Geographers often compare Cambodia to a shallow dish. The
central half of the country consists of a flat lowland plain that is
home to nine out of ten Cambodians. Surrounding the plain is a
gently rolling savanna. This in turn is bodered by a series of low
mountains. The Dangrek Moutains follow the border with
Thailand. South of them lies the Cardamom chain ( named for a
popular spice grown in Southeast Asia). Here one finds
cambodia's highest moutain, a peak called Phnom Aoral that
rises 5,948 feet (1,813 meters) above sea level. South of the
Cardamoms, along the coast, are the Elephan Mountains, and
there are highlands to the east.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Cambodia's plant life varies from place to place. For thousands
of years the central lowland has been used for growing crops.
Farmers plant rice in flooded fields and corn and tobacco in dry
fields. Reeds and lotus plants flourish in marshy areas, and the
savanna is covered with tall grasses that sometimes reach 5 feet
(1.5 meters). The entire region abounds in fruit frees--banana,
durian, grapefruit, mango, orange, and papaya.

The central lowland is home to many fish-loving waterbirds
such as cormorants, cranes, egrets, berons, and pelicans.
Everywhere large brown water buffalo pull carts and plows.
Vividly colored parrots and butterflies float through the landscape.
The only danger domes from several species of poisonous
snakes--the cobra, the banded krait, Russell's viper, and the hard-
to-spot green Hanuman snake. It is a good thing these species are
rare, because many Cambodians go barefoot the year round.

Cambodia's eastern highlands are covered with a tropical rain
forest, always green and always moist Handwood giants such as
mahogany and teak soar one hundred feet (thirty meters) or more
into the air, forming a canopy over shorter bamboos, sugar palms,
rattan palms, and vines. The Cambodians weave the rattan stalks
into furniture. They use the sugar palm for building the walls and
roofs of their houses and also for making medicine, vinegar, and
wine. They faster hardwood logs into rafts, which they float
down the Mekong River to be made into furniture and boats.

Many wild animals prowl the rain forest. These include sun
bears, elephants, black panthers, and two endangered species--
spotted leopards and tigers. Many varieties of orchids are found here.

The lower slopes of the Cardamom and Elephant Mountains,
like the eastern highlands, are covered with a tropical rain forest.
Magnificent pines crown the mountains' upper slopes. Mangroves
border much of the coast. These are short trees that can grow in
seawater. Their roots often grow from the branches and are so
twisted and tangled that they block most traffic.

WEATHER AND CLIMATE

Cambodia lies in the tropics, between 10 and 15 degrees north
of the equator. As a result it is always hot here, or at least warm.
The temperature usually hovers around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27
degrees Celsius) during the day and falls into the low sixties at
night. There are no cold spots, because Cambodia's mountains are
not high enough to become really chilly, even at night.

Like most nations of South and Southeast Asia, Cambodia has a
monsoonal climate. That means its weather is governed by winds
called monsoons, which change direction twice a year.

From November to April the monsoon winds blow from the
north and the northeast, across the land toward the ocean. Days
are sunny, clear, and dry.

As May approaches the monsoon winds change direction and
blow from the south and the southwest, across the ocean toward
the land. Because of this it rains in Cambodia almost every day,
usually for an hour or so in the afternoon. At first the rainfall is
light, but it gradually gets heavier and heavier. By the end of the
rainy season in October most of the country is soaked, with up to
1 foot (0.3 meter) of water covering the roads and rice fields. That
is why most village houses in Cambodia stand on stilts.

THE MEKONG

Cambodia's main body of water is the Mekong River, the tenth
longest river in the world. The Mekong rises in the Himalaya
Mountains of western China and flows south to the South China
Sea. Along the way it winds through or along the border of six
nations; China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Within Cambodia the Mekong runs for about 315 miles (507
kilometers). When it first enters the country, its flow is gentle.
Then, above the town of Sambor, the river plunges down a series
of rapids that make navigation almost impossible except in
August and September, when melting Himalayan snows and the
downpours of the rainy season raise the water level. Beyond these
rapids, however, the river once again flows gently, providing
water for irrigation and a transportation route that is open all
year long.

