Phnom Penh history

In 1863 the Cambodian king, fearful of Thai intentions, asked France to provide protection for his kingdom.

Phnom Penh was founded in 1434 to succeed Angkor Thom as the capital of the Khmer nation but was abandoned several times before being reestablished in 1865 by King Norodom.

Initially constructed in 1866 by the French, the Royal Palace is home to the current ruler King Sihamoni.

The first modern stone structure to be built was the Royal Palace, opening in 1870.

The Royal Palace compound included the Royal Palace (1919), the Royal Palace Museum, and the Veal Mien (Royal Plain), on which the national congress met twice a year.

The illustrious Raffles Le Royal hotel has been around since its opening in 1929.

By the 1930s the canals had been filled and turned into garden boulevards, which are now parks along Sihanouk Blvd and also Streets 108/106.

As the population grew (109,000 in 1939) the city continued to expand, mostly westward into the wetlands, which were drained accordingly.

An image of the most famous of these, Angkor Wat, has appeared on every Cambodian flag (there have been five of them) since the country gained its independence from France in 1953.

Independence from France came in 1954, issuing in a period of considerable urban and commercial development and the beginning of the distinctive 'New Khmer Architecture,' reflected in existing structures such as the Independence Monument and Chaktomuk Theatre.

Institutions of higher learning included the National University of Phnom Penh (founded in 1956 as the Royal Khmer University), with schools of engineering, fine arts, technology, and agricultural sciences, the latter at Chamcar Daung, a suburb.

In 1970, Sihanouk was deposed while abroad, and Cambodia was increasingly drawn into the Vietnam War.

The 1991 Paris Peace Agreements and the ensuing United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia ushered in a wave of development money, French nongovernmental organizations and French professionals.

In 1999 Cambodia became a member of ASEAN, and became for the first time, after centuries of isolation, a full-fledged member of the Southeast Asian community.

People have inhabited parts of Southeast Asia since the early Stone Age, and the ancestors of the Khmer people have been in the area for at least 5000 years, perhaps much longer, but there is no firm evidence of settlements in the Phnom Penh area prior to about 2000 years ago.

Cambodia become the sixth largest garment exporter in the world in 2007 and most of these factories are in Kandal Province.