater India" formulations. In addition, some scholars have seen the Hindu/Buddhist acculturation in ancient Southeast Asia as "a single cultural process in which Southeast Asia was the matrix and South Asia the mediatrix." In the field of art history, especially in American writings, the term survived due to
1098-452: A brief interruption during while the kingdom was occupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945 and simultaneously existing as the puppet state of Kingdom of Kampuchea in 1945. Between 1874 and 1962, the total population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million. After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on
1220-735: A campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see Cambodian Incursion ). On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days, led to the collapse of the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, 5 days after
1342-613: A distinctly developed regional culture, style, and expression. Southeast Asia is called Suvarnabhumi or Sovannah Phoum – the golden land and Suvarnadvipa – the golden Islands in Sanskrit. It was frequented by traders from eastern India, particularly Kalinga . Cultural and trading relations between the powerful Chola dynasty of South India and the Southeast Asian Hindu kingdoms led the Bay of Bengal to be called "The Chola Lake", and
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#17331068105371464-560: A game) may involve the use of a Sanskrit phrase. Scholars like Sheldon Pollock have used the term Sanskrit Cosmopolis to describe the region and argued for millennium-long cultural exchanges without necessarily involving migration of peoples or colonisation. Pollock's 2006 book The Language of the Gods in the World of Men makes a case for studying the region as comparable with Latin Europe and argues that
1586-828: A lesser extent, with a large proportion of words being derived from Arabic . Similarly, Philippine languages such as Tagalog have many Sanskrit loanwords . A Sanskrit loanword encountered in many Southeast Asian languages is the word bhāṣā , or spoken language, which is used to mean language in general, for example bahasa in Malay, Indonesian and Tausug , basa in Javanese, Sundanese , and Balinese , phasa in Thai and Lao, bhasa in Burmese , and phiesa in Khmer . Scripts in Sanskrit discovered during
1708-485: A press conference was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media: "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand of Cambodia—that is, I will, in any case, oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext." Nevertheless, the public pleas of Sihanouk were ignored and the bombing continued. While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak . Once
1830-586: A selected group of nobles only. Many struggle to date and determine when Indianizaton in Southeast Asia occurred because of the structures and ruins found that were similar to those in India. States such as Srivijaya , Mataram , Majapahit and the Khmer empire had territorial continuity, resilient population and surplus economies that rivaled those in India itself. Borobudur and Prambanan in Java and Angkor in Cambodia are, apart from their grandeur, examples of
1952-548: A social structure and labour organization. Kinds of glass beads recovered from sites, such as the Phum Snay site in the northwest and the Prohear site in the southeast, suggest that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about the 2nd–4th century AD, probably due to changes in socio-political powers. During
2074-463: A subdistrict with a municipality. Kandal Province is informally included as part of Phnom Penh , as the urban sprawl of the capital has already spread into these areas. There are several definitions of regions in Cambodia . Cambodia Town, Long Beach, California , is sometimes jokingly referred to as the "25th province" of Cambodia, because of the high population of Cambodian Americans that live there. Cambodia Cambodia , officially
2196-467: Is Phnom Penh , followed by Siem Reap and Battambang . In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire . The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to Southeast Asia and undertook religious infrastructural projects throughout the region. In
2318-740: Is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change . The Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge , which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer កម្ពុជា ( Kâmpŭchéa , pronounced [kampuciə] ). Kâmpŭchéa is the shortened alternative to the country's official name in Khmer ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា ( Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa , pronounced [preah riəciənaːcak kampuciə] . The Khmer endonym កម្ពុជា Kâmpŭchéa derives from
2440-741: Is characterised by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level . In Cambodia forest cover is around 46% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,068,370 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 11,004,790 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 7,464,400 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 603,970 hectares (ha). Of
2562-584: Is different from direct colonialism in that these Indianized lands were not inhabited by organizations or state elements from the Indian subcontinent, with exceptions such as the Chola invasions of medieval times. Instead, Indian cultural influence from trade routes and language use slowly permeated through Southeast Asia, making the traditions a part of the region. The interactions between India and Southeast Asia were marked by waves of influence and dominance. At some points,
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#17331068105372684-434: Is divided into communes ( khum , ឃុំ ). Communes are further divided into villages ( phum , ភូមិ ). Phnom Penh's 14 districts are called khan ( ខណ្ឌ ) and their subdivisions sangkat ( សង្កាត់ ), which are smaller in the other provinces. Sangkat are further subdivided into phum , which are usually translated as villages, though they do not necessarily cover one single settlement. Officially, Cambodia
