KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

NATIONAL FLAG
The flag of Cambodia symbolizes the country’s religious dignity and royalty. Two large blue stripes representing royalty, embrace an even larger red stripe which represents the nation. The image of the white temple represents the nation’s religion. Generally speaking, the colors and image on the Cambodian flag personify the country’s slogan: Nation, Religion, King. (ref: Ministry of Tourism)

SOCIO-ECONIMICS AT A GLANCE

Official Name	Kingdom of Cambodia
Flag of Cambodia
Royal arms of Cambodia
Motto:	"Nation, religion, King"
Anthem:	Nokoreach
Surface area:	181 035 sq.km
Capital City:	Phnom Penh
Official Language:	Khmer
Demonym:	Khmer or Cambodian
King:	Samdech Preah Norodom Sihamoni
Prime Minister:	Samdech Dek Cho Hun Sen
Government:	Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary representative democracy
Legislature: - Upper House - Lower House	Parliament Senate National Assembly
Population: - Male - Female	13,395,682 (2008) 48.6% 51.4%
Density of population:	75 per sq.km
Population Growth Rate:	1.54%
Climatic condition:	Tropical and monsoon
National Currency:	Riel (R)
Time Zone:	GMT + 7 hours

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KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

GEOGRAPHY
Cambodia has land area of 181 035 sq.km, in the south-west part of the Indochina peninsula, about 20% of which is used for agriculture. The country's maximum extent is about 580 km (est-west) and 450 km (north-south). It is bounded on the west by Thailand, on the north by Thailand and Laos, on the east by Vietnam and on the south by the Gulf of Thailand. In comparison wit its neighboring countries, Cambodia is administratively divided into 24 provinces and the capital of Phnom Penh. Provinces are further subdivided into 159 districts and 26 municipalities. The capital is divided into 8 khan. Districts are consist of 1417 Khum and 204Sangkat.

CLIMATE

Cambodia's climate is hot and warm almost all year round. The climate is dominated by the annual monsoon cycle of rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season lasts from May to October, and the dry season is from November to April. December to January are the cool months while the hottest period is in April. The average temperature is 27 - 28^oC.

LANGUAGES
Khmer is the official language in Cambodia. English is very popular with people for communicating with foreigners in administrative, commercial, diplomatic, economic, industrial , and tourist affairs. The older people educated at their local comprehensive school can speak French clearly. Khmer-English road and street signs are found nationwide.

RELIGION
Cambodia is predominantly Biddhist. Like most other religions, there are many different types of Buddhism, and about 95% of Cambodians belong to the Theavada sect of Buddhists. Religion is an important tradition in Cambodia, and for a very long time, most Cambodian have not been willing to change. In more recent years, many Cambodians, especially the young people have begun to look for more, and many Christian missionatire have been able to enter the country. Christianity as well as many false religions have been growing rapidly in Cambodia.

CURRENCY
The Cambodian currency is Riel that can fluctuate a little if it is compared with a dollar. Riel denominations are 100,000; 50,000; 20,000; 10,000; 5,000; 2,000; 1,000; 500; 200; 100; and 50; Banknotes, which are printed in both Khmer and English, increase in size according to value and are in different colors.

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Religion

Buddhism:The majority of people of Cambodia are followers of Theavada, or Hinayana, Buddhism.Buddhism was introduced to Cambodia between 13th and 14th centuries and was the state religion until 1975. The Theravada school is also called the "southern" school as it took the southern route from India. its place of origin, through South-East Asia - in this case Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos and Cambodia - while the "northern school proceeded north into Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam and Japan. Because the southern school tried to preserve or limit the Buddhist doctrines to only those canons codified in the early Buddhist era, the northern school gave Theravada Buddhism the name Hinayana, meaning the "Lesser Vehicle". The norther school considered itself Mahayana, the "Grant Vehicle", because it built upon the earlier teachings, "expanding" the doctrine to respond more to the needs of lay people, or so it claimed. Theravada doctrine stresses the three principal aspects of existence: Tukha (suffering, unsatisfactory, disease), Anicha (impermanence, transience of all things) and annatto (no substantiation or no essential of reality, no permanent "soul"). These concepts, when "discovered"by Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century BC, were in direct contrast to the Hindu belief in eternal, blissful Self, or Paramatman, hence Buddhism was originally a "heresy"against India's Brahmanic religion. Gautama, an Indian price turned ascetic, subjected himself to many years of severe austerities to arrive at this vision of the world and was given the title Buddha, "the Enlightened" or "the Awakened". Gautama Buddha spoke of four noblr truths, which had the power to liberate any human being who could realize them. Between 1975 to 1979 the vast majority of Cambodia's buddhist monks were murdered by the Khmer Rouge and virtually all of the country's more than 3,000 Wats were damaged or destroyed. In the late 1980s Buddhism was again made the state religion. At that time, Cambodia had about 6,000 monks, who by law had to be at least 60 years old. The age requirements have been relaxed and young monks are once again a normal sight, Hinduism, Islam, Caodaism and Christianity are also practices in Cambodia.

