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RESEARCH SYNTHESIS ON CAMBODIA
The country characteristics cover information
on Cambodia’s geographical, social, economic
and climatic risks. An overview of the country’s
characteristics is provided in Table 12.
Geographic Situation
Cambodia extends an area of 181,035 sq km,
bordering three countries, namely, Thailand, Lao
PDR and Viet Nam, in the east to west parts (Royal
Government of Cambodia, 2009). Of its total land
area, 53 percent is covered by forest and 21 percent
is cultivated. The regions surrounding the Mekong
River and the Tônlé Sap Lake are most fertile.
The Mekong River, the longest river in Southeast
Asia and the tenth largest in the world, flows into
Cambodia from the northern border with Lao PDR
and runs out through the southern border with Viet
Figure 35: Location map of Cambodia
(CIA, 2009)
Nam. The Tônlé Sap, the country’s principal lake
and the largest in Southeast Asia, drains into the
Mekong River at Phnom Penh. Every year during the
monsoon season approximately between May and
October, the amount of water of the Mekong River
increases and the river flow reverses and drain into
the lake. The lake then expands its size dramatically,
flooding the provinces along its banks. When the
dry weather returns, the river reverses its flow back
again, draining into the Mekong. At the time of the
flooding, the Tônlé Sap reaches about four times its
size in the dry season. Despite this fluctuation of the
Figure 36: Climate hazard map of the
Cambodia (Extracted from
Multiple climate hazard map
of Southeast Asia, Yusuf A.A.
and H.A. Francisco, 2009))
Lao PDR •
Thailand •
• Viet Nam
Cambodia •
106