Kampong Cham province

Kampong Cham (Khmer: កំពង់ចាម, UNGEGN: Kâmpóng Cham [kɑmpɔŋ caːm]; lit. 'Cham Port') is a province of Cambodia located on the central lowlands of the Mekong River. It borders the provinces of Kampong Chhnang to the west, Kampong Thom and Kratié to the north, Tboung Khmum to the east, and Prey Veng and Kandal to the south. Kampong Cham was officially divided into two provinces on 31 December 2013 in what was seen by many as a political move by the ruling party.[2][3] All land west of the Mekong remained Kampong Cham while land east of the river became Tbong Khmum province. Prior to this division, Kampong Cham extended eastward to the international border with Vietnam, was the eleventh largest province in Cambodia, and with a population of 1,680,694, was the most populous province in Cambodia. Its capital and largest city is Kampong Cham.

Kampong Cham
កំពង់ចាម
Province
Kampong Cham Province
ខេត្តកំពង់ចាម
From top: Wat Nokor, Wat Dey Doh, Bos Knoar Hill, Phnom Srei
Official seal of Kampong Cham
Seal
Map of Cambodia highlighting Kampong Cham
Map of Cambodia highlighting Kampong Cham
Coordinates: 11°59′N 105°27′E
Country Cambodia
Provincial status1 January 1885
Division31 December 2013
CapitalKampong Cham
Subdivisions1 municipality; 9 districts
Government
 • GovernorUn Chanda (CPP)
 • National Assembly
10 / 125
Area
 • Total4,549 km2 (1,756 sq mi)
 • Rank18th
Population
 (2019)[1]
 • TotalDecrease 899,791
 • Rank7th
 • Density198/km2 (510/sq mi)
  • Rank5th
Time zoneUTC+07:00 (ICT)
Dialing code+855
ISO 3166 codeKH-3

Etymology

Kampong Cham means "Port of the Chams" in Khmer. Kampong means port or harbor. Cham refers to the ethnic Cham people living in the province. The word kampong in Cham is shared in other Austronesian languages, but in Malay and Indonesian it means village and is generally spelled kampung. A symbol the province is known for is two snakes wrapped around each other, which is located at the capital city bridge, Kampong Cham.

Geography
Houses on the border of the Mekong river.

Kampong Cham is primarily lowlands. The main river is the Mekong River, which forms the eastern border of the province, separating it from Tbong Khmum province.

Religion

Religion in Kampong Cham province (2019 census)[4]

  Buddhism (97.6%)
  Islam (2.3%)
  Christianity (0.1%)
  Animism and Other religions (0.0%)

The state religion is Theravada Buddhism. More than 97.6% of the people in Kampong Cham province are Buddhists. About 2.3% population of Kampong Cham province follow Islam followed by Chams. Christianity is followed by 0.1% in the province.

Administration

Kampong Cham is subdivided into 9 districts and 1 municipality which in turn are subdivided into communes (khum) which are further divided into villages (phum).[5] The province formerly consisted of 16 districts, however a request by Hun Sen's government to split the province in two was made after his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) lost the province to the opposition in the July 2013 elections.[3] The CPP won only eight of the available 18 National Assembly seats in Hun Sen's home province. The request, which was ostensibly made in order to improve administrative efficiency in the large province, was approved by King Sihamoni on 31 December 2013. The 10 districts that remain in Kampong Cham province overwhelmingly voted for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, led by Sam Rainsy, while five of the six districts cut out from Kampong Cham to form Tboung Khmum province were won solidly by the CPP.[2]

ISO
code		 Name Khmer Population (2019)[6] Subdivisions
— Municipality —
03-05 Kampong Cham កំពង់ចាម 38,365 4 sangkat
— District —
03-01 Batheay បាធាយ 106,997 12 khum
03-02 Chamkar Loeu ចំការលើ 101,675 8 khum
03-03 Cheung Prey ជើងព្រៃ 92,898 10 khum
03-06 Kampong Siem កំពង់សៀម 94,729 15 khum
03-07 Kang Meas កងមាស 85,488 11 khum
03-08 Koh Sotin កោះសូទិន 48,069 8 khum
03-13 Prey Chhor ព្រៃឈរ 133,712 15 khum
03-14 Srey Santhor ស្រីសន្ធរ 81,687 14 khum
03-15 Steung Trang ស្ទឹងត្រង់ 103,501 12 khum

2 districts in south Mekong river are Koh Sotin and Steung Trang

Politics
See also: Kampong Cham (National Assembly constituency)

Kampong Cham is allocated 10 seats in the National Assembly, down from 18. It had been the largest constituency until 2018.

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "General Population Census of the Kingdom of Cambodia 2019 – Final Results" (PDF). National Institute of Statistics. Ministry of Planning. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. Mom, Kunthear; Kevin Ponniah (10 January 2014). "Kampong Cham's great divide". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  3. Phorn, Bopha; Alex Willemyns (10 January 2014). "Government Creates New CPP-Majority province". The Cambodia Daily. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. "General Population census of the Kingdom of Cambodia 2019" (PDF). National Institute of Statistics Ministry of planning. October 2020.
  5. "Kampong Cham Administration". Royal Government of Cambodia. Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  6. http://nis.gov.kh/nis/Census2019/Final%20General%20Population%20Census%202019-English.pdf
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