Don Det ( Lao : ດອນເດດ ) is an island in the Mekong River in the Si Phan Don ("Four Thousand Islands") archipelago in Champasak Province of southern Laos .
75-500: The Don Det–Don Khon railway was a 7-kilometer (4.3 mi)-long narrow-gauge portage railway on the islands of Don Det and Don Khon , opened in 1893 to transport vessels, freight, and passengers along the Mekong River, and closed since the 1940s . The walking path around the island is 7.2 km (4.47 mi). Don Det is linked to its twin island Don Khon by a bridge. Don Som , the closest island accessible by pirogue ,
150-653: A Devaraja . They and their followers instituted the cult of the God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the area from the 9th to the 15th centuries. During the rule of Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by the Mongol army of Kublai Khan ; the king was able to buy peace. Around the 13th century, Theravada missionaries from Sri Lanka reintroduced Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia, having sent missionaries previously in
225-599: A pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to avoid being purged by Pol Pot and Ta Mok . It was fully beholden to the occupying Vietnamese army and under the direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam and the Soviet Union. In opposition to
300-666: A British tidal expert living in Siam , suggested that a tramway or canal with a series of locks should be built around the falls; a canal "would satisfactorily cripple the French economy, costing about the same as the Manchester Ship Canal yet never carrying more than one ten-thousandth of its tonnage". The French settled on a small portage railway across the islands of Don Khon and (later) Don Det, which would allow specially-designed vessels to be dismantled, transported on
375-457: A brief interruption during while the kingdom was occupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945 and simultaneously existing as the puppet state of Kingdom of Kampuchea in 1945. Between 1874 and 1962, the total population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million. After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on
450-753: A campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see Cambodian Incursion ). On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days, led to the collapse of the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, 5 days after
525-424: A physician's wife, travelled between Phnom Penh and Luang Prabang in 1910: The train, struggling and grating amid the clashing sound of steel, hauled us across the island, which is covered by teak trees and bamboos whose branches brushed our faces. The temperature was very high and the sun, filtering through the trees, roused noxious fever-vapours from the tangled undergrowth. Sweat caked my hair under my sun hat;
600-485: A press conference was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media: "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand of Cambodia—that is, I will, in any case, oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext." Nevertheless, the public pleas of Sihanouk were ignored and the bombing continued. While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak . Once
675-558: A social structure and labour organization. Kinds of glass beads recovered from sites, such as the Phum Snay site in the northwest and the Prohear site in the southeast, suggest that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about the 2nd–4th century AD, probably due to changes in socio-political powers. During
750-531: A vessel. At the northern terminal, passengers transferred to a steamship on the river channel dividing Don Det and Don Khon. As the vessels could only travel when the river was in flood, during the 1910s the railway was extended three kilometres (1.9 mi) to Don Det and it terminated at a pier near Ban Khon. The outbreak of the Second World War apparently sealed the railway's fate, and the last train reportedly ran in 1940. The French started to build
825-399: Is 250 m (820 ft) from Don Det. There is a Buddhist temple and two primary schools on the northern part of the island. Don Det features a tropical wet and dry climate . While the city is generally very warm throughout the year, it is noticeably cooler during December and January. Don Det also experiences wet and dry seasons, with the wet season from April until October, and
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#1732783496054900-530: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Don Det%E2%80%93Don Khon railway The Don Det–Don Khon railway (sometimes spelled "Don Deth–Don Khone") was a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi)-long narrow-gauge portage railway on the islands of Don Det and Don Khon , part of the Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands) archipelago in Champasak Province of southern Laos . Built by
975-752: Is characterised by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level . In Cambodia forest cover is around 46% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,068,370 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 11,004,790 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 7,464,400 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 603,970 hectares (ha). Of
1050-456: Is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands. The most distinctive geographical feature is the inundations of the Tonle Sap, measuring about 2,590 square kilometres (1,000 square miles) during the dry season and expanding to about 24,605 square kilometres (9,500 square miles) during the rainy season. This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice cultivation, is
1125-512: Is used to traverse the islands. Nearly all visitors reach the islands via Nakasang in Champasak Province (off Route 13), arriving by boat at Ban Hua Det on Don Det. At Ban Khon on Don Khon, one of the two wood-burning steam locomotives still in existence is at a former maintenance depot. Built in 1911 by Orenstein & Koppel and named Eloïse , the rusty engine sits on a short stretch of track. A shed has been constructed to protect
