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The terms Khmer,
Khmer Angkor, and Kampuchea are all refer to
a Cambodian civilization whose achievements far
surpassed any of the country’s modern day neighbors.
The Khmer Empire’s historical and architectural
successes remain without equal in the region
and exist on a par with the wonder of ancient
Egypt and the Aztecs.
The population of Cambodia today is about 13 million. About 90-95 percent
of the people are Khmer ethnic. The remaining 5-10 percent include Chinese-Khmers,
Khmer Islam or Chams, ethnic hill-tribe people, known as the Khmer Loeu,
and Vietnamese. About 10 percent of the population lives in Phnom Penh,
the capital, making Cambodia largely a country of rural dwellers, farmers
and artisans.
The Khmer race is related to the Mons of Burma and Thailand. Scholars
believe that more than 2,000 years ago Mon-Khmers migrated to what is
present day Cambodia, most likely intermarrying with an existing population
of Austro-Asiatic people who had inhabited the region for centuries. |