2806-430: Is divided into five administrative tiers, with different types of administrative unit on each tier: In addition to these subdivisions, there are also cities and towns, which take over some of the responsibilities of the districts and communes on the area covered by the municipality. These all have an elected board and an elected mayor. There are three different levels of municipalities ( Khmer : ក្រុង ): In addition to
2928-529: Is documented from geological record of Asia and the Himalaya as up to approximately 2,350 km (1,460 mi) less. The use of Greater India to refer to an Indian cultural sphere was popularised by a network of Bengali scholars in the 1920s who were all members of the Calcutta-based Greater India Society. The movement's early leaders included the historian R. C. Majumdar (1888–1980);
3050-451: Is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands. The most distinctive geographical feature is the inundations of the Tonle Sap, measuring about 2,590 square kilometres (1,000 square miles) during the dry season and expanding to about 24,605 square kilometres (9,500 square miles) during the rainy season. This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice cultivation, is
3172-430: The devaraja concept of kingship, and Sanskrit as official writing. Despite the fundamental cultural integration, these kingdoms were autonomous in their own right and functioned independently. Not only did Indianization change many cultural and political aspects, but it also changed the spiritual realm as well, creating a type of Northern Culture which began in the early 14th century, prevalent for its rapid decline in
3294-411: The 2020 Pacific typhoon season . Cambodia's biodiversity is largely founded on its seasonal tropical forests , containing some 180 recorded tree species , and riparian ecosystems. There are 212 mammal species, 536 bird species, 240 reptile species, 850 freshwater fish species ( Tonle Sap Lake area), and 435 marine fish species recorded by science. Much of this biodiversity is contained around
3416-566: The Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October. The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from November to April. The country experiences the heaviest precipitation from September to October with the driest period occurring from January to February. According to the International Development Research Center and The United Nations , Cambodia is considered Southeast Asia's most vulnerable country to
3538-659: The Japanese gassho and Thai wai . Beyond the Himalaya and Hindukush mountains in the north, along the Silk Route, Indian influence was linked with Buddhism. Tibet and Khotan were direct heirs of Gangetic Buddhism, despite the difference in languages. Many Tibetan monks even used to know Sanskrit very well. In Khotan the Ramayana was well cicrulated in Khotanese language, though
3660-591: The Khmer Rouge Tribunal sought out to investigate crimes committed during the Democratic Kampuchea period and prosecute its leaders. Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials or investigations of former Khmer Rouge officials. In July 2010, Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp and he
3782-518: The Kingdom of Cambodia , is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula . It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand in the southwest. It spans an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles ), and has a population of about 17 million. Its capital and most populous city
Administrative divisions of Cambodia - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-599: The Krâvanh Mountains and the Dâmrei Mountains , form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand . In this remote and largely uninhabited area, Phnom Aural , Cambodia's highest peak rises to an elevation of 5,949 feet (1,813 metres). The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which
4026-656: The Malabar Coast (present-day Kerala ) to India extra Gangem (lit. "India, beyond the Ganges," but usually the East Indies , i.e. present-day Malay Archipelago ) and India Minor , from Malabar to Sind . Farther India was sometimes used to cover all of modern Southeast Asia. Until the fourteenth century, India could also mean areas along the Red Sea, including Somalia , South Arabia , and Ethiopia (e.g., Diodorus of Sicily of
4148-736: The Philippines . The Ramayana and the Mahabharata have had a large impact on South Asia and Southeast Asia. One of the most tangible evidence of dharmic Hindu traditions is the widespread use of the Añjali Mudrā gesture of greeting and respect. It is seen in the Indian namasté and similar gestures known throughout Southeast Asia; its cognates include the Cambodian sampeah , the Indonesian sembah ,
4270-522: The Tanjur ). Buddhism was similarly introduced to China by Mahayanist missionaries mostly through translations of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the Chinese vocabulary. In Southeast Asia, languages such as Thai and Lao contain many loan words from Sanskrit, as does Khmer to a lesser extent. For example, in Thai, Rāvaṇa ,
4392-649: The Tonlé Sap in recent years, affecting the food security and agriculture of a large proportion of Cambodia's population. Cambodia has two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from May to October, can see temperatures drop to 22 °C (72 °F) and is generally accompanied with high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can rise up to 40 °C (104 °F) around April. Disastrous flooding occurred in 2001 and again in 2002, with some degree of flooding almost every year. Severe flooding also affected 17 provinces in Cambodia during
4514-416: The monarchy was restored with Norodom Sihanouk reinstated as King, and the first post-war election was coordinated by UNTAC . The election was won by FUNCINPEC led by Sihanouk's son Ranariddh in a hung parliament . A power-sharing agreement was agreed with Ranariddh and Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party both simultaneously being co-Prime Ministers after the CPP threatened to secede part of
