Country Profile: Kingdom of Cambodia

News

January 11, 2009: In the New York Times, columnist Nicholas Kristof tells of buying two girls in Cambodia, one for $203 and the other for $150, in effect buying slaves, even getting a receipt. He returned them to their villages, without luck for one of them, who was hooked on methamphetamine "and fled back to the brothel world to feed her craving." Kristof writes of brothels owned by police, also of government moves having put about half of the brothels out of business in the last "couple of years.

Geography

Southeast Asia between Thailand and Vietnam. equivalent to 425 by 425 kilometers, or 319 by 319 miles. Capital: Phnom Penh

Economy

Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.

Factbook: "From 2004 to 2007, the economy grew about 10% per year, driven largely by an expansion in the garment sector, construction, agriculture, and tourism. Growth dropped below 7% in 2008 as a result of the global economic slowdown."

Estimated per capita GDP:
2008 $2,000
2007 $1,900
2006 $1,800

Unemployment rate estimated for 2007: 3.5%

Military expenditures as a percentage of GDP: 3 (estimated for 2005).

Estimated Deaths and Births per 1,000 persons for 2008

Deaths: 8.16. Births: 25.68, down from 27.08 in 2005

Population

Estimate for July 2008: 14.24 million, up from 13.99 million in 2007. Growth rate estimated for 2008: 1.752 percent per year.

Density estimated in 2005: 75 persons per square kilometer. Persons per square kilometer of arable land: 367.

Health

Infant mortality estimated for 2008: 56.69, down from 71.48 in 2005 (deaths before the age of one for every 1,000 live births)

Average life expectancy at birth estimated for 2008: 61.69 years, up from 58.87 in 2005

Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 2.6 percent (2003)

SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/