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Cambodia is a small south East Asian country to the west of [[Vietnam]] in the region known as Indochina. The indigenous people of Cambodia are known as the Khmer and it is believed that they have inhabited the land since 380BC. The first European super-power to colonise Cambodia was [[Spain]]. The first expedition lead by explorer Diego Passaso arrived on the west coast of the country on the 23rd of August 1745. Within three days of landing Passaso declared the land "terra nullius" and proclaimed part it part of the Spanish Empire. The land was named "Niño Gordo" (Spanish for Land of great fertility. This was a reference to the extremely fertile soil that was rich in trace elements and ideal for growing crops. The First colony was formed on the coast 3 miles south of the initial landing site. The Spanish named this "Pene Fragante" (Spanish for coastal paradise) and declared it the capital city. For 207 years the Spanish ruled with an Iron fist, and prejudice against the native Khmer was rife, In Spanish Niño Gordo it was legal for a person of Spanish decent to detain a Khmer if he or she walked within a three meter radius of the settlers house. Many unjust other unjust laws were introduced until in late 1951 when a group of Khmer rebels dubbed the "Khmer Blanche" lead by Khmer revolutionary Kung Doc Soc started purchasing weapons off the French who were at that time occupying the neighbouring Vietnam. The Khmer Blanche's main objective was the drive out the Spanish by whatever means possible. On at 1am January 1st 1952 a group of about 250 Khmer soldiers opened fire on a group of Spanish settlers celebrating the coming of the new year on the main street of Pene Fragante. From that point the Niño Gordian civil war began. The war lasted more than three years during which the Khmer Blanche's numbers rose rapidly from about 500 to 20 000 soldiers. Many of the conflicts occurred in the dense jungle that dominates the Cambodian land. On the 17th of November 1955 the Khmer Blanche seized the main Spanish Barracks at Pene Fragante and the war was over. The remaining Spanish officers were executed. On the 19th of February 1956 Doc Soc declared Niño Gordo as the Republic of Cambodia and renamed the capital city Phnom Penh (Khmer for Freedom City). [[Doc Soc]] was then democratically elected President. The next few years of Cambodia's history were peaceful in contrast to its neighbour Vietnam who during the 1950's and 60's went through a series of conflicts with both the French and the Americans. in 1975 a radical Communist named [[Pol Pot]] managed to seize control of the country and turned it into what can only be described as a malevolent dictatorship. Many Cambodians died while working on the rice plantations (often dubbed as killing fields) that Pol Pot forced the entire country to work on in order to contribute to the economy. In November 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to stop Khmer Rouge incursions across the border and the genocide of Vietnamese in Cambodia. Violent occupation and warfare between the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge holdouts continued throughout the 1980s. Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a comprehensive peace settlement. The United Nations was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire, and deal with refugees and disarmament.

After the brutality of the 1970s and the 1980s, and the destruction of the cultural, economic, social and political life of Cambodia, it is only in recent years that reconstruction efforts have begun and some political stability has finally returned to Cambodia. The democracy established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 during a coup d'état, but has otherwise remained in place.