4636-554: The next general election in 2023 . In October 2022, Hun Sen warned CPP members that the country's newest and largest opposition party, the Candlelight Party , may be dissolved before the 2023 general election. The warning comes after a June 2022 lawsuit filed by the National Election Committee against the party's deputy president, Son Chhay , accusing him of defamation by speaking out against electoral fraud by
4758-430: The red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, and some of them possibly date from the second millennium BC. Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of Oudong ), where the first investigations began in 1875, and Phum Snay , in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey . Iron
4880-456: The yellow star " as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism. Religious institutions were targeted by the Khmer Rouge. The majority of Khmer architecture , 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, were destroyed. In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge and conquered it. The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) was established as
5002-440: The " Look East " policy, and more recently has involved deepening military ties as well. Sri Lanka also continues to have strong political links with South East Asia, asked by ASEAN to be a founding member, and has recently been increasing integration with South East Asia through its own "Look East" policy; politicians view the relationship between Sri Lanka and South East Asia as second only to South Asia. Culture spread via
Administrative divisions of Cambodia - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-536: The 1190s. The religion spread and eventually displaced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; it was not the official state religion until 1295 when Indravarman III took power. The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power was Angkor , where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been
5246-707: The 15th century, it began a decline in power (the Post-Angkor Period ) until, in 1863, it became the French Protectorate of Cambodia . After the Japanese occupation of Cambodia during the Second World War, it gained independence in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into the country in 1965 via the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk trails . A 1970 coup installed the US-aligned Khmer Republic , which
5368-429: The 1970s. The concept of "Indianized kingdoms" and "Indianization", coined by George Coedès , originally describes Southeast Asian principalities that flourished from the early common era as a result of centuries of socio-economic interaction having incorporated central aspects of Indian institutions, religion, statecraft, administration, culture, epigraphy, literature and architecture. The term Greater India and
5490-615: The 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and its successor, Chenla , coalesced in what later is Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, what was to become Cambodia absorbed influences from India , passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilisations that later became Thailand and Laos. The Khmer Empire grew out of the remnants of Chenla, becoming firmly established in 802 when Jayavarman II (reigned c. 790 – c. 835 ) declared independence from Java and proclaimed themselves
5612-533: The Buddhist world including Ceylon , Tibet, Central Asia, and even Japan were held to fall within this web of Indianizing culture colonies " This particular usage – implying cultural "sphere of influence" of India – was promoted by the Greater India Society , formed by a group of Bengali men of letters , and is not found before the 1920s. The term Greater India was used in historical writing in India into
5734-504: The CPP. A July 2023 Human Rights Watch report showed numerous and significant election fraud and vote tampering in the June 2022 commune elections. In the July 2023 election , the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) easily won by a landslide in a flawed election, after the disqualification of Cambodia's most important opposition, Candlelight Party . On 22 August 2023, Hun Manet was sworn in as
5856-614: The Cambodian conflict was largely between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge. Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970
5978-568: The Chola attacks on Srivijaya in the 10th century CE are the sole example of military attacks by Indian rulers against Southeast Asia. The Pala dynasty of Bengal , which controlled the heartland of Buddhist India, maintained close economic, cultural and religious ties, particularly with Srivijaya. The pre-Indic political and social systems in Southeast Asia were marked by a relative indifference towards lineage descent. Hindu God kingship enabled rulers to supersede loyalties, forge cosmopolitan polities and
6100-501: The Common Era and eventually settled there. Strong impulse most certainly came from the region's ruling classes who invited Brahmans to serve at their courts as priests, astrologers and advisers. Divinity and royalty were closely connected in these polities as Hindu rituals validated the powers of the monarch. Brahmans and priests from India proper played a key role in supporting ruling dynasties through exact rituals. Dynastic consolidation
6222-400: The Hindu and Buddhist cultures there. They introduced the caste system to the region, especially to Java , Bali, Madura , and Sumatra. The adopted caste system was not as strict as in India, tempered to the local context. There are multiple similarities between the two caste systems such that both state that no one is equal within society and that everyone has his own place. It also promoted
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#17331068105376344-402: The Indian cultural sphere was popularised by a network of Bengali scholars in the 1920s, but became obsolete in the 1970s. Since around 500 BCE, Asia's expanding land and maritime trade had resulted in prolonged socio-economic and cultural stimulation and diffusion of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs into the region's cosmology, in particular in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka . In Central Asia,
