General information about Cambodia

Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia and once known as the Khmer Empire, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Its total landmass is 181,035 square kilometers, bordered by Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

National politics in Cambodia take place within the framework of the nation's constitution of 1993. The government is a constitutional monarchy operated as a parliamentary representative democracy. The Prime Minister of Cambodia, an office held by Hun Sen since 1985, is the head of government, while the King of Cambodia (currently Norodom Sihamoni) is the head of state. The prime minister is appointed by the king, on the advice and with the approval of the National Assembly.

Cambodia lies entirely within the tropics. Cambodia's landscape is characterized 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. 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.

The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced by approximately 95% of the Cambodian population.

Population

Total/ Urab / Rural	Both sexes
Total	13.395.628
Urban	2.614.027
Rural	10.781.655

Adult literacy rate (aged 15 and over)

Total/ Urab / Rural	Both sexes	Males	Females
Total	77.6	85.1	70.9
Urban	90.4	94.5	86.8
Rural	74.0	82.5	66.3

Educational levels completed by literate persons aged 25 and over (in percent)

Educational level	Both sexes	Males	Females
No education level	3.2	2.4	4.1
Primary not completed	47.2	40.0	55.1
Primary (1-6 grade)	26.7	29.4	23.9
Lower secondary (7-9 grade)	18.8	22.7	14.5
Secondary, diploma (10-12 grade)	2.2	2.9	1.4
Beyond and secondary	1.8	2.6	1.0

Percentage of persons (aged 6 and over), who are attending school  

Age Group	Both sexes	Males	Females
6+	28.91	31.91	26.10
6-14	80.19	80.02	80.38
15-19	51.83	56.48	46.90
20-23	14.37	18.52	10.40
25+	1.2	1.56	0.90

Percentage of households having toiled facilities: 

                Total: 33.7

                Urban: 81.5
                Rural: 23.2

Percentage of households having electricity as main source of light: 

                Total: 26.4

                Urban: 87.0

                Rural: 13.1

Percentage of households by main type of fuel used for cooking:

               Firewood: 83.6

               Chracoal: 7.5

               Kerosene: 0.3

               Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): 7.9

               Others: 0.7

Source: General Population Census of Cambodia 2008.