Cambodia

(9 November:National Day)

                           Dr Sajid Khakwani 

drsajidkhakwani@gmail.com

 Cambodia country lying in the southwestern Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Covering a land area of 70,238 square miles, it is bordered on the west and northwest by Thailand, on the northeast by Laos, on the east and southeast by Vietnam, and on the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The capital is Phnom Penh. The importance of Cambodia's contributions to mainland Southeast Asia is out of proportion to its present reduced territory and limited political power. Between the 11th and the 13th century, the Cambodian state included much of the Indochinese Peninsula and incorporated large parts of present-day southern Vietnam, Laos, and eastern Thailand. The cultural influence of Cambodia on other countries, particularly Laos and Thailand, has been enormous.

          Cambodia's climate is governed by the monsoon winds, which define two major seasons. From mid-May to early October, the strong prevailing winds of the southwest monsoon bring heavy rains and high humidity. From early November to mid-March, the lighter and drier winds of the northeast monsoon bring variable cloudiness, infrequent precipitation, and lower humidity. The weather between these seasons is transitional. Maximum temperatures are high throughout the year, ranging from about 28° C in January, the coolest month, to about 35° C in April. Much of Cambodia is heavily forested. The central lowland region is covered with rice paddies, fields of such dry crops as corn (maize) or tobacco, tracts of tall grass and reeds, and thinly wooded areas. Small populations of most species still may be found, along with some tigers, leopards, bears, and many small mammals. Among the more common birds are herons, cranes, grouse, pheasant, peafowl, pelicans, cormorants, egrets, and wild ducks. Four varieties of snakes are especially dangerous: the Indian cobra, the king cobra, the banded krait, and Russell's viper.

  Cambodia always has been overwhelmingly a land of villages. Only a small fraction of the total population has ever lived in towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Houses in Cambodia generally were built on wooden pilings and had thatched roofs, walls of palm matting, and floors of woven bamboo strips resting on bamboo joists. More prosperous houses, while still on pilings, were built of wood and had tile or metal roofs. Throughout rural Cambodia, lifestyle was closely geared to the agricultural cycle, which was based, in large part, on family-oriented subsistence farming. Family members were awake before dawn, and most of the day's work was accomplished before noon, although minor tasks were performed in the cool of the early evening. Electricity has always been rare in village areas, and country people were generally asleep soon after sunset. During the rice-growing season, all family members worked together in the fields, because the work of planting, transplanting, and harvesting had to be done quickly. Without mechanical assistance, the work of several people was needed to grow enough rice to feed a family for a year. Festivals and marriages, celebrated by a whole village, were usually held after the rice had been harvested and money had been obtained from selling the surplus grain.

  In 1863 French naval officers from Vietnam persuaded  King of Cambodia to sign a treaty that gave France control of Cambodia's foreign affairs. By the late 1870s, however, French officials in Cambodia were pressing for greater control over internal affairs. In 1897 the French representative assumed executive authority, reducing the king's power to a minimum. In 1941, Japanese forces occupied the component states of the Indochinese Peninsula, while leaving the French in nominal control. In October 1945, after the war was over, the French returned to Indochina and reestablished their control. Cambodia soon became an “autonomous state within the French Union,” with its own constitution and a handful of political parties, but real power continued to rest in French hands. Between 1945 and the achievement of complete independence in 1953, however, several significant political developments occurred. Cambodia was poorly prepared for parliamentary democracy, and the French were unwilling to give the National Assembly genuine power. At the Geneva Conference convened in 1954 to reach a political settlement to the First Indochina War, Sihanouk's government was recognized as the sole legitimate authority within Cambodia.

          The Cambodians account for the vast majority of the total population. Other traditional ethnic groups included the Chinese, Vietnamese, Cham-Malays, various tribal peoples, and Europeans. Most ethnic Cambodians are Buddhists. Until 1975 Buddhism was officially recognized as the state religion of Cambodia. Tribal people were animists, and the ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese were eclectic, following Taoism, and such syncretic Vietnamese religious movements as the Cao Dai. The Cham were strict Muslims, and a sizable number of Vietnamese were members of the Roman Catholic church.

 Cambodia's economy heavily dependent on two major products—rice and rubber—and consequently was vulnerable to profound annual fluctuations caused by vagaries in the weather and world market prices. Agriculture dominated the economy, with most rural families engaged in rice cultivation. Cambodia has few known mineral resources. Some limestone and phosphate deposits are found and precious stones are mined. Cambodia's small quantities of iron and coal have not justified commercial exploitation. Rice is Cambodia's principal food, its major crop, and, in times of peace, its most important export commodity. Rice is grown on most of the country's total cultivated land area. Cambodia traditionally has produced only one rice crop per year because it has lacked the extensive irrigation system needed for double cropping. Other food products include corn (maize), beans, soybeans, and sweet potatoes. The principal fruit crops, all of which are consumed locally, include oranges, bananas, and pineapple; these are supplemented by a variety of other tropical fruits, including breadfruit, mango, mangosteen, and papaya.

 In 1981 a constitution was promulgated by the Vietnamese-backed government .This document (amended in 1989) provided for a legislative National Assembly and a Council of State selected from the assembly, an executive Council of Ministers, and a judiciary.

 Islam is the religion of a majority of the Cham  and Malay minorities in Cambodia. There were 150,000 to 200,000 Muslims in Cambodia as late as 1975 and by the late 1980s they probably had not regained their former strength. In 2009, the Pew Research Center estimated that 1.6% of the population, or 236,000 people were Muslims. All of the Cham Muslims are of the Shafi'i school. The Cham have their own mosques. In 1962 there were about 100 mosques in the country. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Muslims in Cambodia formed a unified community. When Cambodia became independent, the Islamic community was placed under the control of a five-member council that represented the community in official functions and in contacts with other Islamic communities. Each Muslim community has a hakem who leads the community and the mosque, an imam who leads the prayers, and a bilal who calls the faithful to the daily prayers. The peninsula of Chrouy Changvar near Phnom Penh is considered the spiritual center of the Cham, and several high Muslim officials reside there. Each year some of the Cham go to study the Qur'an in Malaysia, and some go on to study in, or make a pilgrimage to, Mecca. According to figures from the late 1950s, about 7 percent of the Cham had completed the pilgrimage and could wear the fez or turban as a sign of their accomplishment.