6466-476: The Indian culture solely found its way into the region, and at other points, the influence was used to take over. Southeast Asia was now situated in the central area of convergence of the Indian and the East Asian maritime trade routes, the basis for economic and cultural growth. The earliest Hindu kingdoms emerged in Sumatra and Java, followed by mainland polities such as Funan and Champa. Adoption of Indian civilization elements and individual adaptation stimulated
6588-465: The Indian kingdoms. The decline of Hindu kingdoms and spark of Buddhist kingdoms led to the formation of orthodox Sinhalese Buddhism and is a key factor leading to the decline of Indianization. Sukhothai and Ceylon are the prominent characters who formulated the center of Buddhism and thus became more popularized over Hinduism. Not only was the spark of Buddhism the driving force for Indianization coming to an end, but Islamic influence took over as well in
6710-407: The Indian sub-continent was at a deficiency for gold due to extensive control of overland trade routes by the Roman Empire . This made many Vaishya traders look to the seas to acquire new gold, of which Southeast Asia was abundant. However, the conclusion that Indianization was just spread through trade is insufficient, as Indianization permeated through all classes of Southeast Asian society, not just
6832-441: The Khmers"), or the slightly more formal ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា ( Prâtés Kâmpŭchéa , pronounced [prɑteh kampuciə] ; "Country of Kampuchea"). The name Cambodia is used most often in the Western world while Kampuchea is more widely used in the Eastern world. There exists evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of what later is Cambodia, which includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along
6954-453: The Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratié provinces, and in Kampot Province . Some archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during the Holocene : the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of Laang Spean , which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC. Upper layers in
7076-416: The Muslim advance for two centuries, with the Kabul Shahi and Zunbils remaining unconquered until the Saffarid and Ghaznavid conquests. The significance of the realm of Zun and its rulers Zunbils had laid in them blocking the path of Arabs in invading the Indus Valley . According to historian André Wink , "In southern and eastern Afghanistan, the regions of Zamindawar (Zamin I Datbar or land of
7198-404: The Sanskrit language was its unifying element. Scripts in Sanskrit discovered during the early centuries of the Common Era are the earliest known forms of writing to have extended all the way to Southeast Asia. Its gradual impact ultimately resulted in its widespread domain as a means of dialect which evident in regions, from Bangladesh to Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand and additionally a few of
7320-465: The Sanskrit name कम्बोजदेश Kambojadeśa , composed of देश Deśa ("land of" or "country of") and कम्बोज ( Kamboja ), referring to the descendants of Kambu (a legendary Indian sage from the ancient Indian kingdom of Kamboja ). The term Cambodia was already in use in Europe as early as 1524, since Antonio Pigafetta cites it in his work Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524–1525) as Camogia . Scholar George Coedes refers to
7442-409: The Siamese (Thai), the Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians". Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the Mekong Delta had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698, with King Chey Chettha II granting the Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before. In 1863, King Norodom signed a treaty of protection with France. The protectorate of France period lasted until 1953, with
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#17331068105377564-594: The South Asian peninsula and Hinter-Indien as Southeast Asia. Greater India , or Greater India Basin also signifies "the Indian Plate plus a postulated northern extension", the product of the Indian–Asia collision . Although its usage in geology pre-dates Plate tectonic theory, the term has seen increased usage since the 1970s. It is unknown when and where the India–Asia (Indian and Eurasian Plate ) convergence occurred, at or before 52 million years ago. The plates have converged up to 3,600 km (2,200 mi) ± 35 km (22 mi). The upper crustal shortening
7686-538: The Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding biosphere. Indianised kingdom Dark orange : The Indian subcontinent Light orange : Southeast Asia culturally linked to India (except Northern Vietnam , Philippines and Western New Guinea ) Traditional Greater India , also known as the Indian cultural sphere , or the Indic world , is an area composed of several countries and regions in South Asia , East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture , which itself formed from
7808-579: The US mission evacuated Cambodia. Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately 1 to 3 million; a cited figure is 2 million (about a quarter of the population). This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields , and the prison Tuol Sleng became known for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. The Cham Muslims underwent purges with as much as half of their population exterminated. Pol Pot
7930-431: The Western colonialism of the early 20th century. By some accounts Greater India consists of "lands including Burma, Java , Cambodia, Bali , and the former Champa and Funan polities of present-day Vietnam ," in which Indian and Hindu culture left an "imprint in the form of monuments, inscriptions and other traces of the historic " Indianizing " process." By some other accounts, many Pacific societies and "most of
8052-422: The adoption of many Indian style law codes and architecture into Southeast Asian society It is unknown how immigration, interaction, and settlement took place, whether by key figures from India or through Southeast Asians visiting India who took elements of Indian culture back home. It is likely that Hindu and Buddhist traders, priests, and princes traveled to Southeast Asia from India in the first few centuries of
