Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh (/pəˈnɔːm ˈpɛn/ or /ˈnɒm ˈpɛn/; Khmer: ភ្នំពេញ, Khmer pronunciation: [pʰnum peɲ], formerly romanized as Panomping) is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Tonlé Sap and Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since French colonization of Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security, politics, cultural heritage, and diplomacy of Cambodia.Once known as the "Pearl of Asia," it was considered one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina[4] in the 1920s. Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, are significant global and domestic tourist destinations for Cambodia. Founded in 1434, the city is noted for its beautiful and historical architecture and attractions. There are a number of surviving French colonial buildings scattered along the grand boulevards.
Situated on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers, the Phnom Penh metropolitan area is home to about 2.2 million[1] of Cambodia's population of over 14.8 million, up from about 1.9 million in 2008. The city is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia and is the country's political hub.
Etymology
Etymology
Phnom Penh (literally, "Penh's Hill") takes its name from the present Wat Phnom ("Hill Temple"). Legend has it that in 1372, an old nun named Lady Penh went to fetch water in the Tonle Sap and found a dead Koki tree floating down the stream. Inside a hole of the Koki tree were four bronze and one stone Buddha statues. Daun (Grandma) Penh brought the statues ashore and ordered people to pile up earth northeast of her house. She then used the Koki trunks to build a temple on the hill to house the five Buddha statues, and named the temple after herself as Wat Phnom Daun Penh, which is now known as Wat Phnom, a small hill of 27 metres (89 ft) in height. Phnom Penh was also previously known as Krong Chaktomok (Khmer: ក្រុងចតុមុខ) meaning "City of Four Faces". This name refers to the junction where the Mekong, Bassac, and Tonle Sap rivers cross to form an "X" where the capital is situated. Krong Chaktomuk is an abbreviation of its ceremonial name which was given by King Ponhea Yat, which in full is Krong Chaktomuk Mongkol Sakal Kampuchea Thipadei Sereythor Inthabot Borei Roth Reach Seima Maha Nokor (Khmer: ក្រុងចតុមុខមង្គលសកលកម្ពុជាធិបតី សេរីធម៌ ឥន្រ្ទបទបុរី រដ្ឋរាជសីមាមហានគរ). This ceremonial name is composed from Pali, and loosely translates as "The place of four rivers that gives the happiness and success of Khmer Kingdom, the highest leader as well as impregnable city of the God Indra of the great kingdom".
History
History
First recorded a century after it is said to have taken place, the legend of the founding of Phnom Penh tells of a local woman, Penh (commonly referred to as Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh/Old Lady Penh) in Khmer),
living at the chaktomuk, the future Phnom Penh. It was the late 14th
century and the Khmer capital was still at Angkor near Siem Reap 350 km
(220 mi) to the west. Gathering firewood along the banks of the river,
Lady Penh spied a floating koki tree in the river and fished it from the
water. Inside the tree she found four Buddha statues and one of Vishnu
(the numbers vary on different tellings.)
Phnom Penh from east drawn in 1887. |
The discovery was taken as a divine blessing, and to some a sign that
the Khmer capital was to be brought to Phnom Penh from Angkor. To house
the new found sacred objects, Penh raised a small hill on the west bank
of the Tonle Sap River and crowned it with a shrine, now known as Wat
Phnom at the north end of central Phnom Penh. 'Phnom' is Khmer for
'hill' and Penh's hill took on the name of the founder, i.e. Phnom Duan
Penh, and the area around it became known after the hill - Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh first became the capital of Cambodia after Ponhea Yat, king of the Khmer Empire, moved the capital from Angkor Thom after it was captured and destroyed by Siam a few years earlier. There is a stupa behind Wat Phnom that house the remains of Ponhea Yat and the royal family as well as the remaining Buddhist statues from the Angkorean era. In the 17th century, Japanese immigrants also settled on the outskirts of present-day Phnom Penh. A small Portuguese community survived in Phnom Penh until the 17th century, undertaking commercial and religious activity in the country.
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Wat Phnom gave the city its name |
Phnom Penh remained the royal capital for 73 years—from 1432 to 1505.
It was abandoned for 360 years—from 1505 to 1865—by subsequent kings
due to internal fighting between the royal pretenders. Later kings moved
the capital several times and established their royal capitals at
various locations in Tuol Basan (Srey Santhor), Pursat, Longvek, Lavear Em and Udong.