1200-485: The 1991 Paris Peace Accords which formally ended the war with Vietnam , Cambodia was governed by a United Nations mission (1992–93). The UN withdrew after the 1993 Cambodian general election , decided by around 90% of registered voters. The 1997 coup d'état consolidated power under Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP). While constitutionally a multi-party state, CPP dominates
1275-411: The 2020 Pacific typhoon season . Cambodia's biodiversity is largely founded on its seasonal tropical forests , containing some 180 recorded tree species , and riparian ecosystems. There are 212 mammal species, 536 bird species, 240 reptile species, 850 freshwater fish species ( Tonle Sap Lake area), and 435 marine fish species recorded by science. Much of this biodiversity is contained around
1350-586: The Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October. The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from November to April. The country experiences the heaviest precipitation from September to October with the driest period occurring from January to February. According to the International Development Research Center and The United Nations , Cambodia is considered Southeast Asia's most vulnerable country to
1425-612: The Khmer Rouge Tribunal sought out to investigate crimes committed during the Democratic Kampuchea period and prosecute its leaders. Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials or investigations of former Khmer Rouge officials. In July 2010, Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp and he
1500-619: The Krâvanh Mountains and the Dâmrei Mountains , form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand . In this remote and largely uninhabited area, Phnom Aural , Cambodia's highest peak rises to an elevation of 5,949 feet (1,813 metres). The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which
1575-611: The Mekong Exploration Commission , the railway was operated by the Lao State Railway . It opened in 1893, and closed in 1940 or 1949. The railway was initially laid to 600 mm ( 1 ft 11 + 5 ⁄ 8 in ) gauge, and may have been partially (or fully) converted to 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge . It facilitated the transportation of vessels , freight and passengers along
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#17327834960541650-769: The Mekong River . The Don Det–Don Khon islands railway was the only railway built, opened and operated in Laos until 2009, when a line was opened between Nong Khai , Nong Khai Province in Thailand and the Thanaleng railway station in Dongphosy (near Vientiane ). The French colonial administration of Indochina was determined to use the Mekong River for a route into China , and to help counter British colonial expansion in Upper Burma . The governor of Indochina saw
1725-654: The Tonlé Sap in recent years, affecting the food security and agriculture of a large proportion of Cambodia's population. Cambodia has two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from May to October, can see temperatures drop to 22 °C (72 °F) and is generally accompanied with high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can rise up to 40 °C (104 °F) around April. Disastrous flooding occurred in 2001 and again in 2002, with some degree of flooding almost every year. Severe flooding also affected 17 provinces in Cambodia during
1800-465: The monarchy was restored with Norodom Sihanouk reinstated as King, and the first post-war election was coordinated by UNTAC . The election was won by FUNCINPEC led by Sihanouk's son Ranariddh in a hung parliament . A power-sharing agreement was agreed with Ranariddh and Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party both simultaneously being co-Prime Ministers after the CPP threatened to secede part of
1875-573: The next general election in 2023 . In October 2022, Hun Sen warned CPP members that the country's newest and largest opposition party, the Candlelight Party , may be dissolved before the 2023 general election. The warning comes after a June 2022 lawsuit filed by the National Election Committee against the party's deputy president, Son Chhay , accusing him of defamation by speaking out against electoral fraud by
1950-802: The political system and dissolved its main opposition party in 2017, making it a de facto one-party state . The UN now designates it a least developed country . Cambodia is a member of the United Nations , ASEAN , the RCEP , the East Asia Summit , the WTO , the Non-Aligned Movement and La Francophonie , and a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation . Agriculture remains
2025-430: The red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, and some of them possibly date from the second millennium BC. Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of Oudong ), where the first investigations began in 1875, and Phum Snay , in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey . Iron
2100-462: The yellow star " as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism. Religious institutions were targeted by the Khmer Rouge. The majority of Khmer architecture , 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, were destroyed. In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge and conquered it. The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) was established as
2175-536: The 1190s. The religion spread and eventually displaced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; it was not the official state religion until 1295 when Indravarman III took power. The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power was Angkor , where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been
2250-621: The 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and its successor, Chenla , coalesced in what later is Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, what was to become Cambodia absorbed influences from India , passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilisations that later became Thailand and Laos. The Khmer Empire grew out of the remnants of Chenla, becoming firmly established in 802 when Jayavarman II (reigned c. 790 – c. 835 ) declared independence from Java and proclaimed themselves