8174-457: The country if power was fully transferred to FUNCINPEC. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a coup d'état led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ousted Ranariddh and other parties represented in the government and consolidated power for CPP. After its government was able to stabilize under Sen, Cambodia was accepted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 30 April 1999. Norodom Sihamoni
8296-474: The country's provinces, including Phnom Penh. Each province has one capital district (known as either a city or town , krong ; ក្រុង ), e.g. for Siem Reap, it is Krong Siem Reap . The exceptions are the provinces of Banteay Meanchey , Kampong Speu , Kandal , Koh Kong , Mondulkiri , Oddar Meanchey , Ratanakiri , Takéo and Tboung Khmum , where the name of the province and the capital district does not match. A provincial district ( srok , ស្រុក )
8418-501: The coup was completed, the new regime, which demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, desperate to retain their sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam, launched armed attacks on the new government. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war . Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. From 1970 until 1972,
8540-448: The deities responsible for the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe. The effects of Hinduism and Buddhism applied a tremendous impact on the many civilizations inhabiting Southeast Asia which significantly provided some structure to the composition of written traditions. An essential factor for the spread and adaptation of these religions originated from trading systems of the third and fourth century. In order to spread
8662-551: The disease's spread for much of 2020 the country's health system was put under strain by a major outbreak in early 2021, which prompted several lockdowns . It also had a severe economic impact, with the tourism industry particularly affected due to international travel restrictions . Prime Minister Hun Sen assumed office 39 years ago and is one of the world's longest-serving leaders . He has been accused of crackdowns on opponents and critics. In December 2021, Hun Sen announced his support for his son Hun Manet to succeed him after
8784-540: The early centuries of the Common Era are the earliest known forms of writing to have extended all the way to Southeast Asia. Its gradual impact ultimately resulted in its widespread domain as a means of dialect which evident in regions, from Bangladesh to Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand and additionally a few of the larger Indonesian islands. In addition, alphabets from languages spoken in Burmese, Thai, Laos, and Cambodia are variations formed off of Indian ideals that have localized
8906-419: The early half of the third century. Indian religion was profoundly absorbed by local cultures that formed their own distinctive variations of these structures in order to reflect their own ideals. Champa , Dvaravati , Funan , Gangga Negara , Kadaram , Kalingga , Kutai , Langkasuka , Pagan , Pan Pan , Po-ni , and Tarumanagara had by the 1st to 4th centuries CE adopted Hinduism's cosmology and rituals,
9028-649: The east. To the west, Indian culture converged with Greater Persia via the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains . The concept of the Three Indias was in common circulation in pre-industrial Europe. Greater India was the southern part of South Asia , Lesser India was the northern part of South Asia , and Middle India was the region near the Middle East . The Portuguese form ( Portuguese : India Maior )
9150-584: The effects of climate change, alongside the Philippines. Nearly all provinces in Cambodia are affected by climate change . Rural coastal populations are particularly at risk. Shortages of clean water , extreme flooding, mudslides, higher sea levels and potentially destructive storms are of particular concern, according to the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance. Climate change has also had a major impact on water levels, ecology and productivity of
9272-576: The emergence of centralized states and localized caste systems in Southeast Asia. As conclusive evidence is missing, numerous Indianization theories of Southeast Asia have emerged since the early 20th century. The central question usually revolves around the main propagator of Indian institutional and cultural ideas in Southeast Asia. Iron Age trade expansion caused regional geostrategic remodeling. Austronesian sailors from Island Southeast Asia first established contact and trade with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 500 BCE. This resulted in
9394-613: The emergence of centralized states and the development of highly organized societies. Ambitious local leaders realized the benefits of Hinduism and Indian methods of administration, culture, literature, etc. Rule in accord with universal moral principles, represented in the concept of the devaraja , was more appealing than the Chinese concept of intermediaries. The earliest Hindu kingdoms emerged in Sumatra and Java, followed by mainland polities such as Funan and Champa. Adoption of Indian civilization elements and individual adaptation stimulated
9516-429: The exchange of commodities. Another theory of the spread of Indianization that focuses on the caste of Vaishya traders and their role for spreading Indian culture and language into Southeast Asia through trade. There were many trade incentives that brought Vaishya traders to Southeast Asia, the most important of which was gold. During the 4th century C.E., when the first evidence of Indian trader in Southeast Asia,
9638-512: The first century BC says that "the Nile rises in India" and Marco Polo of the fourteenth century says that "Lesser India ... contains ... Abash [Abyssinia]"). In late 19th-century geography, Greater India referred to a region that included: "(a) Himalaya , (b) Punjab , (c) Hindustan , (d) Burma , (e) Indo-China , (f) Sunda Islands , (g) Borneo , (h) Celebes , and (i) Philippines ." German atlases distinguished Vorder-Indien (Anterior India) as