It was not until 1866, under the reign of King Norodom I (1860–1904) the eldest son of King Ang Duong,
who ruled on behalf of Siam, that Phnom Penh became the permanent seat
of government and capital of Cambodia, and also where the current Royal Palace was built. Beginning in 1870, the French Colonialists
turned a riverside village into a city where they built hotels,
schools, prisons, barracks, banks, public works offices, telegraph
offices, law courts, and health services buildings. In 1872, the first
glimpse of a modern city took shape when the colonial administration
employed the services of a French contractor Le Faucheur, to construct
the first 300 concrete houses for sale and rental to the Chinese traders.
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Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum |
By the 1920s, Phnom Penh was known as the Pearl of Asia, and over the next four decades Phnom Penh continued to experience rapid growth with the building of railways to Sihanoukville and Pochentong International Airport (now Phnom Penh International Airport). Phnom Penh's infrastructure saw major modernisation under the rule of Sihanouk.
During the Vietnam War, Cambodia was used as a base by the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong,
and thousands of refugees from across the country flooded the city to
escape the fighting between their own government troops, the NVA/NLF,
the South Vietnamese and its allies, and the Khmer Rouge. By 1975, the population was 2-3 million, the bulk of whom were refugees from the fighting.
The Khmer Rouge cut off supplies to the city for more than a year
before it fell on April 17, 1975. Reports from journalists stated that
the Khmer Rouge shelling "tortured the capital almost continuously,"
inflicting "random death and mutilation" on millions of trapped
civilians. The Khmer Rouge forcibly evacuated the entire city after taking it, in what has been described as a death march:
Francois Ponchaud wrote that "I shall never forget one cripple who had
neither hands nor feet, writhing along the ground like a severed worm,
or a weeping father carrying his ten-year old daughter wrapped in a
sheet tied around his neck like a sling, or the man with his foot
dangling at the end of a leg to which it was attached by nothing but
skin";
John Swain recalled that the Khmer Rouge were "tipping out patients
from the hospitals like garbage into the streets....In five years of
war, this is the greatest caravan of human misery I have seen."
All of its residents, including those who were wealthy and educated,
were evacuated from the city and forced to do labour on rural farms as "new people". Tuol Sleng High School was taken over by Pol Pot's forces and was turned into the S-21
prison camp, where people were detained and tortured. Pol Pot sought a
return to an agrarian economy and therefore killed many people perceived
as educated, "lazy", or political enemies. Many others starved to death
as a result of failure of the agrarian society and the sale of
Cambodia's rice to China in exchange for bullets and weaponry. The
former high school is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where Khmer Rouge torture devices and photos of their victims are displayed. Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields),
15 kilometers (9 mi) away, where the Khmer Rouge marched prisoners from
Tuol Sleng to be murdered and buried in shallow pits, is also now a
memorial to those who were killed by the regime.
The Khmer Rouge were driven out of Phnom Penh by the Vietnamese in 1979,
and people began to return to the city. Vietnam is historically a state
with which Cambodia has had many conflicts, therefore this liberation
was and is viewed with mixed emotions by the Cambodians. A period of
reconstruction began, spurred by the continuing stability of government,
attracting new foreign investment and aid by countries including
France, Australia, and Japan. Loans were made from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to reinstate a clean water supply, roads and other infrastructure. The 1998 Census put Phnom Penh's population at 862,000; and the 2008 census was 1.3 million. Click Video
Geography
Geography
Phnom Penh is located in the south-central region of Cambodia, and is fully surrounded by the Kandal Province. The municipality is situated on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong, and Bassac
rivers. These rivers provide freshwater and other natural resources to
the city. Phnom Penh and the surrounding areas consist of a typical
flood plain area for Cambodia. Although Phnom Penh is situated at 11.89
metres (39 ft) above the river, monsoon season flooding is a problem and
the river sometimes overflows its banks.
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Phnom Penh City Hall |
The city, located at 11.55°N 104.91667°E (11°33' North, 104°55' East), covers an area of 678.46 square kilometres (262 sq mi), with some
11,401 hectares (28,172 acres) in the municipality and 26,106 hectares
(64,509 acres) of roads. The agricultural land in the municipality
amounts to 34.685 square kilometres (13 sq mi) with some 1.476 square
kilometres (365 acres) under irrigation.
Climate
Phnom Penh has a tropical wet and dry climate.
