Prehistory There exists evidence for a
Pleistocene human occupation of what later is Cambodia, which includes
quartz and
quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in
Stung Treng and
Kratié provinces, and in
Kampot province. Some archaeological evidence shows communities of
hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during the
Holocene: the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of
Laang Spean, which belongs to the
Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of
radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC. Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to
Neolithic, containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia. Archaeological records for the period between the Holocene and
Iron Age remain equally limited. An event in prehistory was the penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the third millennium BC. Prehistoric evidence are the "circular
earthworks" discovered in the
red soils near
Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, and some of them possibly date from the second millennium BC. Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are
Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of
Oudong), where the first investigations began in 1875, and
Phum Snay, in the northern province of
Banteay Meanchey. Iron was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the
Khorat Plateau, in what later is Thailand. In Cambodia, some
Iron Age settlements were found beneath
Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian temples while circular earthworks were discovered at the site of
Lovea kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials testify to improvement of food availability and trade, and the existence of a social structure and labour organisation. Kinds of glass beads recovered from sites, such as the Phum Snay site in the northwest and the Prohear site in the southeast, suggest that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about the 2nd–4th century AD, probably due to changes in socio-political powers. The
Khmer Empire grew out of the remnants of Chenla, becoming firmly established in 802 when
Jayavarman II (reigned – ) declared independence from
Java and proclaimed themselves a
Devaraja. They and their followers instituted the cult of the
God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the area from the 9th to the 15th centuries. During the rule of
Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by the
Mongol army of
Kublai Khan; the king was able to buy peace. Around the 13th century, Theravada missionaries from
Sri Lanka reintroduced
Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia, having sent missionaries previously in the 1190s. The religion spread and eventually displaced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; it was not the official state religion until 1295 when
Indravarman III took power. The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power was
Angkor, where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of . The city could have supported a population of up to 1 million people. After a series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the
Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. in 1760 The
hill tribe people were "hunted incessantly and carried off as
slaves by the Siamese (Thai), the Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians". Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the
Mekong Delta had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698, with King
Chey Chettha II granting the Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before.
French colonisation In 1863,
King Norodom signed a treaty of protection with France. After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on the throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead,
Norodom Sihanouk, a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control. Under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953. and
Mao Zedong in 1956 The same message was conveyed to U.S. president
Lyndon B. Johnson emissary
Chester Bowles in January 1968. In public Sihanouk refuted the right of the U.S. to use air strikes in Cambodia, and on 26 March he said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop". On 28 March a press conference was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media: "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand of Cambodia—that is, I will, in any case, oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext." Nevertheless, the bombing continued.
Khmer Republic (1970–1975) While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was
ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General
Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath
Sirik Matak. Once the coup was completed, the new regime, which demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched armed attacks on the new government to retain their sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of
civil war.
Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. From 1970 until 1972, the Cambodian conflict was largely between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge. Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by then second-in-command
Nuon Chea. North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units overran Cambodian army positions while the
Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North Vietnamese invasion, US President
Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in a campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia . On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days, led to the collapse of the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, 5 days after the US mission evacuated Cambodia.
Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979) contain thousands of photos taken by the Khmer Rouge of their victims. , a known site of mass grave for genocide victims during the Khmer Rouge era Estimates as to how many people were
killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately 1 to 3 million; a cited figure is 2 million (about a quarter of the population). This era gave rise to the term
Killing Fields, and the prison
Tuol Sleng became known for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted
ethnic minority groups. The
Cham Muslims underwent purges with as much as half of their population exterminated. Khmer Rouge leader
Pol Pot was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people. Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the
Vietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984. By 1978, the entire legal system was eradicated by the Khmer Rouge regime. Judges and lawyers were executed after being deemed "class enemies" and only 6–12 legal professionals actually survived and remained in the country. Religious institutions were targeted by the Khmer Rouge. The majority of
Khmer architecture, 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, were destroyed.
Vietnamese occupation and transition (1979–1992) In November 1978, Vietnamese troops
invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge and conquered it. The
People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) was established as a
pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to avoid being purged by Pol Pot and
Ta Mok. It was fully beholden to the occupying Vietnamese army and under the direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam and the Soviet Union. In opposition to the newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the
Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from three factions. The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia led to
economic sanctions.
Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the
State of Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a
Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement. The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).
Kingdom (1993–) In 1993, the
monarchy was restored with
Norodom Sihanouk reinstated as King, and the
first post-war election was coordinated by
UNTAC. The election was won by
FUNCINPEC led by Sihanouk's son
Ranariddh in a
hung parliament. A power-sharing agreement was agreed with Ranariddh and
Hun Sen of the
Cambodian People's Party both simultaneously being co-Prime Ministers after the CPP threatened to
secede part of the country if power was fully transferred to FUNCINPEC. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a
coup d'état led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ousted Ranariddh and other parties represented in the government and consolidated power for CPP. After its government was able to stabilise under Sen, Cambodia was accepted into the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 30 April 1999.
Norodom Sihamoni was crowned Cambodia's king in 2004 after his father Sihanouk's abdication. During the 1990s and 2000s, reconstruction efforts progressed which led to some political stability through a
multiparty democracy under a
constitutional monarchy Cambodia's economy grew rapidly in the 2000s and 2010s, and it received considerable investment and infrastructure development support from
China as part of its
Belt and Road Initiative. supporting opposition party
CNRP followed the
2013 general election.A UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the
Khmer Rouge Tribunal sought out to investigate crimes committed during the Democratic Kampuchea period and prosecute its leaders. Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials or investigations of former Khmer Rouge officials. In July 2010,
Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of
war crimes and
crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the
S21 extermination camp and he was sentenced to life in prison. After the
2013 Cambodian general election, allegations of voter fraud from opposition party
Cambodia National Rescue Party led to
widespread anti-government protests that continued into the following year. The protests ended after a crackdown by government forces. The
Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved ahead of the
2018 Cambodian general election and the ruling
Cambodian People's Party also enacted tighter curbs on
mass media. The CPP won every seat in the National Assembly without major opposition, effectively solidifying
de facto one-party rule in the country. Prime Minister Hun Sen assumed office and is one of the
world's longest-serving leaders. He has been accused of crackdowns on opponents and critics. In December 2021, Hun Sen announced his support for his son
Hun Manet to succeed him after the
next general election in 2023. A July 2023
Human Rights Watch report showed election fraud and vote tampering in the June 2022 commune elections. In the July 2023
election, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won by a landslide in an election, after the disqualification of a Cambodia's opposition,
Candlelight Party. On 22 August 2023, Hun Manet was sworn in as the new Cambodian prime minister. == Geography ==