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Profile last updated: 21 December 2011
Located in Southeastern Asia, Cambodia shares borders with Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and the Gulf of Thailand. The country comprises 181,035 square kilometres (UNESCO 2010) of land and has 443 kilometres of coastline (Central Intelligence Agency n.d.). Cambodia has a population of approximately 14.1 million people (UN DESA 2011) and the largest ethnic group, the Khmer, constitute about 90% of the total population (UNESCO 2010). Following almost 13 years of civil war and 10 years of Vietnamese occupation, Cambodia first gained political stability after the 1998 national elections (Central Intelligence Agency n.d.). Today, despite strong economic growth, Cambodia is facing several critical development challenges such as a shortage of skilled workers, low quality of education, production and trafficking of illegal drugs and limited provision of quality public health services (UNESCO 2010).
| Quick Facts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Population (millions)* | 14.1 | Rural Population (%) | 77 |
| GDP per capita (PPP US$) | 2,194 | Adult HIV Prevalence (%) | 0.5 |
| Primary Gross Enrolment (%) | 127 | Life Expectancy (years) | 62 |
| Primary Net Enrolment (%) | 96 | Adult Literacy (%) | 77.6 |
| Out of School Children (%) | 4 | Human Development Index (value)** | 0.523 |
| Public Spending on Education as % of GDP | 2.6 | Education Development Index (value)*** | 0.786 |
