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Cambodia has a total area of 181,040 sq. km. (69,900 square miles), <ref> http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm </ref> and is bordered by [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]] and [[Thailand]]. The capital city is [[Phnom Penh]]. The population of the country is currently (approx) 14.8 million. The official language is called Khmer, and French and English are also spoken by many people engaged in business and tourism. The main religion is Theravada [[Buddhism]], which is practised by approximately 95% of the population. The two largest rivers are the [[Mekong]] and the [[Bassac]]. <ref> http://www.cambodia.org/ </ref>
Cambodia has a total area of 181,040 sq. km. (69,900 square miles), <ref> http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm </ref> and is bordered by [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]] and [[Thailand]]. The capital city is [[Phnom Penh]]. The population of the country is currently (approx) 14.8 million. The official language is called Khmer, and French and English are also spoken by many people engaged in business and tourism. The main religion is Theravada [[Buddhism]], which is practised by approximately 95% of the population. The two largest rivers are the [[Mekong]] and the [[Bassac]]. <ref> http://www.cambodia.org/ </ref>
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.
== See also ==
== See also ==
*[[World History Lecture Thirteen]]
*[[World History Lecture Thirteen]]
*[[Pol Pot]]
*[[Pol Pot]]
==References==
==References==