Cambodia (/kæmˈboʊdiə/ (About this soundlisten);[8] also Kampuchea /ˌkæmpʊˈtʃiːə/; Khmer: កម្ពុជា, Kămpŭchéa [ˈkampuciə]), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Phnom Penh is the nation's capital and largest city. The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. Buddhism is enshrined in the constitution as the official state religion, and is practised by more than 97% of the population.[9] Cambodia's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes.[10] The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by the Royal Council of the Throne as head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Hun Sen, the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, ruling Cambodia since 1985. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja".[11] This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire, which flourished for over 600 years. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia and undertook many religious infrastructural projects throughout the region. Angkor Wat is the most famous of these structures and is designated as a World Heritage Site. In the fifteenth century, after the rebellion of Ayutthaya, which was formerly ruled by the Khmer Empire, Cambodia experienced the decline of power, while its neighbors Vietnam and Thailand grew stronger. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, and later was incorporated into French Indochina of Southeast Asia. Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into the country in 1965 with the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and establishment of the Sihanouk Trail. This led to the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970 which installed the right-wing pro-US Khmer Republic, the deposed King Sihanouk gave his support to his former enemies, the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot. With the support of the monarchy and North Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge emerged as a major power, taking Phnom Penh in 1975. The Khmer Rouge then carried out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when they were ousted by Vietnam and the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea, supported by the Soviet Union, in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission (1992–93). The UN withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997 factional fighting resulted in the ousting of the government by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party, who remain in power. Cambodia is a member of the United Nations since 1955, ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, the WTO, the Non-Aligned Movement and La Francophonie. According to several foreign organisations, the country has widespread poverty,[12] pervasive corruption,[13] lack of political freedoms,[14] low human development[15] and a high rate of hunger.[16][17][18] Cambodia has been described by Human Rights Watch's Southeast Asian Director, David Roberts, as a "relatively authoritarian coalition via a superficial democracy".[19] Constitutionally a multi-party liberal democracy,[20] the country is de facto governed under one-party rule as of 2018.[21][22] While per capita income remains low compared to most neighboring countries, Cambodia has one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, with growth averaging 7.6 percent over the last decade. Agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with strong growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade.[23] The United Nations designates Cambodia as a least developed country.[24] The US World Justice Project's 2015 Rule of Law Index ranked Cambodia 125th out of 126 countries, far lower compared to other countries in the region.[25]
Cambodia
Setting
for Setting in The New Cultural Representation of Assassin's Creed Information
Suggested by benpopplewell
The Master Hidden One and Mentor Serey Sayavong (formerly Kasikor Srae) stands before his apprentices in the shadows of an Angkorian temple, as he views the Brotherhood as a machine. He loves his country so much that he has become a master mentor to his own students to ensure that country survives. If an apprentice is defective or "human," it is discarded or purged to save the whole nation. "Look at your hands! Are they stained with the soil of the paddy, or the blood of the Javanese oppressors? I was born Kasikor Srae—a creature of the mud in the smoke of burning stalks. I watched our lifeblood—our rice—turn to ash while the Javanese laughed and heard the screams of those who could not fight. I left that boy in the fire so that a man of iron could rise. I watched the rice fields turn to ash and That man died in the flames. I fled into the shadows of the jungle, not as a victim, but as a seed planted in the dark. The jungle taught me what the village could not survive the monsters of the Order. Today, only Serey Sayavong remains. I am Serey Sayavong. To the people—the elders, the children, the farmers—you are their shield. You will feed them. You will love them. You will ensure that no stomach in this Empire is empty while the Star Stone shines. There is no room for the human heart. In this Bureau, a 'mistake' is a death sentence for a thousand innocents. I will not tolerate the rot of human error. There is no 'trying' in the Hidden Ones—there is only the Creed and the Result. If you are lazy, you are a traitor. If you talk back, you are a cancer. If you harm an innocent person or a child of this Empire, I will not just expel you; I will erase you. We feed the people, we guard the Star Stone, and we obey without question. To let go of your past is to become a weapon. To hold onto your ego is to die. You think freedom is the right to be idle? You think independence is a gift? No. Independence is bought with the sweat of the farmer and the blood of the Hidden One. We are the hidden roots that allow the Khmer lotus to bloom. Work until your bones ache or find your way to the gates of the underworld. Work. Bleed. Obey. For the Khmer, for the King, and for the Brotherhood!". "The Master and Mentor of the Hidden One — Serey Sayavong".
