Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh is Cambodia's capital and largest city. During the early part of the twentieth century, Phnom Penh was noted for being the most beautiful city in Southeast Asia. Years later, the city fell into the hands of brutal Communist leader Pol Pot. In the twenty-first century, the city of Phnom Penh continues to be socially, politically, and economically reconstructed after years of torture and social decline under the Communist Party and the Khmer Rouge.

Landscape

Phnom Penh covers an area of 290 square kilometers (112 square miles) in the south-central region of Cambodia, along the country's two most significant waterways, the Tônlé Sap and the Mekong River. The Tônlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It includes a river system that connects to the Mekong, the longest river in Southeast Asia and the twelfth-longest river in the world.

Phnom Penh is divided into nine districts. Although it is technically a municipality, it is viewed politically in the same way as any of the provinces of Cambodia.

The highest point in Phnom Penh is Wat Phnom, the hill for which the city was named. Wat Phnom rises 27 meters (88.58 feet) above sea level and is located in the northern part of Phnom Penh.

Tropical temperatures are common in Phnom Penh, with three distinct seasons throughout the year. November to March is the driest season, with temperatures ranging from 21 to 34 degrees Celsius (69 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit). The hottest and most humid temperatures occur from March through September and often climb to near 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). During the monsoon season, which lasts from May through October, rainfall averages around 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per month.

People

The population of Phnom Penh was 2.281 million people in 2023. The overwhelming majority of the total Cambodian population—95.4 percent of its 16.9 million residents—belongs to Cambodia's indigenous Khmer ethnic group. Of those remaining, 2.4 percent belong to the Cham ethnic group, and the rest are Chinese, Vietnamese, or of some other origin (2019-2020 estimates). Religious and ethnic minority populations in Phnom Penh generally gather in small communities within the city. The Chinese population, for example, lives primarily around the market areas of Phnom Penh.

The most common religion of Southeast Asia is Theravada Buddhism. Therefore, it is not surprising that 97.1 percent of the population of Cambodia adheres to this faith and that Buddhism is the official religion of the country. In addition, small percentages of the population are Muslim or Christian.

Due to the influences of colonization, war, and industry, the most three most prevalent languages in Phnom Penh are Khmer, French, and English.

One particular population-related concern for Phnom Penh is the imbalance in Cambodia's age demographics. It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of Cambodians are under the age of twenty-five. This large young population is a continual strain on education and employment in the city.

Economy

The two most successful industries in Phnom Penh are the garment industry and the tourism industry. In 1999, the United States and Cambodia signed a Bilateral Textiles Agreement, which guaranteed Cambodia a quota of US textile imports and encouraged improvements in Cambodian working conditions. Cambodia’s oil, mining, and natural gas are all being expanded as future industry options for Cambodia.

Phnom Penh International Airport, Cambodia's air travel hub, is just seven kilometers (four miles) west of the city. From the airport, trains, taxis, pick-ups, and minibuses take travelers to destinations all around the country. In 2022, an estimated 2.2 million tourists visited the nation. While there are no mass transit systems within Phnom Penh, cars, bicycles, and bicycle rickshaws are the most common forms of transportation inside the city.

Landmarks

The Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Cambodia was constructed in 1866. The palace grounds include the family residence and numerous other structures and gardens. The grounds are enclosed by a high wall. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is more commonly known as the Silver Pagoda, due to its solid silver floor. The compound also includes a library, multiple monuments and shrines, and Wat Preah Keo Morokat, the private pagoda of the king of Cambodia.

Next to the Royal Palace compound is Cambodia's National Museum. While most of the artifacts on display are from the Angkorian era of Cambodian history, the museum also boasts an impressive collection of post-Angkorian statues of Buddha.

The Independence Monument in the center of Phnom Penh was created by renowned Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann to commemorate the country's independence. The monument, which also serves as a memorial to Cambodia's war dead, was dedicated on November 9, 1962. Celebrations for Independence Day and Constitution Day are held around the lotus-shaped monument.

Phnom Penh's oldest temple sits atop the hill Wat Phnom. This temple marks the legendary founding point of the city and is a popular destination for tourists. The stupa, a dome-shaped Buddhist monument used to house statues of the Buddha, within Wat Phnom contains the remains of Cambodian king Ponhea Yat, who named Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia.

