Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh (in Khmer, ភ្នំពេញ, pronounced [pʰnum pɨɲ]) is the most populous city and capital of Cambodia, since the French colonization. In addition, it is the economic, industrial, political, cultural and diplomatic center of the country. Some 2.2 million inhabitants live in the metropolitan area.

It is the seat of government and an important commercial center in Southeast Asia due to its strategic geographical location in the delta and the confluence of the Mekong, Sap and Bassac rivers, which make it a river port with access to the South China Sea. As a tourist center, the city retains the Asian cultural atmosphere and its controversial history.

It is known as the "Pearl of Asia", and is considered one of the most beautiful French cities in Indochina in the 1920s. The city, along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, is a significant tourist destination in the country, both local and global level. It was founded in 1434, and is famous for its beautiful, historical architecture and tourist attractions. There are still a good number of French colonial buildings scattered along the grand boulevards.

Etymological origin

Wat Phnom or Hill TempleThe point where the city was born.

Nom pen, which literally means "the hill of Pen" takes its name from Wat Phnom or "Hill Temple". According to legend, in 1372, an old nun named Penh or Pen went to fetch water from the Tonlé Sap and found a cashew tree floating down the river with the current. Inside a hole in the tree she found four bronze Buddha statues and one stone.

Daun Penh brought the statues to the shore and ordered the people to pile up earth to the northeast of their house to form a hill. He used the wood from the tree to build a temple on top of the hill to put the statues in, and named the temple after him: Wat Phnom Daun Penh, which is now known as Wat Phnom, a small hill 27 meters high.

Pnom Penh had previously been called Krong Chaktomok (Khmer: ក្រុងចតុមុខ), meaning "City of Four Faces". This name refers to the place where the Mekong, Bassac and Tonlé Sap rivers intersect forming an X and where the city is located. Krong Chaktomuk is an abbreviation of his ceremonial name given by King Ponhea Yat and whose full name was Krong Chaktomuk Mongkol Sakal Kampuchea Thipadei Sereythor Inthabot Borei Roth Reach Seima Maha Nokor ធិបតី សេរីធម៌ ឥន្រ្ទបទបុរី រដ្ឋរាជសីមាមហាន), abbreviated to the Spanish Chormuco.

This ceremonial name is a Pali name, which could be translated as "the place of four rivers that gives happiness and success to the Khmer kingdom, the highest leader, as well as the impenetrable city of the god Indra of the great kingdom".

History

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Pnom Pen was established as the capital in 1431 by King Phnea Yat after he left Angkor Wat, probably due to strong pressure from the Thai invasions.

There are, however, other scholars who propose other hypotheses such as epidemics, lack of food and the possibility of new trade routes with China for which the geographical location of Phnom Penh would have greater benefits.

During the government of the Khmer Rouge it was emptied of its inhabitants, who were declared the enemies of the regime. Only a few entities functioned during his rule in Phnom Penh, including some of the S-21 torture centers.

In 1993, when the new national government was formed, Phnom Penh began a new era. Non-governmental organizations opened their headquarters in the city, infrastructure works began to be carried out, old buildings of unique importance such as the National Museum or the pagodas have been repaired. However, much remains to be done.

The city has a modern shopping mall, numerous higher education centers, avenues, and large hotels.

Political-administrative division

Nom Pen view from space.

The National Assembly of Cambodia

The municipality of Phnom Penh has an area of 678.46 km² and has a status equivalent to that of the provinces of Cambodia. It is divided into twelve administrative divisions called jans (districts) and of those nine jans Dangkao, Meanchey, Porsenchey, Sen Sok and Russei Keo are considered the suburbs of the city. All jans are under the government of Phnom Penh Municipality. The jans are further divided into 76 sangkats (communes), and 637 kroms.

The municipality is led by the governor, who acts as the main authority of the city and oversees the municipal military police, the municipal police and the office of urban affairs. Below the governor is the first lieutenant governor and five lieutenant governors. The chief of staff, who has the same status as the lieutenant governors, leads the cabinet consisting of eight assistant chief of staff, who are in charge of the 27 administrative departments. Each jan has a director.

City government

The city is governed by a mayor or governor with his cabinet in which the first deputy acts as the executor along with the prime minister in Cambodia. There are also five more deputies from the city government.