9760-553: The following year. The protests ended after a crackdown by government forces. The Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved ahead of the 2018 Cambodian general election and the ruling Cambodian People's Party also enacted tighter curbs on mass media . The CPP won every seat in the National Assembly without major opposition, effectively solidifying de facto one-party rule in the country. The global COVID-19 pandemic spread to Cambodia in early 2020. Despite minimising
9882-467: The heartland of Cambodia. Much of this area has been designated as a biosphere reserve . Cambodia's climate, like that of the most of Mainland Southeast Asia , is dominated by monsoons , which are known as tropical wet and dry because of the distinctly marked seasonal differences. Cambodia has a temperature range from 21 to 35 °C (70 to 95 °F) and experiences tropical monsoons. Southwest monsoons blow inland bringing moisture-laden winds from
10004-426: The influence of art theorist Ananda Coomaraswamy . Coomaraswamy's view of pan-Indian art history was influenced by the "Calcutta cultural nationalists." Its modern meanings often invoke images of soft power. The region is considered in Indian political circles as part of India's extended neighbourhood, and modern integration was propelled through a multifaceted acceleration of economic and strategic interaction under
10126-601: The introduction of Southeast Asian material culture (including catamarans , outrigger boats , sewn-plank boats, and paan ) and cultigens (like coconuts , sandalwood , bananas , and sugarcane ) to South Asia; as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China . These early Austronesian trade routes linking Island Southeast Asia with India also became the maritime aspect of the wider spice trade network, which were later also used by Tamil and Arab maritime trade. The sustained contact between Southeast Asia and South Asia resulted in cultural exchange, in addition to
10248-571: The justice giver, the classical Arachosia ) and Zabulistan or Zabul (Jabala, Kapisha , Kia pi shi) and Kabul , the Arabs were effectively opposed for more than two centuries, from 643 to 870 AD, by the indigenous rulers the Zunbils and the related Kabul-Shahs of the dynasty which became known as the Buddhist-Shahi. With Makran and Baluchistan and much of Sindh this area can be reckoned to belong to
10370-403: The language. The utilization of Sanskrit has been prevalent in all aspects of life including legal purposes. Sanskrit terminology and vernacular appears in ancient courts to establish procedures that have been structured by Indian models such as a system composed of a code of laws. The concept of legislation demonstrated through codes of law and organizations particularly the idea of "God King"
10492-504: The larger Indonesian islands. In addition, alphabets from languages spoken in Burmese, Thai, Laos, and Cambodia are variations formed off of Indian ideals that have localized the language. Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Tibeto-Burman -speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of Buddhist texts in translation. The spread of Buddhism to Tibet allowed many Sanskrit texts to survive only in Tibetan translation (in
10614-509: The largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 2,980 square kilometres (1,151 square miles). The city could have supported a population of up to 1 million people. After a series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. The hill tribe people were "hunted incessantly and carried off as slaves by
10736-520: The legendary emperor of Sri Lanka , is called 'Thosakanth' which is derived from his Sanskrit name 'Daśakaṇṭha' ("having ten necks"). Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in Austronesian languages , such as Javanese particularly the old form from which nearly half the vocabulary is derived from the language. Other Austronesian languages, such as traditional Malay , modern Indonesian , also derive much of their vocabulary from Sanskrit, albeit to
10858-482: The merchant classes. Another theory states that Indianization spread through the warrior class of Kshatriya . This hypothesis effectively explains state formation in Southeast Asia, as these warriors came with the intention of conquering the local peoples and establishing their own political power in the region. However, this theory hasn't attracted much interest from historians as there is very little literary evidence to support it. The most widely accepted theory for
10980-568: The message of these religions Buddhist monks and Hindu priests joined mercantile classes in the quest to share their religious and cultural values and beliefs. Along the Mekong delta, evidence of Indianized religious models can be observed in communities labeled Funan. There can be found the earliest records engraved on a rock in Vocanh. The engravings consist of Buddhist archives and a south Indian scripts are written in Sanskrit that have been dated to belong to
11102-613: The midst of the thirteenth century to trump the Hindu kingdoms. In the process of Islam coming to the traditional Hindu kingdoms, trade was heavily practiced and the now Islamized Indians started becoming merchants all over Southeast Asia. Moreover, as trade became more saturated in the Southeast Asian regions wherein Indianization once persisted, the regions had become more Muslim populated. This so-called Islamic control has spanned to many of
11224-629: The narrative is slightly different from the Gangetic version. In Afghanistan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan many Buddhist monasteries were established. These countries were used as a kind of springboard for the monks who brought Indian Buddhist texts and images to China. Further north, in the Gobi Desert , statues of Ganesha and Kartikeya were found alongside Buddhist imagery in the Mogao Caves . Indians spread their religion to Southeast Asia, beginning
11346-447: The naturally regenerating forest 4% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership . To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than 200 miles (320 kilometres) from west to east and rising abruptly above
