Population and People
Cambodia's population stands at 12 million, of which the
Khmer make up 90%. Other groups include Vietnamese, Chinese,
Thai and Burmese and various ethnic hill tribes, many of the
latter living in the mountainous regions to the north and
southwest.
The Khmer account for 80 percent of agricultural workers,
while the Vietnamese and Chinese dominate the business sector.
Language
Cambodia's official language is Khmer, and this is spoken
by the majority of the population. However, Vietnamese and
several Chinese dialects can also be heard. Unlike the languages
of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and China, Khmer is non-tonal,
but has also picked up and adapted many words from Sanskrit
and Pali.
Khmer has also borrowed many terms from Chinese and European
languages, particularly French.
The roots of written Khmer derive from a South Indian alphabet.
It uses thirty-three consonants, twenty-four dependent vowels,
twelve independent vowels, and diacritic markers. Vowels may
be written before, after, over, or under a consonant symbol.
Unfortunately, 50% of the population is illiterate.
Religion
The state religion of Theravada Buddhism was first introduced
to Cambodia during the days of the great Angkor kingdom and
prospered. For centuries, monks were the only literate people
residing in rural communities, and filled the important role
of teachers.
However, in 1975, the Khmer Rouge massacred the majority
of monks and destroyed most of the temples and it was not
until after the Vietnamese invasion that Buddhism was openly
practiced.
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