Tourism supplies jobs for 1.1 million Cambodians, or 1 in every 6.5 jobs (Chheang, 2010)
The return of King Norodom Sihanouk from exile in 1993, this re-established stability in Cambodia. The king was a popular figure in the country, having led its independence from France (Head, 2012)
The peak of civilization in the region was during the Angkor civilization in the middle ages, a large Hindu empire whose capital city, Angkor Thom, is now a major tourist draw and key source of foreign exchange. In its day, it had a population over 1 million and was the largest city to have existed prior to the Industrial Revolution (Jarus, 2014)
The government has taken a generally pro-business stance, though it tends to focus more on social development issues than economic ones. As a result of this openness, Cambodia has seen a few landmarks of economic development recently, including the country's first IPO and first stock exchange (Koh, 2012)
5 jobs (Chheang, 2010). Angkor is the main draw, attracting half of all visitors to Cambodia (Lee, 2014)
Thus, while Cambodia has a high level of poverty and a generally poor level of economic development, its progress is actually not bad considering it had the worst starting point of any nation in the world just thirty-five years ago. The country still faces the challenge of rebuilding its education system, which is the foundation of any economic development (Shridhare, 2011)
China is even building a damn on the river in Cambodia, perhaps as a source of electricity exports. It is expected that Cambodian fisheries could well be decimated by these changes in water flows, and force many communities to move (Zaffos, 2014)
The reasons for this are complicated but fascinating. Like Vietnam, Cambodia had been part of the French colonial protectorate of Indochina at the time of World War Two (Brinkley 2011, 45)
S. began illegally bombing the country, immediately a military coup under Lon Nol -- rumored but never proven to be approved by the Nixon administration -- removed Sihanouk from power (Nolan 1990, 55)
He took the title of Prince Sihanouk and became head of state in addition to remaining Prime Minster. In the 1960s, Sihanouk observed the growing American involvement in Vietnam and adopted an official policy of neutrality toward the Cold War: by 1961, he had officially committed Cambodia to the Non-Aligned Movement, that group of third world nations, most of them newly-independent colonial possessions in Asia and Africa, which declared neutrality in the Cold War (Shawcross 2002, 55)
He took the title of Prince Sihanouk and became head of state in addition to remaining Prime Minster. In the 1960s, Sihanouk observed the growing American involvement in Vietnam and adopted an official policy of neutrality toward the Cold War: by 1961, he had officially committed Cambodia to the Non-Aligned Movement, that group of third world nations, most of them newly-independent colonial possessions in Asia and Africa, which declared neutrality in the Cold War (Shawcross 2002, 55)