2325-512: The CPP. A July 2023 Human Rights Watch report showed numerous and significant election fraud and vote tampering in the June 2022 commune elections. In the July 2023 election , the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) easily won by a landslide in a flawed election, after the disqualification of Cambodia's most important opposition, Candlelight Party . On 22 August 2023, Hun Manet was sworn in as
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2400-631: The Cambodian conflict was largely between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge. Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970
2475-582: The Khmer កម្ពុជា ( Kâmpŭchéa , pronounced [kampuciə] ). Kâmpŭchéa is the shortened alternative to the country's official name in Khmer ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា ( Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa , pronounced [preah riəciənaːcak kampuciə] . The Khmer endonym កម្ពុជា Kâmpŭchéa derives from the Sanskrit name कम्बोजदेश Kambojadeśa , composed of देश Deśa ("land of" or "country of") and कम्बोज ( Kamboja ), referring to
2550-604: The Khmers"), or the slightly more formal ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា ( Prâtés Kâmpŭchéa , pronounced [prɑteh kampuciə] ; "Country of Kampuchea"). The name Cambodia is used most often in the Western world while Kampuchea is more widely used in the Eastern world. There exists evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of what later is Cambodia, which includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along
2625-689: The Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratié provinces, and in Kampot Province . Some archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during the Holocene : the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of Laang Spean , which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC. Upper layers in
2700-606: The Mekong as "the main point of connection between the different countries of French Indo-China ( Cochin-China , Cambodia , Laos and Tonkin ), which will be able to communicate with each other through it". The main obstacle was in southern Laos, where the river divides into several channels with rapids (known as the Khone Phapheng Falls ) at the Siphandon Islands. Attempts in 1891, 1892 and 1893 to scale
2775-701: The Siamese (Thai), the Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians". Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the Mekong Delta had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698, with King Chey Chettha II granting the Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before. In 1863, King Norodom signed a treaty of protection with France. The protectorate of France period lasted until 1953, with
2850-627: The US mission evacuated Cambodia. Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately 1 to 3 million; a cited figure is 2 million (about a quarter of the population). This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields , and the prison Tuol Sleng became known for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. The Cham Muslims underwent purges with as much as half of their population exterminated. Pol Pot
2925-663: The bridge in 1917 and it was delivered to the "Compagnie des Messagerie Fluviale de Cochinchine" on January 1, 1923, for operation. It was finished between 1920 and 1921 but as they receipt the railway for the Don Det extension in October 1922, the inauguration was delayed. Due to the WW1, they had huge material supply problems (mostly on cement and steel). Although there are few accounts of the railway–written or pictorial—Marthe Bassenne,
3000-739: The celestial nymph Mera unite and establish the Cambodian Solar royal dynasty (Kambu-Mera), that begins with the Chenla ruler Srutavarman and his son Sreshthavarman . Coedes suggests that the Kambu Swayambhuva legend has its origins in southern India, as a version of the Kanchi Pallava dynasty creation myth. Colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either Srok Khmer ( ស្រុកខ្មែរ Srŏk Khmêr , pronounced [srok kʰmae] ; meaning "Land of
3075-516: The country if power was fully transferred to FUNCINPEC. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a coup d'état led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ousted Ranariddh and other parties represented in the government and consolidated power for CPP. After its government was able to stabilize under Sen, Cambodia was accepted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 30 April 1999. Norodom Sihamoni
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3150-750: The country in 1965 via the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk trails . A 1970 coup installed the US-aligned Khmer Republic , which was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. The Khmer Rouge ruled the country and carried out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when they were ousted in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War . The Vietnamese-occupied People's Republic of Kampuchea became the de facto government. Following
3225-564: The coup was completed, the new regime, which demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, desperate to retain their sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam, launched armed attacks on the new government. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war . Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. From 1970 until 1972,
3300-482: The descendants of Kambu (a legendary Indian sage from the ancient Indian kingdom of Kamboja ). The term Cambodia was already in use in Europe as early as 1524, since Antonio Pigafetta cites it in his work Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524–1525) as Camogia . Scholar George Coedes refers to a 10th-century inscription of a Cambodian dynastic legend in which the hermit Kambu Swayambhuva and
3375-551: The disease's spread for much of 2020 the country's health system was put under strain by a major outbreak in early 2021, which prompted several lockdowns . It also had a severe economic impact, with the tourism industry particularly affected due to international travel restrictions . Prime Minister Hun Sen assumed office 39 years ago and is one of the world's longest-serving leaders . He has been accused of crackdowns on opponents and critics. In December 2021, Hun Sen announced his support for his son Hun Manet to succeed him after
