Population Change A Phnom Penh, Cambodia story
Water
Phnom Penh is the largest city along the Mekong River. Its population fluctuated wildly during the 1970s and 1980s; the population of 1.2 million in 1971 swelled with war refugees to 2 million or more by 1975, when it was evacuated to almost nothing by the victorious Khmer Rouge communists. From 1978 (the last year of the Khmer Rouge regime) to 1987, Phnom Penh's population is estimated to have grown from about 50,000 to 700,000 people. The 2019 population was well over 2 million.
A note on terms: Phnom Penh is pronounced p-NOM PEN. Phnom means "hill" or "mountain" in Khmer; Penh is a woman's name. More than 90% of Cambodians are ethnic Khmer, and Khmer is the national language. Cambodia has also been known as Kampuchea.
Location
Jan. 3, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 135/52) — Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 7, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 8, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 14, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 13, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 126/52) — Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia Additional Imagery & Stories
Further Problems
Many projects were headed by loyal party leaders with no technical skills, which is another reason the canals were not more effective. Teachers, techn...
Rivers and Rain
Phnom Penh lies just west of the four-river intersection called the Chattomukh ("Four Faces"). From the northwest and northeast, respectively, flow th...
The Initial Irrigation Idea
From 1975 to 1978, Cambodia was governed by Pol Pot. His regime was known as the Khmer Rouge ("Red Khmer"). In their desire to radically transform Cam...