I
|
INTRODUCTION
|
Cambodia is a country in Southeast
Asia, also known as Kâmpŭchéa. More than a thousand years ago, Cambodia was the
center of the Khmer (Cambodian) kingdom of Angkor, a great empire that
dominated Southeast Asia for 600 years. A monarchy since ancient times,
Cambodia was a French protectorate from 1863 to 1953. A republic replaced the
monarchy in 1970, and in 1975 a Communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge took
power, naming the country Democratic Kâmpŭchéa.