Cambodia is in Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. Its geographical coordinates are 13 00 N, 105 00 E. Its 2,572 km border is split among Vietnam (1,228 km), Thailand (803 km) and Laos (541 km), as well as 443 km of coastline
Size: Total area 181,040 square kilometers, about size of Missouri; country shares 800-kilometer border with Thailand on north and west, 541-kilometer border with Laos on northeast, 1,228- kilometer border with Vietnam on east and southeast; coastline along Gulf of Thailand about 443 kilometers.
Area:
total:
181,040 km²
land:
176,520 km²
water:
4,520 km²
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
Climate: Temperatures range from 10°C to 38°C. Tropical monsoons: southwest monsoon blowing inland in northeasterly direction brings moisture-laden winds from Gulf of Thailand/Indian Ocean from May to October with period of heaviest precipitation September-October; northeast monsoon blowing in southwesterly direction toward coast ushers in dry season, November to March, with period of least rainfall January-February.
Terrain: Most salient topographical feature lacustrine plain formed by inundations of Tonle Sap (Great Lake), measuring about 2,590 square kilometers during dry season to about 24,605 square kilometers during rainy season. This densely populated plain devoted to wet rice cultivation constitutes heartland of Cambodia. Most (about 75 percent) of country lies at elevations of less than 100 meters above sea level, except for Cardamon Mountains (highest elevation 1,771 meters), their north-south extension to the east, Elephant Range (elevation range 500-1,000 meters) and steep escarpment of Dangrek Mountains (average elevation 500 meters) along northern border with Thailand.
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Gulf of Thailand 0 m
highest point:
Phnum Aoral 1,810 m
Natural resources: timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential
Land use:
arable land:
13%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
11%
forests and woodland:
66%
other:
10% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 920 km² (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding; occasional droughts
Environment - current issues: illegal logging activities throughout the country and strip mining for gems in the western region along the border with Thailand have resulted in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural fisheries); soil erosion; in rural areas, a majority of the population does not have access to potable water; toxic waste delivery from Taiwan sparked unrest in Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville) in December 1998
Environment - international agreements:
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
Geography - note: a land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap
Lakes