The climate is hot year-round with only minor variations. Temperatures
typically range from 22 to 35 °C (72 to 95 °F) and weather is subject to
the tropical monsoons. The southwest monsoon blows inland bringing moisture-laden winds from the Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean
from May to October. The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season,
which lasts from November to March. The city experiences the heaviest
precipitation from September to October with the driest period in
January and February.
The city has two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from
May to October, sees high temperatures accompanied by high humidity. The
dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can drop to
22 °C (72 °F). But temperatures can approach 40 °C (104 °F) in April.
The best months to visit the city are November to February when
temperatures, humidity and rainfall are lower.
Administration
Administration
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The National Assembly building of Cam |
divisions called Khans (districts) and of these nine Khans, Dangkao, Meanchey, Porsenchey, Sen Sok and Russei Keo are considered the outskirts of the city. All Khans are under the governance of the Phnom Penh Municipality. The Khans are further subdivided into 76 Sangkats (communes), and 637 Kroms.
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Chaktomouk Hall |
holds the same status as the Vice Governors, heads the Cabinet consisting of 8 Deputy Chiefs of Cabinet who in turn are in charge of the 27 Administrative Departments. Every khan (district) also has a head Chief.
Economy
Economy
Phnom Penh's is Cambodia's economic centre as it accounts for a large
portion of the Cambodian economy. Double-digit economic growth rates in
recent years have triggered an economic boom in Phnom Penh, with new
hotels, restaurants, bars, high rises and residential buildings
springing up around the city.
The main economy is based on commercial interests such as garments,
trading, and small and medium enterprises. In the past few years the
property business has been booming, with rapidly increasing real estate
prices. Tourism is also a major contributor in the capital as more
shopping and commercial centres open, making Phnom Penh one of the major
tourist destinations in the country along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism made up 17.5
percent (US$2,053 million) of Cambodia's GDP in 2009 and accounts for
13.7 percent of total employment. One of the most popular areas in Phnom Penh for tourists is Sisowath Quay, alongside the Tonle Sap River. Sisowath Quay is a 3-mile strip of road that includes restaurants, bars, and hotels. The US$2.6 billion new urban development, Camko City,
is meant to bolster the city landscape. The Bureau of Urban Affairs of
Phnom Penh Municipality has plans to expand and construct new
infrastructure to accommodate the growing population and economy. High
rise buildings will be constructed at the entrance of the city and near
the lakes and riverbanks. Furthermore, new roads, canals, and a railway
system will be used to connect Camko City and Phnom Penh. Other projects include:- Grand Phnom Penh International City (under construction)
- De Castle Royal Condominium (Completed)
- International Finance Complex (Under construction)
- Gold Tower 42 (On hold 32 floors)
- OCIC Tower (Completed)
- Kokling super second floor house
- River Palace (Under construction)
- Vattanac Capital Tower (Under construction)
With booming economic growth seen since the 1990s, new shops have opened as well as western-style malls such as Sorya Shopping Center and the new Sovanna Shopping Center. Two international franchises have also opened up in Phnom Penh. Dairy Queen has already opened up inside Phnom Penh International Airport and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has opened up a restaurant on Monivong Boulevard and plans to open more soon. The same company that opened up KFC in Cambodia has now obtained franchise rights to bring Pizza Hut to the country. In addition, a Swensen's ice cream restaurant has opened in Sorya Shopping Center.
The tallest skyscraper in Phnom Penh is Vattanac Capital Tower
at a height of 200 metres (656 ft), dominating Phnom Penh's skyline
with its neighbour skyscraper Canadia Tower (OCIC Tower). The tower was
topped out in May 2012 and scheduled for completion in late 2012. Modern
high rises have been constructed all around the city, not concentrated
in any one particular area.
The Central market Phsar Thmei
is a tourist attraction. The four wings of the yellow colored market
are teeming with numerous stalls selling gold and silver jewellery,
antique coins, clothing, clocks, flowers, food, fabrics and shoes. Phsar
Thmei is undergoing under a major renovation, along with the creation
of newer stalls. Cambodia Angkor Air has its head office in Phnom Penh.
Education
Education
- École Royale d'Administration (ERA) or school of administration.
- The Royal University of Phnom Penh សកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទភ្នំពេញ (RUPP), is the oldest and largest institution of higher education in Cambodia. As of 2008, the university has over 10,000 students across three campuses, and offers a wide range of high-quality courses within the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, and the Institute of Foreign Languages (IFL). There are about fifty higher education institutions in Cambodia, most of which have no campuses. Several international charities, like A New Day Cambodia, operate independent educational facilities in addition to public schools for students.
