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Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge , name given to native Cambodian Communists. Khmer Rouge soldiers, aided by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops, began a large-scale insurgency against government forces in 1970, quickly gaining control over more than two thirds of the country. The strength of the Khmer Rouge rose dram...
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Cardamoms
Cardamoms kär´dememz , Thai Banthat, Khmer Kravanh, mountain group extending c.100 mi (160 km) along the Thai-Cambodian border, E of Chanthaburi, SE Thailand. The mountains receive monsoon rains and have a dense vegetation cover. A Khmer Rouge stronghold in the late 20th cent., the...
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Hun Sen
Hun Sen , 1952-, Cambodian political leader, premier of Cambodia (1985-93, 1998-; second premier, 1993-98). A member of the Khmer Rouge from 1970, he fled to Vietnam with Heng Samrin and other Communists in 1977. When the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia, Hun Sen returned, becoming foreign minis...
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Heng Samrin
Heng Samrin , 1934-, Cambodian politician. He was president of Cambodia from 1979 to 1991 and headed the Communist party from 1981 to 1991. A regimental commander of the Khmer Rouge during the civil war (1970-75), he sought refuge in Vietnam from Pol Pot's purges (1977). Returning to lead the upri...
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Lon Nol
Lon Nol , 1913-85, Cambodian general and political leader. He became defense minister and army chief of staff in 1955 in Norodom Sihanouk 's government. He served as premier (1966-67) under Sihanouk. In 1970, he led the coup that deposed Sihanouk, and assumed control of the government. He attempted...
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Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh or Phnum Penh , city (1994 est. pop. 527,000), capital of Cambodia, SW Cambodia, at the confluence of the Mekong and Tônlé Sap rivers. Phnom Penh was founded in the 14th cent. and was made the Khmer capital after the abandonment (1434) of Angkor . It became the capital o...
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Pol Pot
Pol Pot 1925-98, Cambodian political leader, originally named Saloth Sar. Paris-educated, and a Khmer Communist leader from 1960, he led Khmer Rouge guerrillas against the government of Lon Nol after 1970. In 1975 he proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea and served as its premier (197...
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Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya , or Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya , city (1990 pop. 61,185), capital of Ayutthaya prov., S central Thailand, on the Chao Phraya River. It is the trade center for a prosperous rice-growing region. Ayutthaya was the capital of a Thai kingdom founded c.1350 and was located on the site of a Khm...
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Cambodia
Cambodia , Khmer Kampuchea, officially Kingdom of Cambodia, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 13,607,000), 69,898 sq mi (181,035 sq km), SE Asia. Cambodia is bordered by Thailand on the west and north, by Laos on the north, by Vietnam on the east, and by the Gulf of Thailand on the south. P...
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Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk , 1922-, king of Cambodia (1941-55, 1993-2004). Sihanouk was educated in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Paris and was elected king by a royal council in 1941. During World War II he was held a virtual prisoner by Japanese occupation forces. After the war he adopted (1947) a const...
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