3450-477: The dominant economic sector, with growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade. It is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change . The Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge , which in turn is the French transliteration of
3525-583: The dry season during the remaining five months. Temperatures range from 15°C to 38°C. The Khone Phapheng Falls , a succession of impassable rapids that gave rise to the construction of the railway, are among the main features accessible from Don Det. Freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins ( pakha ), an endangered species, are now extinct. Irrawaddy dolphins , water buffaloes ( Bubalus bubalis ), common house geckos ( Hemidactylus frenatus ), bronze grass skink ( Eutropis macularia ), and bioluminescent beetles can be seen in Don Det. This Laotian location article
3600-513: The east, and has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand in the southwest. It spans an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles ), and has a population of about 17 million. Its capital and most populous city is Phnom Penh . In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire . The Indianised kingdom facilitated
3675-603: The effects of climate change, alongside the Philippines. Nearly all provinces in Cambodia are affected by climate change . Rural coastal populations are particularly at risk. Shortages of clean water , extreme flooding, mudslides, higher sea levels and potentially destructive storms are of particular concern, according to the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance. Climate change has also had a major impact on water levels, ecology and productivity of
3750-436: The falls failed; accounts exist of steamships with "engines roaring and boilers near bursting, with hundreds of men hauling from the rocks on ropes and others pushing from the decks with pikes", and one vessel "allegedly wriggled up a narrow water-slide to within fifty metres of the top before the attempt had to be abandoned". Alternative modes of transport were necessary. One idea came in the form of Herbert Warington Smyth ,
3825-561: The following year. The protests ended after a crackdown by government forces. The Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved ahead of the 2018 Cambodian general election and the ruling Cambodian People's Party also enacted tighter curbs on mass media . The CPP won every seat in the National Assembly without major opposition, effectively solidifying de facto one-party rule in the country. The global COVID-19 pandemic spread to Cambodia in early 2020. Despite minimising
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#17327834960543900-456: The heartland of Cambodia. Much of this area has been designated as a biosphere reserve . Cambodia's climate, like that of the rest of Southeast Asia, is dominated by monsoons , which are known as tropical wet and dry because of the distinctly marked seasonal differences. Cambodia has a temperature range from 21 to 35 °C (70 to 95 °F) and experiences tropical monsoons. Southwest monsoons blow inland bringing moisture-laden winds from
3975-422: The heat burned my arms through my clothes; and the mosquitoes took advantage of my predicament to attack me as they pleased, all over my hands and face… Although the railway—including the 170-metre (560 ft) concrete viaduct —remains largely intact and can be walked or cycled (except for short stretches in a maintenance yard), its rails have been removed. The trackbed , consisting of compacted ballast and sand,
4050-517: The largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 2,980 square kilometres (1,151 square miles). The city could have supported a population of up to 1 million people. After a series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. The hill tribe people were "hunted incessantly and carried off as slaves by
4125-502: The locomotive from further deterioration, and the section of track has been raised onto a small concrete plinth to protect the wheels from water. Until the first decade of the 21st century, the government of Laos made no serious attempt to reopen the railway since its closure in the 1940s. The Vientiane Times published news in December 2005 about the possible reopening of the railway by 2007 for tourism. The budget for reconstruction
4200-447: The naturally regenerating forest 4% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership . To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than 200 miles (320 kilometres) from west to east and rising abruptly above
4275-642: The need to use the Mekong River for freight transportation in Laos. 13°57′49″N 105°55′15″E / 13.963556°N 105.920761°E / 13.963556; 105.920761 Cambodia Cambodia , officially the Kingdom of Cambodia , is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula . It borders Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to
4350-423: The new Cambodian prime minister. Cambodia has an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) and lies entirely within the tropics, between latitudes 10° and 15°N , and longitudes 102° and 108°E . It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. It has a 443-kilometre (275-mile) coastline along the Gulf of Thailand . Cambodia's landscape
4425-462: The newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from 3 factions. This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front . Its credentials were recognised by the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge representative to UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained, and he had to work in consultation with representatives of
4500-450: The noncommunist Cambodian parties. The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia led to economic sanctions . Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia , culminating 2 years later in October 1991 in a Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement . The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). In 1993,