- The Royal University of Law and Economic Sciences (RULE) សាកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទនីតិសាស្រ្ត និង វិទ្យាសាស្រ្តសេដ្ឋកិច្ច
- The Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) សាកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទវិចិត្រសិល្បៈ
- The Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) សាកលវិទ្យាល័យភូមិន្ទកសិកម្ម
- The National University of Management (NUM)សាកលវិទ្យាល័យជាតិគ្រប់គ្រង
- The Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC)វិទ្យាស្ថានបច្ចេកវិទ្យាកម្ពុជា
- The Buddhist Instituteវិទ្យាស្ថានពុទ្ធសាសនបណ្ឌិត្យ was founded on May 12, 1930 and is the principal state Buddhist institution in Cambodia.
- The Royal Academy of Cambodiaរាជបណ្ឌិត្យសភាកម្ពុជា
- The Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute វិទ្យាស្ថានស្រាវជ្រាវ និង អភិវឌ្ឍកសិកម្មកម្ពុជា
- The National Institute of Education (Cambodia) វិទ្យាស្ថានជាតិរអប់រំ
- The National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia វិទ្យាស្ថានជាតិពហុបច្ចេកទេសកម្ពុជា
- The National Technical Training Institute វិទ្យាស្ថានជាតិបណ្តុះបណ្តាលបច្ចេកទេស
- The Prek Leap National College of Agriculture សាលាជាតិកសិកម្មព្រែកលៀប
- The University of Health Sciences - Cambodia សាកលវិទ្យាល័យវិទ្យាសាស្រ្តសុខាភិបាល
- The National Institute of Business វិទ្យាស្ថានជាតិពាណិជ្ជសាស្រ្ត
- The PreahKossomak Polytechnic Institute វិទ្យាស្ថានពហុបច្ចេកទេសព្រះកុសុមះ
- The Industrial Technical Institute វិទ្យាស្ថានបច្ចេកទេសឧស្សាហកម្ម
Culture
Culture
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| Statue of Lady Penh, the city's founder. |
Phnom Penh also has its own dialect of Khmer. Speakers of the Phnom Penh dialect often elide syllables, which has earned it the reputation for being lazy speech. Phnom Penh is also known for its influence on New Khmer Architecture. Phnom Penh is notable for Ka tieu
Phnom Penh, its variation on rice-noodle soup, a dish available in
sit-down cafes as well as 'street' cafes. The city is both the economic
and cultural center of Cambodia.
Music and the arts is making a revival throughout Cambodia,
especially in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh currently hosts a number of music
events throughout the city. 'Indie' bands (those without corporate
sponsors) have grown in number. Established music shops are few, notably
The Piano Shop (focused on pianos) on Street 178, not far from the
National Museum, and SoundsKool Musical Instrument at AEON Mall.
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| "Dried" version of Phnom Penh noodles with soup broth on the side |
The two most visited museums in the city are the National Museum, which is the country's leading historical and archaeological museum, and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former Khmer Rouge prison.
Chaul Chnam Thmey April 13–15
Main article: Chaul Chnam Thmey
At this time Phnom Penh celebrates Cambodian New Year,
an occasion increasingly popular with tourists. During this typically
hottest part of the year, water gets thrown around adding to the party
atmosphere along with dancing and music. The precise date changes
year-by-year but this holiday lasts at least three days. This festival
marks the turn of the year based on the ancient Khmer calendar and also
marks the end of the prior year harvest.
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| The Silver Pagoda houses the Emerald Buddha |
Main article: Bon Om Thook
The largest annual festival in Phnom Penh, this lively gathering celebrates the reversing of the flow of the Tonlé Sap
river. The holiday lasts three days as people flood into the city to
enjoy the fireworks, colourful boat races, live concerts, eating and
partying. The boat racing dates back to ancient times marking the
strengths of the Khmer marine forces during the Khmer Empire.
On November 22, 2010 at least 348 people were crushed to death in a bridge stampede at the festival.
Pchum Ben October 11–15 (2012)
Pchum Ben is a very important aspect of Cambodian culture. It may be
translated as "gathering together" to make offerings and is a time of
reunion, commemoration, express love and appreciation for one's
ancestors. By offering food and good karma to those possibly trapped in
the spirit world, living relatives help assuage their misery and guide
them back into the cycle of reincarnation.
