Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Land
Cambodia's borders as we know them today are the result of a classic historical squeeze.
As the Vietnamese moved south into the Mekong Delta and the Thais pushed west towards
Angkor, Cambodia's territory, which in Angkorian times stretched from southern Burma to
Saigon and north into Laos, began to shrink. Only the arrival of the French prevented Cam-
bodia from going the way of the Chams, who became a people without a state. In that
sense, French colonialism created a protectorate that actually protected.
Modern-day Cambodia covers 181,035 sq km, making it a little more than half the size
of Vietnam or about the same size as England and Wales combined. To the west and north-
west it borders Thailand, to the northeast Laos, to the east Vietnam, and to the south is the
Gulf of Thailand.
For a close encounter with tigers at the temples of Angkor, watch Jean-Jacques Annaud's 2004
ilm
Two Brothers,
the story of two orphaned tiger cubs during the colonial period.
Cambodia's two dominant geographical features are the mighty Mekong River and a vast
lake, the Tonlé Sap. At Phnom Penh the Mekong splits into three channels: the Tonlé Sap
River, which flows into, and out of, the Tonlé Sap lake; the Upper River (usually called
simply the Mekong or, in Vietnamese, Tien Giang); and the Lower River (the Tonlé Bassac,
or Hau Giang in Vietnamese). The rich sediment deposited during the Mekong's annual
wet-season flooding has made central Cambodia incredibly fertile. This low-lying alluvial
plain is where the vast majority of Cambodians live - fishing and farming in harmony with
the rhythms of the monsoon.
In Cambodia's southwest quadrant, much of the land mass is covered by mountains: the
Cardamom Mountains (Chuor Phnom Kravanh), covering parts of the provinces of Koh
Kong, Battambang, Pursat and Krong Pailin, which are now opening up to ecotourism; and,
southeast of there, the Elephant Mountains (Chuor Phnom Damrei), situated in the
provinces of Kompong Speu, Koh Kong and Kampot.