It is the headquarters of the royal government of the Kingdom of Cambodia governed by the Prime Minister and seat of the Royal Palace whose main figure is the King of Cambodia. It is also true of the Royal Court of Justice and of the main democratic figures in the country.

Geography and natural resources

Climate of Nom Pen

Pnom Pen is privilegedly located at the fluvial meeting of the Upper Mekong, Lower Mekong, Bassac and Tonlé Sap rivers. The region is known as Chatomuk, which means “the four faces”) and is part of the great central plain of the country to the southeast.

Although the city fully developed as a city, the surroundings of Phnom Penh are still distinguished as areas with a deep agricultural vocation and the presence of tropical forests among which there are abundant fruit trees that constitute an important natural reserve, as well as species wild and domestic animals.

Its total area is 357 km².

Climate

Pnom Pen has a tropical savannah climate. Temperatures typically range from 22 to 35°C, and the climate is subject to tropical monsoons. The southwest monsoon blows, bringing moisture-laden winds inland from the Gulf of Thailand and the Indian Ocean, from May to October. The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from November to March. The city experiences the highest rainfall from September to October, the driest period being in January and February.

The city has two distinct seasons. The rainy season from May to October sees high temperatures accompanied by high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April, temperatures can drop to 22°C. But temperatures can approach 40°C in April. The best months to visit the city are November to February, when temperatures, humidity, and rainfall are lower.

Average Nom Pen climate parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	31.5	32.8	34.9	34.9	34.3	33.5	32.5	32.5	32.3	31.1	29.9	30.1	32.5
Average temperature (°C)	26.7	27.9	29.5	30.0	29.8	29.3	28.6	28.6	28.3	27.5	26.3	25.9	28.2
Temp. medium (°C)	21.9	23.0	24.1	25.0	25.3	25.0	24.7	24.6	24.3	23.8	22.7	21.7	23.8
Rains (mm)	25.5	11.5	58.0	101.0	111.6	177.1	195.9	172.0	248.8	318.9	135.0	80.3	1635.6
Rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm)	2.8	2.4	5.2	8.6	16.4	16.6	19.6	21.4	19.8	24.0	11.8	4.8	153.4
Hours of sun	260	226	267	240	202	192	143	174	129	202	213	242	2490
Relative humidity (%)	68	66	64	66	74	76	77	79	82	80	76	72	73.3
Source No. 1: Hong Kong Observatory
Source No. 2: Weatherbase (humidity), Danish Meteorological Institute (sol)

Demographics

The Royal Palace

The total population of the city for 2006 is 1,441,618 inhabitants with a density of 3,320 inhabitants/km². It is the highest percentage of urban population in the entire country (57% of the 32% that is the total Cambodian urban population).

The literacy rate is 87% (88.1% male, 77.7% female), and the unemployment rate is 12.6% (8.9% male, 17.0% female).

Most of the current residents of the capital are immigrants from the other provinces of the country (79.2% of its population). There are also minority ethnic groups such as Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and with the influx of non-governmental organizations and international aid after the long period of wars, many foreigners from the five continents reside and work in the capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Water supply in Phnom Penh has improved remarkably in terms of access, quality of service, and efficiency due to government cost recovery between 1993 and 2006. The number of customers has increased nine-fold, the quality of service it has improved from intermittent to continuous supply, water losses have been dramatically reduced and the city's sanitation service has gone from bankruptcy to a sustainable profit. These achievements were recognized through international awards, such as the Ramón Magsaysay Award in 2006 and the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2010. The city's utility is the Phnom Penh Water Authority (PPWSA). Its main sources of water are the Mekong River, Tonle Sap Lake, and groundwater.

Tourism and recreation

Building in the area of the Royal Palace

Pnom Penh is a major city for tourism and recreation. It preserves important architectural, religious, and historical treasures and spaces for recreation and meeting.

Sites like the Royal Palace with an oriental atmosphere and the Silver Pagoda, the National Palace, Wat Phnom Pen, Tuol Slang, the Khmer Rouge Autogenocide Museum (see Cambodian genocide) or the Independence Monument, They are frequent stops for visitors to the city.

Pnom Pen has a good offer of nightlife with casinos, discos, and restaurants.

Economy and business

Cambodia National Bank Building.

Pnom Penh is the first economic center in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Its current period of economic recovery in post-war times makes it an obligatory point of investment and international aid.