OUDONG, The former Royal Capital of Cambodia

About 40 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh along National Route 5, a mountain topped with the spires of stupas rears from the plain like a fairytale castle. This is Phnom Oudong, at one time an ancient capital, bombed and desecrated by the Americans and then the Khmer Rouge, but still possessing an eerie beauty that no war has been able to steal from it.
As the capital, it was called Oudong Meanchey Oudong means noble or excellent, and Meanchey means victory.
From 1618 until 1866 it was home to a succession of kings, deposed from the former capital of Longvek by the invading Thais. The mountain itself runs from southeast to northeast, with a low saddle in the middle. Khmers say it has the shape of a Naga the magical multi-headed serpents that guard the Buddha. Along Route 5, signs point the way to silversmithing villages, a legacy of the past when kings and nobility used to come to the Tonle Sap to bathe and the people would offer them delicate gifts fashioned from the precious metal. Turn left at the large billboard, and at the very base of the mountain is a flurry of picnic huts. On weekends, hoards of people descend on the area from Phnom Penh to eat roast chicken, fish and palm fruit in the cool of the thick forest. At the base of the mountain near the path, a memorial containing bones of some of the hundreds of bodies exhumed from a large Khmer Rouge killing field here has been built testament to the area's bloody past. Stairs to the left lead to a huge, shattered statue of Buddha, the feet almost the only part still intact. On the path up the mountain to the right, the stairs climb steeply and a large structure rises on the left. Inside, huge pillars stand underneath sky, and in between their bullet-strafed skeletons, a statue of Buddha sits, only his right arm and shoulder still intact from the ravages of aerial bombings and shelling that shook Oudong from 1970 onwards.
The Khmer Rouge finished the job in 1977, setting explosives inside the temple.
This is Arthross Temple (Temple of Eight Points), and legend has it that the Buddha here, facing north instead of the traditional direction of east, is a testimony to the strength and power of the ancient Cambodian kingdom.In the 18th century, locals say, a Chinese king sent his people out across Asia to identify potential threats. When they came to Oudong, they saw the mountain shaped like a naga, a cavern on top of the Arthross end, and observed the wealth and power of Khmer society.
They went home and told their king that the Khmers were already a powerful race, and should a naga appear through the cavern of Arthross, they would be strong enough to rule the world.
The Chinese king did not want this, nor did he want a war. Instead, he asked the Khmer king if he could build a temple above the cavern, with Buddha's face towards China in order to protect his kingdom. This was named Arthaross temple (Arthaross means 18 corners) because there are 18 points, or corners, built into the structure of the temple. This temple also once stood 18 hats high a Khmer measurement the length of an arm from elbow to fingertips. One hat is about half a meter. Behind Arthross is Chker Amao stupa. Chker Amao was the dog of the head monk of Preah Sokhun Mean Bon. He was reportedly so remarkably clever that the monk could send him shopping with a list tied to his collar and the faithful dog would walk from market stall to market stall, collect the shopping, then bring it home. When he died he was reincarnated as the son of a Chinese king. The young prince began to get terrible headaches, and the court astrologer diagnosed the problem as the roots of the bamboo growing across the dog Amao's head in his Oudong grave.The king sent his people to Cambodia to cut the roots of the bamboo and build the temple that became Chkeri Amao Temple to consecrate the spot.As the ridge meanders northeast, three small viharas Vihear Preah Ko (Sacred Cow), Vihear Preah Keo (Sacred Precious Stone) and Vihear Prak Neak (The Buddha Protected by a Naga) have been restored and feature a statue of the sacred cow, glittering golden Buddhas and vibrant murals. The invading Thais took the original Preah Ko and Preah Keo when Longvek fell in 1594.These statues were said to have held golden books full of all the knowledge in the world in their bellies, and legend says that when they were lost to the Khmers marks when the Kingdom of Cambodia fell behind her neighbors. As the head of the naga comes into sight, three large stupas mark the resting place of kings.The first stupa, Chetdei Mouk Pruhm, is where the remains of King Monivong lie. He died in 1941. The middle stupa, with its four bayon faces looking out over Kandal in all directions, is Trai Traing, built by King Norodom for his father, King Ang Duong, in 1891.The last is called Damrei Sam Poan and was built in the 17th century for King Soriyopor. At the very point of the mountain, a huge stupa is just in the final stages of construction. This is probably where the Buddha relics that were once housed in the vihara outside the train station in Phnom Penh will be placed.
Across on the smaller ridge, Ta Sann Mosque is a testament to King Ang Duong's broadminded intellectualism. Grandfather Sann was born in Champa, the former Islamic empire that once shared Indochina with the Khmers, and was an Iman at Phnom Chumreay. He and the king became firm friends during long discussions about the dharma of both religions, and the king offered him a 50 square meter area on any mountain he chose to build a mosque, which he snappily accepted. But Oudong has not always witnessed such magnanimous tolerance. The alternative stairway that tumbles down the mountainside near the stupas of past kings passes murals depicting the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. No one here has forgotten that past, and the bullet-riddled temples are an everyday testament to what this fairytale city of the dead has suffered in the recent past. 

