| Country name: | Kingdom of Cambodia |
| Government type: | Parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Capital: | Phnom Penh |
| Administrative divisions: | 24 provinces (khett, singular and plural) and 1 municipality (krong, singular and plural) |
| Independence: | 9 November 1953 (from France) |
| Legal system: | Civil law system (influenced by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia) customary law, Communist legal theory, and common law |
| Total area: | Land 176,515 sq km, water 4,520 sq km, coastline 443 km, land boundaries 2,530 km |
| Natural resources: | Oil and gas, timber, gemstones, iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential, arable land |
| Land use: | Agricultural land 32.1%, forest 56.5%, other 11.4% (2011 est.) |
| Population: | 16,449,519 (July 2018 est.) |
| Ethnic groups: | Khmer 97.6%, Cham 1.2%, Chinese 0.1%, Vietnamese 0.1%, other 0.9% (2013 est.) |
| Languages: | Khmer (official) 96.3%, other 3.7% (2008 est.) |
| Religions: | Buddhist (official) 97.9%, Muslim 1.1%, Christian 0.5%, other 0.6% (2013 est.) |
| Age structure: | Median age 25.7 years, life expectancy 65.2 years, total fertility rate 2.47 children born/woman (2018 est.) |
| Urbanization: | Urban population: 23.8% of total population (2019) |
| Literacy: |
Total population: 80.5%, male: 86.5%, female: 75% (2015 est.)
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| Unemployment: | Unemployment youth ages (15-24): 1.1% |
Cambodia has experienced strong economic growth over the last decade; GDP grew at an average annual rate of over 8% between 2000 and 2010 and about 7% since 2011. The tourism, garment, construction and real estate, and agriculture sectors accounted for the bulk of growth. Around 700,000 people, the majority of whom are women, are employed in the garment and footwear sector. An additional 500,000 Cambodians are employed in the tourism sector, and a further 200,000 people in construction. Tourism has continued to grow rapidly with foreign arrivals exceeding 2 million per year in 2007 and reaching 5.6 million visitors in 2017. Mining also is attracting some investor interest and the government has touted opportunities for mining bauxite, gold, iron and gems.
Still, Cambodia remains one of the poorest countries in Asia and long-term economic development remains a daunting challenge, inhibited by corruption, limited human resources, high income inequality, and poor job prospects. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the percentage of the population living in poverty decreased to 13.5% in 2016. More than 50% of the population is less than 25 years old. The population lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the impoverished countryside, which also lacks basic infrastructure.
The World Bank in 2016 formally reclassified Cambodia as a lower middle-income country as a result of continued rapid economic growth over the past several years. Cambodia’s graduation from a low-income country will reduce its eligibility for foreign assistance and will challenge the government to seek new sources of financing. The Cambodian Government has been working with bilateral and multilateral donors, including the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and IMF, to address the country's many pressing needs; more than 20% of the government budget will come from donor assistance in 2018. A major economic challenge for Cambodia over the next decade will be fashioning an economic environment in which the private sector can create enough jobs to handle Cambodia's demographic imbalance.
