The Kingdom of Cambodia is in Southeast Asia, on the mainland of the Indochinese Peninsula. It is a land of plains and rivers that lies along important overland and river trade routes that link China to India and countries in Southeast Asia. These routes connect China to Southeast Asian countries. Cambodia has Thailand to its west and north, Laos to its northeast, Vietnam to its east and southeast, and the Gulf of Thailand to its southwest. The Kingdom of Thailand is to the west and north of Cambodia. Cambodia is near Laos, Vietnam, and the Gulf of Thailand. Statistics from 2019 indicate that Cambodia encompasses 181,035 square kilometers of land, 25 provinces, and a 15.288 million population.
The Khmer ethnic group makes up the vast majority of this country’s population. The national language of Cambodia is now Khmer. This nation officially recognizes Buddhism as its only legitimate religion. The riel is the primary component of their monetary system. At the end of 2018, their GDP was 6.32 million riels per person, and by the end of 2019, their GDP was 99.54 billion riels.
Cambodia’s Major Cities
Phnom Penh, the country’s capital and one of the few big cities in the primarily rural countryside, is a mix of the cultures of many Asian countries, France, and the United States. It is significant both economically, commercially, culturally, and from a tourist perspective. The city of Battambang is Cambodia’s second-largest and serves as the provincial capital of its namesake province. In the 11th century, the region now known as Battambang was officially established and given its name. It is a secondary hub on the land route from Thailand to Vietnam and is between the two countries.
Siem Reap is a bustling city that is also a UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site, and it is home to the world’s largest religious structure, the magnificent Angkor Wat temple. In the 12th century, Angkor Wat was the most significant religious structure in the world.
The Weather and Climate of Cambodia
The region known as Southeast Asia contains Cambodia. Because of their tropical climate, they have both dry and monsoonal (literally, rainy) seasons. On average, the temperature is anywhere from 69.8 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
December and February mark the beginning and end of the country’s fantastic season, respectively. Since Cambodia sees a high number of tourists during this time of year, those who have trouble getting around in big crowds should stay away from the country during this time.
March through June are typically the hottest months of the year. During the warmer months, many people with specialized knowledge decide to take vacations outside the country.
It is one of the most widespread misunderstandings, so it is one of the most important specifics to remember. Most foreigners who move to Cambodia for the first time dread the monsoon season for many different reasons. They have made it through the hottest months of their second year in the country, and they eagerly anticipate the rain’s onset. The rainy season begins in June and continues through September, October, and November. During the wet season, the average length of the showers is onl
Transportation
Cambodia’s transportation system is complicated. It includes inland waterways, trains, and roads, but roads are the most important. The French planned and built the road system that linked the farming areas to the Saigon port, now Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. It did its work while the French protected Vietnam. After the end of Democratic Kampuchea and the start of the civil war that followed, the country’s roads and bridges were in terrible shape. Despite this, they fixed it over the past few years with assistance from other nations.
Cambodia has about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) of inland waterways, most of which connect to the Mekong and Tonle Sap systems. Boats with drafts of less than 4 meters (13 feet) can reach Phnom Penh (4 meters). Sihanoukville, also called Kampong Saom, is Cambodia’s only port city on the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia has two main rail lines from the capital city of Phnom Penh to the town of Kampong Saom on the border with Thailand. One of the lines goes to the Thai border. These occurred during French colonial rule between 1885 and 1910. Cambodia has two international airports. Siem Reap International Airport and Poc International Airport are both in Cambodia.
Economy
Cambodia was well on transitioning into an upper-middle-income country by 2030. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, progress toward this goal has slowed. The economy will grow 4.8% in 2022, up from 4.5% in April. An increase will undoubtedly contribute to expanding domestic economic activity and goods exports.
Cambodia’s manufacturing industry, which depends almost entirely on exports, will probably have trouble because the outside environment used to be better. The United States and China are reducing their economic growth rates, making the world less stable. But the COVID-19 pandemic caused an increase in unemployment, poverty, and inequality. In the past few years that actions taken by the government, such as providing cash assistance to low-income households, have begun to make a difference. Increases in labor (especially wage) earnings were a big reason poverty rates went down between 2009 and 2019/2020 by an average of 1.6 percentage points per year.
By 2020, the percentage of children enrolled in elementary school will have reached 93% of the total population. However, human capital indicators show that the country is still lagging behind other lower-middle-income countries in terms of overall productivity levels. It is especially the case when one considers the effects on one’s health and nutrition.
Real Estate
Even though there is a pandemic going on, Cambodia’s real estate market is not slowing down. It makes a common and attractive choice for local investors. Real estate in the country has become an attractive investment opportunity for people who want to invest in emerging markets. The country’s GDP is growing quickly, and the government is stable. Foreign direct investment has grown quickly over the past ten years, which has led to a rise in demand for high-quality housing estates and office buildings. This growth has also contributed to the economy’s expansion as a whole. It’s a good idea to start a business that builds residential or commercial real estate or invests money in these types of real estate.
Foreign Trade
Cambodia’s fast economic growth over the past few years has directly affected its exports and imports, which have been increasing. The most important thing to bring into the country is clothing, while the most important thing to send overseas is clothing. The most important things to get into the country are textiles, petroleum products, and automobiles. Although the pandemic has harmed total manufacturing exports, bicycles, electrical parts, and vehicle parts and accessories are all on the rise. Additionally, rice exports and other agricultural commodities have significantly increased.
In recent years, the travel and tourism industry has grown. It is due, in large part, to the fact that domestic tourists are spending more money. There has been an increase in direct investment from other countries in the agricultural sector and other industries that do not involve clothing. It is probably because free trade agreements are so appealing to participants.
Tourism
The tourism industry is Cambodia’s most important and fastest-growing service sector and the drive that contributes the most to the country’s overall economy. Tourism is one of Cambodia’s most essential industries for getting direct foreign investment. Large trade deficits have caused many bad things, but tourism has helped to lessen some of these problems.
Tourism brings in a lot of money and foreign currency. Since 2011, Cambodia has seen a continuous rise in the number of tourists who visit the country, reaching approximately 5.6 million in 2017.
As a direct consequence of the pandemic brought on by the COVID-19 virus in September 2020, the number of people entering the country from other countries fell by 74.1 percent. Cambodia’s travel and tourism industry is slowly making its way back to health, and a large part of the credit for this turnaround goes to the country’s domestic tourists. Cambodia’s tourism and travel industry showed improvement in the second quarter of 2020. It is primarily because domestic tourists return to the country’s most popular tourist spots.
Since the pandemic is likely to hurt international travel, the hospitality and tourism industries will have to focus almost entirely on domestic travel and tourism for the foreseeable future. It is because the pandemic is likely to make it harder for people to travel abroad. It is because there is a greater possibility of disruptions occurring during international travel.
People in the country now use travel and tourism services more than before the lockdown. Because of this, the industry is changing better to meet its customers’ needs.
If you want to learn more about Cambodia, our overview of helpful information covers a wide range of topics, such as the country’s most famous cities, climate, transportation system, and economic situation. If you are considering Cambodia as a possible location for either a tourist attraction or a place to conduct business, this is an excellent source of information to consult. As we continue to learn more about the exciting culture of this Southeast Asian country, we hope you’ll come along with us.