There are three major markets in Phnom Penh: the Central Market, the Russian Market, and the Old Market. The Central Market, or Psai Thmei, has existed since 1935 and sells a large variety of souvenir items, clothing, and jewelry. The Russian Market is best known for its textiles and its many vendors selling bootlegged CDs and DVDs. The Old Market, the most traditional of the three, sells fruit, vegetables, and clothing.

The Toul Seng Genocide Museum is located in the former Toul Seng high school. Now a museum, the building served as a prison and interrogation facility under the Khmer Rouge regime. Much of the grounds are just as they were when the facility was abandoned by the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

The infamous killing fields of Cambodia are located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of Phnom Penh. These vast fields were used by the Khmer Rouge as execution sites and mass graves. The official memorial for the killing fields is located at the killing field in Choeng Ek. Over 17,000 Cambodians were executed there.

History

The story of Phnom Penh begins in 1372, when a wealthy widow known as Daun Penh (Grandma Penh) settled along the west bank of the Chrap Chheam River (now known as the Sap River). According to legend, a great flood brought a Koki tree to the area of the river where Daun Penh lived, and inside the tree were five statues of the Buddha. Daun Penh ordered that a hill be constructed along the northeast side of her home and that a temple be built on the hill to house the five statues. The location became known as Wat Phnom Daun Penh (Temple Hill of Grandma Penh). Over time this name was shortened to Phnom Penh.

In 1434, King Ponhea Yat moved the capital of the powerful Khmer Empire of Southeast Asia from the region of Angkor Thom to the city of Phnom Penh, because of the economic advantages presented by the convergence of the waterways there. Despite being chosen as the capital, Phnom Penh experienced little growth, and the capital was subsequently moved by later kings. At the end of the sixteenth century the Khmer Empire fell and the kingdom of Cambodia existed as a vassal state under the empire of Siam (modern-day Thailand). During this time, Phnom Penh remained primarily a small, undeveloped village.

In the mid-nineteenth century, French colonization of Southeast Asia resulted in the establishment of the French protectorate of Cambodia. The protectorate lasted from 1863 to 1953, when Cambodia gained independence. Phnom Penh was named the capital of Cambodia in 1866.

During the nineteenth century, French city planners transformed Phnom Penh through the construction of new buildings and a successful network of canals and roadways. By the 1920s, the port city was known as the Pearl of Asia and considered the most beautiful city in all of Indochina. Phnom Penh continued to flourish into the 1960s, but progress was slowed by political issues arising from the Vietnam War, which resulted in secret bombing campaigns carried out by the United States in Cambodia.

On April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell to a radical Cambodian communist group known as the Khmer Rouge. Under leader Pol Pot, the country was renamed Democratic Kampuchea, and the entire population of Phnom Penh was forced out of the city to work in the rural fields of Cambodia. In the years that followed the fall of Phnom Penh, an estimated three million Cambodians died of starvation, torture, or execution as Pol Pot attempted to exterminate all dissenting citizens. In 1979, Cambodia was invaded by the Vietnamese, and the Khmer Rouge was overthrown. Former residents of Phnom Penh returned to the city, and the People's Republic of Cambodia was established. Although the capital of Cambodia had been restored, fighting between Vietnam and Khmer Rouge guerrillas continued into the 1980s.

Toward the end of the twentieth century, Cambodia underwent four regime shifts and name changes. In 1993, the royal line was reinstated, and the nation became the Kingdom of Cambodia, a parliamentary monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. In 2004, Norodom Sihamoni succeeded his father as king after Norodom Sihanouk abdicated to become the king-father of Cambodia. In 2013, the opposition party, Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), disputed the results of the national elections and boycotted the National Assembly for a year before reaching an agreement with the ruling party. In 2017 the CNRP gained in popularity in local elections. Prime Minister Hun Sen, a strongman politician who has been in power since 1985, arrested CNRP president Kem Sokha as part of a crackdown on political opposition that September, dissolved the CNRP that November, and banned its leaders from political participation for a minimum of five years, all ahead of national elections in 2018, which Hun Sen won virtually unopposed. Kem Sokha was released on bail in September 2018.

In 2023, Hun Sen announced that he would be stepping down from his position as prime minister and turning the post over to his son, Hun Manet. A year later, Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won a decisive victory in senatorial elections, allowing Hun Sen to become president of the Senate.

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