Cambodia is one of the top holiday destinations in the world with its clean green natural image, scenery, Lord of the Rings film setting, adventure, culture and value for money.

Country Information: Cambodia is located in south-east Asia bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand and Vietnam. It occupies a total area of 181,040 sq km of which 176,520 sq km is on land. The country has a 2,572 km long land boundary and 443 km of coastline. A map of Cambodia is available.Cambodia has a tropical climate - rainy, monsoon season from May to October and dry season from December to March. The terrain is mostly low, flat plains with mountains in the south-west and north. Natural resources include timber, gemstones, manganese, phosphates and hydropower potential. Subsequent attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the empire ushering in a long period of decline. In 1863, the king of Cambodia placed the country under French protection; it became part of French Indochina in 1887. Following Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia became independent within the French Union in 1949 and fully independent in 1953. After a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in April 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns; at least 1.5 million Cambodians died from execution, enforced hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, led to a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy and the final elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered in early 1999.