11468-423: The new Cambodian prime minister. Cambodia has an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) and lies entirely within the tropics, between latitudes 10° and 15°N , and longitudes 102° and 108°E . It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. It has a 443-kilometre (275-mile) coastline along the Gulf of Thailand . Cambodia's landscape
11590-635: The newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from 3 factions. This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front . Its credentials were recognised by the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge representative to UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained, and he had to work in consultation with representatives of
11712-674: The noncommunist Cambodian parties. The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia led to economic sanctions . Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia , culminating 2 years later in October 1991 in a Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement . The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). In 1993,
11834-417: The notion of an explicit Hindu expansion of ancient Southeast Asia have been linked to both Indian nationalism and Hindu nationalism . The English term was popularised in the late 19th and the 20th century as a view of an expansionist India within the context of East Asia. However, many Indian nationalists, like Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore , although receptive to "an idealisation of India as
11956-564: The philologists Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977) and P. C. Bagchi (1898–1956), and the historians Phanindranath Bose and Kalidas Nag (1891–1966). Some of their formulations were inspired by concurrent excavations in Angkor by French archaeologists and by the writings of French Indologist Sylvain Lévi . The scholars of the society postulated a benevolent ancient Indian cultural colonisation of Southeast Asia, in stark contrast – in their view – to
12078-539: The plain to heights of 600 to 1,800 feet (180–550 metres). This cliff marks the southern limit of the Dângrêk Mountains . Flowing south through Cambodia's eastern regions is the Mekong River. East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam. In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks,
12200-477: The population numbers, the municipalities need to have enough tax revenues for the administration to be able to execute the offices of administrations. Towns and cities are divided into sangkat (communes), which are equivalent to khum of rural areas. For areas which do not reach the mandatory conditions, they exist another lower level of local administration. These usually cover a complete subdistrict ( Khum ), but may also cover more than one subdistrict or share
12322-466: The same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic , containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia. Archaeological records for the period between the Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. An event in prehistory was the penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the third millennium BC. Prehistoric evidence are the "circular earthworks " discovered in
12444-716: The south Indian Pallava dynasty and Chalukya dynasty . These Indianized kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès in his work Histoire ancienne des états hindouisés d'Extrême-Orient , were characterized by resilience, political integrity, and administrative stability. To the north, Indian religious ideas were assimilated into the cosmology of Himalayan peoples, most profoundly in Tibet and Bhutan, and merged with indigenous traditions. Buddhist monasticism extended into Afghanistan , Uzbekistan , and other parts of Central Asia , and Buddhist texts and ideas were accepted in China and Japan in
12566-454: The south and the Khmer Empire to the north competed for influence in the region. A defining characteristic of the cultural link between Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent was the adoption of ancient Indian Vedic /Hindu and Buddhist culture and philosophy into Myanmar , Tibet , Thailand , Indonesia , Malaya , Laos and Cambodia. Indian scripts are found in Southeast Asian islands ranging from Sumatra, Java, Bali, South Sulawesi and
12688-532: The spread of Indianization into Southeast Asia is through the class of Brahman scholars. These Brahmans brought with them many of the Hindu religious and philosophical traditions and spread them to the elite classes of Southeast Asian polities. Once these traditions were adopted into the elite classes, it disseminated throughout all the lower classes, thus explaining the Indianization present in all classes of Southeast Asian society. Brahmans were also experts in art and architecture, and political affairs, thus explaining
12810-509: The throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk , a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control. Under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father to participate in politics and
12932-851: The trade routes that linked India with southern Burma , central and southern Siam , the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra to Java , lower Cambodia and Champa . The Pali and Sanskrit languages and the Indian script, together with Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism , Brahmanism and Hinduism , were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature. Southeast Asia had developed some prosperous and very powerful colonial empires that contributed to Hindu-Buddhist artistic creations and architectural developments. Art and architectural creations that rivaled those built in India, especially in its sheer size, design and aesthetic achievements. The notable examples are Borobudur in Java and Angkor monuments in Cambodia. The Srivijaya Empire to
13054-483: The trading centers across the regions of Southeast Asia, including one of the most dominant centers, Malacca, and has therefore stressed a widespread rise of Islamization. The eastern regions of Afghanistan were considered politically as parts of India. Buddhism and Hinduism held sway over the region until the Muslim conquest. Kabul and Zabulistan which housed Buddhism and other Indian religions , offered stiff resistance to
