Cambodia
Cambodia covers 181,000 square kilometers (69,866 square miles) of the south central region of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. It is shaped like a shallow cooking pan with plateaus and mountain ranges surrounding the flat central plain where most Cambodians reside. Crisscrossing the plains are the Mekong River and its many tributaries, particularly the Tonle Sap, which millions of Cambodians rely on for transportation, water for irrigation, and fishing.
Cambodia had a total population of 13.6 million in 2005, most of whom were rural subsistence farmers of rice. The Cambodian population is relatively homogenous; over 80 percent are ethnically Khmer. Other ethnic groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, and upland minorities. Although Theravada Buddhism is the religion of ethnic Khmer, animism, Islam, and Christianity are also practiced.
History
Ancient Cambodian history was influenced by Indian culture and civilization in terms of arts, religion, language, and architecture. With these influences, the Khmer were able by the ninth century to build the most powerful and sophisticated empire in Southeast Asia. Temple complexes, of which the most famous are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, stand as evidence of the greatness of Khmer civilization. The empire lasted for over four centuries and controlled much of mainland Southeast Asia.
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