Cambodia

American

[kam-boh-dee-uh] / kæmˈboʊ di ə /

noun

a republic in Southeast Asia: formerly part of French Indochina. 69,866 sq. mi. (180,953 sq. km). Phnom Penh.

Cambodia British

/ kæmˈbəʊdɪə /

noun

a country in SE Asia: became part of French Indochina in 1887; achieved self-government in 1949 and independence in 1953; civil war (1970–74) ended in victory for the Khmer Rouge, who renamed the country Kampuchea (1975) and carried out extreme-radical political and economic reforms resulting in a considerable reduction of the population; Vietnamese forces ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and set up a pro-Vietnamese government who reverted (1981) to the name Cambodia; after Vietnamese withdrawal in 1989 a peace settlement with exiled factions was followed in 1993 by the adoption of a democratic monarchist constitution restoring Prince Sihanouk to the throne. The country contains the central plains of the Mekong River and the Cardamom Mountains in the SW. Official language: Khmer; French is also widely spoken. Currency: riel. Capital: Phnom Penh. Pop: 15 205 539 (2013 est). Area: 181 000 sq km (69 895 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cambodia Cultural

Nation in Southeast Asia; bordered by Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, the Gulf of Siam to the south, and Thailand to the west and north. Phnom Penh is its capital and largest city.

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The Japanese occupied Cambodia during World War II.

In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and installed a puppet government. In 1989, Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia.

Part of French-ruled Indochina until 1946, it then became self-governing. It was granted full independence in 1953.

It was a major battleground of the Vietnam War.

In 1975, Cambodian communists, called the Khmer Rouge, occupied Phnom Penh and then forcibly expelled most of its population to work in the countryside. More than one million Cambodians died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, either by outright execution or because of forced labor and deprivation.

Other Word Forms

anti-Cambodia adjective
pro-Cambodia adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Before the scandal came to light, Latchford earned acclaim for books detailing the art of the ancient Khmer Empire, which spanned modern-day Cambodia and much else of Southeast Asia.

From Barron's

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday that scam centres were destroying his country's economy and giving the nation a bad name -- pushing back on allegations of government connivance.

From Barron's

The Paris Agreement authorities in Rwanda, Malawi, Cambodia, Ghana, Guyana and Sri Lanka didn’t respond to a request for comment.

From The Wall Street Journal

In addition to getting an agreement in Gaza, the president says he has resolved conflicts from Egypt and Ethiopia to Cambodia and Thailand.

From The Wall Street Journal

A graduate of the London School of Economics, Chun Han started reporting for the Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in 2010, first covering politics and business in Singapore, Cambodia and the broader Southeast Asian region.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023