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Cambodia's modern-day culture has its roots
in the 1st to 6th centuries in a state referred to as Funan,
know as the oldest Indianised state in Southeast Asia. It
is from this period that evolved Cambodia's language, part
of the Mon-khmer family, which contains elements of Sanskrit,
its ancient religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. Historians
have noted, for example, that Cambodians can be distinguished
from their neighbours by their clothing - checkered scarves
known as karmas are worn instead of straw hats.
Funan gave way to the Angkor Empire with
the rise to power of King Jayavarman II in 802. The following
600 years saw powerful Khmer kings dominate much of present-day
Southeast Asia, from the borders of Myanmar east to the South
China Sea and north to Laos
It was during this period that the Khmer
kings built the most extensive concentration of religious
temples in the world - the Angkor temple complex. This complex
covers an area of 400 square kilometers in the province of
Siem Reap. The area contains more that 100 temples and more
than 1080 temples across the country. The most successful
of the Angkor's kings, Jayavarman II and Jayavarman I, Suryavarman
II and Jayavarman VII, also devised a masterpiece of ancient
engineering: a sophisticated irrigation system that includes
barays (gigantic man-made lakes) and canals that ensured as
many as three rice crops a year. Part of this system is still
in use today.
As the Angkor period ended, Cambodia's capital
moved south to Longvek, then to Oudong, and finally to the
present-day capital pf Phnom Penh. Among the main features
of the post-Angkorean era, besides the movement of the capital,
was a widespread conversion to Theravada Buddhism, illustrated
on temple carvings, where Buddhist features gradually replaced
Hindu features.
The 15th to 17th centuries represented a
time of foreign influence, when expansionist Siam and Vietnam
fought over Cambodia.
By the mid-1800s, Cambodia, like most other
countries in Asia, came under increasing pressure from European
colonial powers. In 1863, King Norodom signed a Protectorate
Treaty with France.
In 1945, the Japanese briefly ousted the
Frence. Encouraged, King Sihanouk campaigned tirelessly and
in 1953 he succeeded in winning independence for Cambodia,
effectively ending 90 years under French protectorate. King
Sihanouk abdicated the throne to his father and took the reins
of government himself as head of state.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s Cambodia was
self-sufficient and prospered in many areas. However, the
quagmire of growing war in Vietnam spread relentlessly, and
in 1970, as war spilled over into Cambodia, Prince Sihanouk
was overthrown by General Lon Nol.
On 17 April 1975, Lon Nol's weak-ended government
was itself overthrown by the Khmer Rouge. They immediately
emptied the capital of its residents and brought Prince Sihanouk
back, only to hold him under house arrest. The ensuing four
years "Reign of terror" under Pol Pot's democratic
Kampuchea resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 milliion
people.
In 1979, the Khmer Rouge was overthrown and
the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea was established.
In 1989 the Vietnamese withdrew the last of their troops and
the government renamed the country State of Cambodia. The
SOC ruled independently until the Paris Peace Agreement of
1991 created the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC).
Supported by the presence of some 22000 UN troops, UNTAC in
May 1993 supervised general eletions in Cambodia. A second
general election was held in 1998.
Cambodia today enjoys a parliamentary system
with one prime minister, Hun Sen. A constitution was adopted
in 1993, the same year King Norodom Sihanouk returned to the
throne. His Majesty remains a symbol of national unity to
his people.
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