The World Factbook (1982)/Kampuchea

by the Central Intelligence Agency

KAMPUCHEA

(See reference map IX)

LAND

181,300 km²; 16% cultivated, 74% forested, 10% built-on area, wasteland, and other

Land boundaries: 2,438 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (economic including fishing 200 nm)

Coastline: about 443 km

PEOPLE

Population: 5,882,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.9%

Nationality: noun—Kampuchean(s); adjective—Kampuchean

Ethnic divisions: 90% Khmer (Kampuchean), 5% Chinese, 5% other minorities

Religion: 95% Theravada Buddhism, 5% various other

Language: Cambodian

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Democratic Kampuchea (supported by resistance forces deployed principally near the western border); People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK; pro-Vietnamese, in Phnom Penh)

Type: both are Communist states

Capital: Phnom Penh

Political subdivisions: 19 provinces

Legal system: Judicial Committee chosen by People's Representative Assembly in Democratic Kampuchea; no information for PRK

National holiday: 17 April for both regimes

Branches: Cabinet, State Presidium, and some form of People's Representative Assembly in Democratic Kampuchea; Peoples Revolutionary Council, various ministries, and a "National Congress" held in early 1979 and a second time in September 1979 in PRK

Government leaders: Presidium Chairman and Prime Minister KH1EU SAMPHAN; Deputy Prime Ministers IENG SARY and SON SEN; Assembly Standing Committee Chairman NUON CHEA in Democratic Kampuchea; Chairman, Council of State, HENG SAMRIN; Chairman, Council of Ministers, CHAN SI; Minister of National Defense BOU THANG; and Foreign Minister HUN SEN in PRK

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Kampuchea Khmer Communist Party disbanded December 1981 though chief political figure still former party chairman Pol Pot; in PRK Kampuchean United Front for National Construction and Defense (KUFNCD) and separate Kampuchean Peoples Revolutionary Party

Member of: Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ITU, Mekong Committee (inactive), NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO for Democratic Kampuchea; none for PRK

ECONOMY

GNP: less than $500 million (1971)

Agriculture: mainly subsistence except for rubber plantations; main crops—rice, rubber, corn; food shortages—rice, meat, vegetables, dairy products, sugar, flour

Major industries: rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products

Shortages: fossil fuels

Electric power: 120,000 kW capacity (1981); 100 million kWh produced (1981), 18 kWh per capita

Exports: probably less than $1 million est. (1978); natural rubber, rice, pepper, wood

Imports: probably less than $20 million (1978); food, fuel, machinery

Trade partners: (1978) exports—China; imports—China, North Korea; (1981) Vietnam and USSR

Aid: economic commitments—US (FY70-80), $690 million; other Western, (1970-79) $135 million; military (FY70-80)—US, $1,260 million; Communist not available

Budget: no budget data available since Communists took over government

Monetary conversion rate (1978): no currency in use

Fiscal year: calendar year

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: 612 km meter gauge (1.00 m); government owned

Highways: 13,351 km total; 2,622 km bituminous, 7,105 km crushed stone, gravel, or improved earth; and 3,624 km unimproved earth; some roads in disrepair

Inland waterways: 3,700 km navigable all year to craft drawing 0.6 meters; 282 km navigable to craft drawing 1.8 meters

Ports: 2 major, 5 minor

Airfields: 52 total, 23 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: service barely adequate for government requirements and virtually nonexistent for general public; international service limited to Vietnam and other adjacent countries; radiobroadcasts limited to 1 station

DEFENSE

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,571,000; 843,000 fit for military service; 99,000 reach military age (18) annually