The unemployment rate in the city was 12.6% in 2001. In that year, employment in the human sector was 9.9%, in secondary 22.2% and in tertiary 67.9%. For that same year, the number of economically active people reached 423,747 people, of which 45.3% is female labor.

An obvious problem in the city is child labor and street children.

In Phnom Penh the common currency is the Cambodian riel (US$ 1 = R 4,005), but you can also trade in US dollars, Vietnamese dong and Thai bath with restrictions.

Culture

Old French colonial house.

Pnom Penh is the legitimate heir to Khmer culture, which is currently expressed in many urban elements such as Buddhist pagodas from the Theravada school or in intangible elements such as respect for the figure of the king, language, customs, the ways of dressing and the organization of the family.

As the capital, the city is also an obligatory meeting place with other foreign cultures such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian and Western, standing out in Art Deco.

Museums

• Cambodia National Museum
• Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
• National Library of Cambodia

Art

Pagoda de Plata.

Cambodia Post Office.

Art in the city has its space. This is especially expressed in the ancient characteristics of Khmer culture such as music and dance, which have been carefully preserved since the time of the glory of Angkor Wat, whose influence is felt in all areas.

There are numerous groups in the city that perform at numerous events.

On the other hand, the numerous pagodas of the city conserve excellent artistic works in paintings that narrate the sacred stories of Buddhism or Hindu sacred books and whose artists remain anonymous.

In the field of plastic arts we find an example of the union of the Khmer tradition with contemporary art in the paintings of Chhim Sothy.

Literary presence

• Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme: Phnom Penh - Développement urbain et patrimoine. Saint-Ouen 1997.
• Richard Werly: eternal portrait of a timeless city. 1998.
• Michel Igout (text), Serge Dubuisson (Photos): Phnom Penh, then and now. White Lotus, Bangkok 2011.
• Vann Molyvann: Khmer modern cities. Phnom Penh in 2003.
• Helen de Grant Ross, Darryl L. Collins: New Jemer architecture, 1953-1970. Bangkok 2007.
• Milton Osborne: Phnom Penh. To Cultural and Literary History. Signal Books, 2008.

Sports

In its recovery process, the city also opens space for sport. Although there is still no sport discipline that is breaking ground in the international arena, the sport that identifies the city is Prodal or the ancient Cambodian martial arts. This sport has its part in Muay Thai.

In the city, the main sports center is the National Olympic Stadium of Cambodia, which was built in 1964 for the Southeast Asian Olympic Games, which were not held due to the problems the country went through during that period. It is the work of Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann. It has capacity for 50,000 spectators. It was the headquarters of the North Korean soccer team during the 1966 World Cup qualifiers, held in England. During the years of the Khmer Rouge regime it was used for macabre purposes, and in the following decades it fell into disuse. In 2000, however, it was repaired by a Taiwanese firm.

Stadiums

• Olympic Stadium; with a capacity of 50,000 seats was built to host the Southeast Asian Games in 1963.
• Lambert Stadium; also known as Old Stadium or Old StadiumIt's north of town.

Religious worship

Temple Wat Preah Puth

Temples

• Pagoda de Plata
• Wat Phnom
• Wat Botum
• Wat Preah Puth
• Wat Ounalom
• Wat Lanka
• Wat Toul Thom Pong
• Wat Koh
• Wat Neuk Kawann
• Wat Sarawan
• Wat Sampov Meas
• Wat Mohamontrei
• Wat San Somsokol
• Wat Svay Poper
• Wat what

Mosques

• Nur ul-Ihsan Mosque
• A Nur-mezquita An-Na'im

Bishopricate

• Diocese of Phonm Penh
• Phnom Penh Cathedral (destroyed)

Transportation

Nom Pen International Airport.

Pnom Pen has the Phnom Penh International Airport (Pochengton International Airport) that connects it essentially with Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Vientiane. There are also domestic flights that go mainly to Siem Reap province and other provinces that are difficult to access by road.

The city does not have an urban bus service. There is a taxi service. The popular way to get around the city is by motorcycle taxis (moto-dop).

The city does not have an intermunicipal transport terminal and the bus lines to and from other provinces are located in some nerve centers of the city such as the Central Market.

The city as a fluvial port also has the service of boats that go to different provinces of the country and carry merchandise and passengers.

Education

Buddhist Institute

In recovery time, Phnom Penh became the first educational center in the country, especially in terms of higher education. 82.7% of the city's population is literate (2001 data)^{[citation required]}, of which 88.1% correspond to men and 77.7% to women. This of course affects female employment.