4575-425: The plain to heights of 600 to 1,800 feet (180–550 metres). This cliff marks the southern limit of the Dângrêk Mountains . Flowing south through Cambodia's eastern regions is the Mekong River. East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam. In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks,
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#17327834960544650-403: The railway, reassembled and launched further upstream. The first railway was laid on Don Khon—the more-southerly of the two islands—in 1893, when Laos became part of French Indochina (the French colonial empire in Southeast Asia ). Its route stretched four kilometres, from the southeastern corner of the island (near the village of Ban Hangkhon) north-west to the northern part of the island near
4725-415: The same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic , containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia. Archaeological records for the period between the Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. An event in prehistory was the penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the third millennium BC. Prehistoric evidence are the "circular earthworks " discovered in
4800-422: The spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to Southeast Asia and undertook religious infrastructural projects throughout the region. In the 15th century, it began a decline in power (the Post-Angkor Period ) until, in 1863, it became the French Protectorate of Cambodia . After the Japanese occupation of Cambodia during the Second World War, it gained independence in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into
4875-509: The throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk , a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control. Under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953. In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father to participate in politics and
4950-476: The vessels. A permanent railway was laid by 1897, and a wood-burning steam locomotive replaced manpower for traction . The first seven- tonne steam locomotive was christened Paul Doumer ( Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902), and equipment was supplied by Decauville via Cochinchina . Trains could have a maximum of 12 cars (consisting of a steam locomotive , open-topped wagons and carriages ), and it took an average of two trains to load
5025-474: The village of Ban Khon. The railway was temporary for its first four years, laid in segments which could be lifted when the train had passed and relaid in front. The gun-sloops Lagrandière , Ham Luong and Massie were the first to cross the island by this method, followed by the Garcerie , Colombert and Trentinian in 1896; the latter sank in the Mekong River after a 1928 gasoline explosion. Imported Vietnamese labour hauled wagons which carried sections of
5100-440: Was an estimated US$ 1.5 million and, although local materials would have been sought, new rolling stock from abroad would have to be purchased. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the principal backer (the South Korean Kyungin Engineering and Construction Company) and the Laotian government, but the company backed out of the agreement. Improvements in local and regional highways and airport infrastructure have reduced
5175-567: Was crowned Cambodia's king in 2004 after his father Sihanouk's abdication. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, reconstruction efforts progressed which led to some political stability through a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy although Sen's rule has been marred by human rights abuses and corruption . Cambodia's economy grew rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s, and it received considerable investment and infrastructure development support from China as part of its Belt and Road Initiative . A UN-backed war crimes tribunal,
5250-571: Was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people. Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. Most of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were not ethnic minorities but ethnic Khmer. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, were targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan , "eyeglasses were as deadly as
5325-459: Was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War . Sihanouk allowed the Vietnamese communists to use Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces fighting in South Vietnam. In December 1967 Washington Post journalist Stanley Karnow
5400-479: Was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot 's then second in command, Nuon Chea . NVA units overran Cambodian army positions while the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North Vietnamese invasion, US President Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in
5475-482: Was sentenced to life in prison. In August 2014, the tribunal sentenced Khieu Samphan , the regime's 83-year-old former head of state, and Nuon Chea , its 88-year-old chief ideologue, to life in prison on war crimes charges for their role in the country's terror period in the 1970s. After the 2013 Cambodian general election , allegations of voter fraud from opposition party Cambodia National Rescue Party led to widespread anti-government protests that continued into
5550-481: Was told by Sihanouk that if the US wanted to bomb the Vietnamese communist sanctuaries, he would not object unless Cambodians were killed. The same message was conveyed to US President Johnson's emissary Chester Bowles in January 1968. In public Sihanouk refuted the right of the U.S. to use air strikes in Cambodia, and on 26 March he said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop". On 28 March
5625-465: Was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau , in what later is Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian temples while circular earthworks were discovered at the site of Lovea kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials testify to improvement of food availability and trade, and the existence of
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