Visak Bochea May
Main article: Vesākha
Vesākha is an annual holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in
Cambodia. Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday", it actually
encompasses the birth, enlightenment (nirvāṇa), and passing away
(Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha.
Cityscape and architecture
Cityscape and architecture
The oldest structure is Wat Phnom from the founding days of the city, constructed in 1373. The main tourist attractions are the Royal Palace with the Silver Pagoda, and the National Museum,
constructed during the French colonial era in the late 19th century in
the classical Khmer style and hosting a vast collection of Khmer
antiquities. The Independence Monument (Khmer: Vimean Akareach), although from the 1950s, is also constructed in the ancient Khmer style.
Veal Maen.
Starting with independence from the French in the 1950s and lasting
until the era of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, Phnom Penh underwent
tremendous growth as the capital city of a newly independent country. King Sihanouk
was eager to present a new style of architecture and thus invigorate
the process of nation building. A new golden era of architecture took
off, with various projects and young Khmer architects, often educated in
France, given opportunities to design and construct. This new movement
was called "New Khmer Architecture" and was often characterised by a fusion of Bauhaus, European post-modern architecture, and traditional elements from Angkor. The most prominent architect was Vann Molyvann, who was nominated chief national architect by the King himself in 1956. Molyvann created landmark buildings such as the Preah Suramarit National Theatre and the Council of Ministers building. Other architects helped construct the newly founded Royal Khmer University,
the Institute of Foreign Languages and the National Sports Centre. With
the growth of the upper and entrepreneurial middle classes, new suburbs
were built in the 1950s and 60s.
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| Veal Maen |
Although these buildings survived the Khmer Rouge era and the civil
war, today they are under threat due to economic development and
financial speculation.
Villas and gardens from that era are being destroyed and redeveloped to
make place for bigger structures. The landmark National Theatre by
Molyvann was ripped down in 2008.A movement is rising in Cambodia to preserve this modernist heritage. Old villas are sometimes being converted into boutique hotels, such as the Knai Bang Chatt.
Monuments and memorials to the genocide during the Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s are the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (a former high school used as a concentration camp) and, on the outskirts of the city, the Choeung Ek Genocide Center. The Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument
was commissioned by the Vietnamese communists as symbol of
Khmer-Vietnamese friendship during the late 1970s following the
liberation of Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge.
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Newspapers and magazines
Newspapers and magazines
Dailies
Khmer
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| Aerial view of the city |
- Sralagn' Khmer (Love Khmer)
- Chakraval Daily (Universe)
- Kampuchea Thmei Daily (New Cambodia)
- Kampuchea Tgnai Nis (Cambodia Today)
- Kanychok Sangkhum (Social Reflection)
- Koh Santepheap (Island of Peace)
- Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience) – Published by the Sam Rainsy Party.
- Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Kampuchea) – Cambodia's largest daily, it circulates about 18,000 copies.
- Samleng Yuvachun (Voice of Khmer Youth)
- Udomkate Khmer (Khmer Ideal)
- Wat Phnom Daily (Mount Temple)
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| The Peace Palace, office of the Prime Minister. |
English
- Phnom Penh Post, a daily English-language newspaper published in Phnom Penh.
- The Cambodia Daily, an English-language daily newspaper.
Chinese
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Council of Ministers headquarters.
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- 《柬華日報》(Jianhua Daily), a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Phnom Penh.
- 《星洲日報》(Sin Chew Daily), a Chinese-language daily newspaper, the Cambodian edition of the Malaysian Chinese daily of the same name.
- 《華商日報》(Huashang Daily), a Chinese-language daily newspaper.
- 《高棉日报》(Khmer Daily), a Chinese-language daily newspaper.
- 《新柬埔寨》(New Cambodia), a Chinese-language daily newspaper.
Magazines
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| Houses in Toul Kork District. |
- AsiaLIFE Guide Phnom Penh, a monthly English-language lifestyle magazine published in Phnom Penh.
- Pocket Guide Cambodia publishes four separate guides aimed at English-speaking residents and visitors.
- F Magazine, the first fashion-forward magazine in Cambodia. Bi-lingual, written in English and Khmer.
- SOVRIN Magazine, is the premium fashion magazine in Cambodia which written in khmer language.
Online news
- Thmey Thmey News Phnom Penh.
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