Higher education has received international aid and we must still wait for it to acquire a preponderant rank in a country where an environment of economic survival prevails and for which studying is still seen as a privilege of few. On the other hand, there is a proliferation of technical study centers that prepare young generations for a prompt employment relationship.

• École Royale d'Administration (ERA) or administration school.
• The Royal University of Nom Pen (Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) or L'université Royale de Phnom Penh (URPP)), is the country's oldest and oldest higher education institution. In 2008, the university had more than 10,000 students on three campuses, and offered a wide range of courses at the Faculty of Sciences, the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities and the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL).

There are about 50 higher education institutions in Cambodia, most without campuses. Several international NGOs, such as A New Day Cambodia, run independent educational facilities in addition to the public schools.

Other relevant institutions are:

• The Royal University of Law and Economic Sciences (Royal University of Law and Economic Sciences (RULE) or L'université Royale de Droit et Science Economique (URDSE))
• The Royal University of Fine Art (Royal University of Fine Art (RUFA) or L'université Royale des Beaux Art (URBA)
• The Royal University of Agriculture (Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) or L'université Royale d'Agriculture (URA))
• National University of Management (NUM)
• The Institute of Technology of Cambodia (Institut de technologie du Cambodge (ITC))
• The Buddhist Institute, which was founded on May 12, 1930 and is the main Buddhist state institution in the country.

Media

Daily

In jemer

• Sralagn' Khmer
• Chakraval Daily
• Kampuchea Thmei Daily
• Kampuchea Thnai Nes
• Kanychok Sangkhum
• Koh Santepheap
• Moneaksekar Khmer – edited by the political party of Sam Rainsy
• Rasmei Kampuchea – main daily in the country, with about 18 000 copies
• Samleng Yuvachun
• Udomkate Khmer
• Wat Phnom Daily

English

• Phnom Penh Post
• The Cambodia Daily

in Chinese

• (Jianhua Daily)
• ▪(Diario Sinchew Daily)
• .......(Diario Huashang Daily)

《高棉日报》(Khmer Daily)

• ►..(New Cambodia)

Magazines

• AsiaLIFE Guide Phnom Penh, a monthly magazine in English
• Pocket Guide Cambodia publishes four separate guides for Anglophone visitors and residents
• F Magazine is Cambodia's first fashion magazine. Edited in English and Jemer.
• SOVRIN Magazine, it is the main fashion magazine of Cambodia, edited in jemer.

Radius

• Cambodia National Broadcasting
• Sweet FM (Khmer, in Chinese)
• Voice of New Life
• FM90
• Ta Phrom Radio
• French International (in French)
• FM93.5
• Eagle 95
• Planet 97FM
• Love FM
• FM98
• FM99
• FEBC MANILA
• BBC
• Radio Australia
• WMC Radio
• Municipal Radio (Khmer)
• Radio Colmena
• Khmer FM

Online news sites

• Thmey Thmey News Phnom Penh.

Twinned cities

Pnom Penh is twinned with:

• Long Beach, United States.
• Lowell, United States.
• Providence, United States.
• Savannakhet, Laos.
• They'll live, Laos.
• Valparaiso, Chile.
• Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Mandalay, Burma.
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Busan, South Korea.
• Incheon, South Korea.
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
• Hanoi, Vietnam.
• Ciblen Thχ, Vietnam.
• Lam Dong, Vietnam.
• Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
• Shanghai, China.
• Tianjin, China.
• Kunming, China.
• Changsha, China.
• Madrid, Spain.
• Bristol, United Kingdom
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Cleveland, Tennessee, United States

Predecessor: Saint Petersburg

Headquarters of the Sessions of the World Heritage Committee 2013

Successor: Doha

Bibliographies and documentation centers

• Cambodia in the Early 21st Century. Media Business Network International and Promo-Khmer, under the auspices of the Royal Government of Cambodia. Discovering Phnom Penh City and Around, pp. 573 - 601. Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, 2000.
• Voices from S-21, Terror and History in Pol Pot's Secret Prison. David Chandler. Silkworm Books, Chian Mai, Thailand, 2000.
• Angkor. Dawn Rooney. Odyssey Guides, Hong Kong, 2003.
• Cambodia Year Zero. François Ponchaud, New York, 1977.