13176-418: The transmission of ideas was predominantly of a religious nature. By the early centuries of the common era , most of the principalities of Southeast Asia had effectively absorbed defining aspects of Indian culture, religion, and administration. The notion of divine god-kingship was introduced by the concept of Harihara , and Sanskrit and other Indian epigraphic systems were declared official , like those of
13298-478: The upbringing of highly organized central states. Indians were still able to implement their religion, political ideas, literature, mythology, and art. It is conjectured that certain traditional Indian games spread throughout Southeast Asia, as variations of Indian games such as atya-patya and gilli danda can be found throughout the region. Also, the Indonesian hom pim pa (a method of selecting players before
13420-400: The various distinct indigenous cultures of South Asia . It is an umbrella term encompassing the Indian subcontinent and surrounding countries, which are culturally linked through a diverse cultural cline. These countries have been transformed to varying degrees by the acceptance and introduction of cultural and institutional elements from each other. The term Greater India as a reference to
13542-565: The worship of Shiva and Vishnu was combined with ancestor worship, so that Khmer, Javanese, and Cham rulers claimed semi-divine status as descendants of a God. Hindu traditions, especially the relationship to the sacrality of the land and social structures, are inherent in Hinduism's transnational features. The epic traditions of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa further legitimized a ruler identified with
13664-567: Was crowned Cambodia's king in 2004 after his father Sihanouk's abdication. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, reconstruction efforts progressed which led to some political stability through a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy although Sen's rule has been marred by human rights abuses and corruption . Cambodia's economy grew rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s, and it received considerable investment and infrastructure development support from China as part of its Belt and Road Initiative . A UN-backed war crimes tribunal,
13786-623: Was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people. Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. Most of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were not ethnic minorities but ethnic Khmer. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, were targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan , "eyeglasses were as deadly as
13908-618: Was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War . Sihanouk allowed the Vietnamese communists to use Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces fighting in South Vietnam. In December 1967 Washington Post journalist Stanley Karnow
14030-476: Was embraced by numerous rulers of Southeast Asia. The rulers amid this time, for example, the Lin-I Dynasty of Vietnam once embraced the Sanskrit dialect and devoted sanctuaries to the Indian divinity Shiva. Many rulers following even viewed themselves as "reincarnations or descendants" of the Hindu gods. However once Buddhism began entering the nations, this practiced view was eventually altered. Indianization
14152-472: Was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot 's then second in command, Nuon Chea . NVA units overran Cambodian army positions while the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North Vietnamese invasion, US President Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in
14274-523: Was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. The Khmer Rouge ruled the country and carried out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when they were ousted in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War . The Vietnamese-occupied People's Republic of Kampuchea became the de facto government. Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords which formally ended the war with Vietnam , Cambodia was governed by
14396-482: Was sentenced to life in prison. In August 2014, the tribunal sentenced Khieu Samphan , the regime's 83-year-old former head of state, and Nuon Chea , its 88-year-old chief ideologue, to life in prison on war crimes charges for their role in the country's terror period in the 1970s. After the 2013 Cambodian general election , allegations of voter fraud from opposition party Cambodia National Rescue Party led to widespread anti-government protests that continued into
14518-536: Was the basis for more centralized kingdoms that emerged in Java, Sumatra, Cambodia, Burma, and along the central and south coasts of Vietnam from the 4th to 8th centuries. Art, architecture, rituals, and cultural elements such as the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata had been adopted and customized increasingly with a regional character. The caste system, although adopted, was never applied universally and reduced to serve for
14640-521: Was told by Sihanouk that if the US wanted to bomb the Vietnamese communist sanctuaries, he would not object unless Cambodians were killed. The same message was conveyed to US President Johnson's emissary Chester Bowles in January 1968. In public Sihanouk refuted the right of the U.S. to use air strikes in Cambodia, and on 26 March he said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop". On 28 March
14762-493: Was used at least since the mid-15th century. The term, which seems to have been used with variable precision, sometimes meant only the Indian subcontinent; Europeans used a variety of terms related to South Asia to designate the South Asian peninsula, including High India , Greater India , Exterior India and India aquosa . However, in some accounts of European nautical voyages, Greater India (or India Major ) extended from
14884-458: Was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau , in what later is Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian temples while circular earthworks were discovered at the site of Lovea kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials testify to improvement of food availability and trade, and the existence of
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