Cam·bo·di·a (k m-b  d - ) or Kam·pu·che·a (km p -ch) Formerly (1970-1975) Khmer Republic (kmâr) A country of southeast Asia on the Gulf of Thailand. Once part of the Khmer empire that ruled the entire Mekong River valley, the area was controlled after the 15th century by the neighboring kingdoms of Siam and Annam. Cambodia became part of French Indochina in the 19th century and proclaimed its independence as a kingdom in 1953. After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1970, Cambodia commenced a long period of political and social disruption, especially under the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot, which was responsible for more than a million deaths from 1975 to 1979. The monarchy was restored in 1993. Phnom Penh is the capital and the largest city. Population: 14,000,000. Cam·bo di·an adj. & n. |   |
Cambodia [kæmˈbəʊdɪə]
n
(Placename) a country in SE Asia: became part of French Indochina in 1887; achieved self-government in 1949 and independence in 1953; civil war (1970-74) ended in victory for the Khmer Rouge, who renamed the country Kampuchea (1975); Vietnamese forces ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and set up a pro-Vietnamese government who reverted (1981) to the name Cambodia; in 1982 exiled factions formed the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK); after the Vietnamese withdrawal in 1989 CGDK guerrillas continued to engage government forces; a peace settlement was followed in 1993 by elections and the adoption of a democratic monarchist constitution restoring Sihanouk to the throne: contains the central plains of the Mekong River and the Cardamom Mountains in the SW. Official language: Khmer; French is also widely spoken. Currency: riel. Capital: Phnom Penh. Pop.: 12 720 000 (2001 est.). Area: 181 000 sq. km (69 895 sq. miles)
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  Cambodia - a nation in southeastern Asia; was part of Indochina under French rule until 1946Communist Party of Kampuchea, Khmer Rouge, Party of Democratic Kampuchea, KR - a communist organization formed in Cambodia in 1970; became a terrorist organization in 1975 when it captured Phnom Penh and created a government that killed an estimated three million people; was defeated by Vietnamese troops but remained active until 1999 ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations - an association of nations dedicated to economic and political cooperation in southeastern Asia and who joined with the United States to fight against global terrorism Indochina, Indochinese peninsula - a peninsula of southeastern Asia that includes Myanmar and Cambodia and Laos and Malaysia and Thailand and Vietnam Mekong, Mekong River - an Asian river; flows through a large delta in southern Vietnam into the South China Sea Cambodian, Kampuchean - a native or inhabitant of Cambodia |
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