 

 

TOP KHMER CAKES

Num Anksom

Num Anksom, which is covered by banana leaves and boiled well before consomption, consist of two kind: Anksom Chrouk and Anksom Chek. Anksom Chrouk (pig cake) is mainly made out of pork, sticky rice, peeled mung bean and pepper, while Anksom Chek consist of ripe banana and other ingredients used in AnksomChrouk, excerpt the pork and pepper. Num Anksom is one of the most popular traditional cakes Cambodians make during traditional ceremonies or festivals, particularly on Phchum Ben (Festival of the dead) and Khmer New Year.

Num Korm

Similar to Num Anksom, Num Korm is used for traditional ceremonies or festivals, particularly during the Khmer New Year and Phchum Ben (Festival of the dead) It is pyramidal, and is either sweet or succulently salty.

Num Slek Sros (Fresh Leaf Num)

Cambodians name it because it is packaged in a piece of fresh green banana leaf. The slightly sweet cake comes from sticky flour with peeled mung bean inside serving as the core. It is eaten during traditional festivals, parties and other events, mostly as dessert.

Cambodian Waffle

It consist of sticky rice flour mixed with coconut oil, palm or white sugar, eggs and salt. It is not expensive, and many Cambodians think its tastes best when it is still hot.

Num Akor

It is round, made out of sticky rice flour mixed with coconut milk and palm sugar or white sugar with shredded coconut and toasted sesame on the top. It comes in two colors- white and red and it is also used as an offering on a Buddhist holy day.

Num Cak Kachan

It is sweet, and has numerous layers of various colors such as white and red, or green and white. Cambodians buy it for a Biddhist holy day to eat at home.

Moon Cake

Although traditionally used by the Chinese for the Moon Festival, the Moon cake is very popular in Cambodia, especially with Chinese-Cambodians. The Chinese eat the Moon cake when there is a full moon.

 Num Krouch

 It is called so because it looks like an orange, though orange is not part of the ingredients. Fried, Num Krouch consist of flour with peeled mung bean mixed with sugar serving as the core, toppled with toasted sesame. In general, it is popular with Cambodian kids.

Num Chek Bok (Crushed Banana Cake)

It is made out of sticky rice flour, coconut milk and ripe banana. It is eaten as a snack at home after meals.

Num Ple'ay

It is made out of flour and palm sugar. It is round, small with a sugar ball inside. In rural areas, it is eaten in a small banana leaf basket, which contains over five Num Ple'ay balls or more depending on how much you want to pay.