THE TONLE SAP

The most important tributary of the Mekong is the Tonle Sap,
which is connected to a lake of the same name. The Tonle Sap--
both the lake and the river--look very different at different times
of the year.

During the dry season from November to April, the lake--also
known as the Great Lake--is long and narrow and covers about
one-twentieth of Cambodia. The river flows south from the lake
into the Mekong.
level of the Mekong rises so much that the Tonle Sap River can
no longer flow into it. Instead, the Tonle Sap backs up, reverses
its direction, and flows north into the lake. The northward flow of
water through the river causes the lake to swell until it almost
triples in size and covers one-seventh of Cambodia.

This annual change in the lake helps Cambodians in two ways.
First, when the lake recedes during the dry season, it leaves
behind a layer of rich mud. Farmers grow large crops of rice in
the fertile soil. Second, the nutrients in the lake make it ideal for
fish. Cambodians catch more than 1 million pounds (more than
453,000 kilograms) of fish-mostly carp, chubs, and eels--for each
square mile of the lake. Rice and fish are the main items in the
Cambodian diet.

THE PEOPLE

Although statistics are not reliable, Cambodia is believed to
have a population of about 7.3 million. About nine out of ten
Cambodians are Khmers. They average 5 feet 4 inches (1.63
meters) in height, have a brownish-yellow skin, round eyes, a
somewhat flat nose, and black hair that is often curly. Their
ancestors apparently arrived in Cambodia thousands of years ago
in tow waves of migration. One wave came southward from Tibet
and China. The other wave came northward from the islands of
Malaysia and Indonesia. The two groups mixed to form the Khmers.

The most important ethnic minority in Cambodia are the
Chinese, who are thought to number about 250,000. The Khmers
and the Chinese get along well together and often intermarry.
Another large ethnic minority are the Vietnamese. The Khmers
and the Vietnamese do not like each other. One reason for the
animosity between the two groups is that both claim the Mekong
River delta as part of their country.

The Chams--who migrated from Champa (now central Vietnam)
in the late 1400s--number about 190,000. Unlike most
Cambodians, who are Buddhists, the Chams follow the religion
of Islam.

Finally, there are the hill people, small tribes scattered
throughout Cambodia's mountainous areas. The Khmers look
down on the hill people and usually refer to them as phnong,
"savages." The main groups of hill people are the Pear, who live
in the Cardamom Mountains; the Saoch, who inhabit the Elephant
Mountains; the Brao, who live in the northeast along the Laotian
border; and the Kuy, who live in the northwest along the border
with Thailand. The hill people are quite distinct. Each group
speaks its own language and follows its own customs.

THE LANGUAGE

Cambodia's national language is Khmer. It is the only language
taught in the country's schools and used in government
documents. The Khmer writing system is derived from an Indian
alphabet that was imported into Cambodia over a thousand years
ago. The writing system is phonetic and reads from left to right.

Like all language, Khmer borrowed words from other
languages, espechially the classic Indian languages of Pali and
Sanskit. Khmer also incorporated words from Chinese, French,
Malay, Portuguese, and Thai.

Khmer grammer is simple. For example, there are no tenses. If
you want to change "I go to the market" to past tense, you just
add the word "already." But Khmer contains a huge vocabulary,
and people try to speak and write it in a vivid and poetic way.
Instead of saying simply "The athlete runs," a Cambodian will
say "The skilled, well-built young man speeds galloping past."

Khmer also is very precise. It has more than one hundred names
for different varieties of rice. And it uses pronouns to signify a
person's social status. For example, there are different words for
"you," depending on whether you are speaking to a child, a parent,
a Buddhist monk, or a member of the royal family.

Since 03 Dec 2000