Cambodia Bac II Social Science key terms

The era from roughly the 9th to the 15th century when Khmer kings ruled a large mainland Southeast Asian empire from the Angkor capital, leaving temples, inscriptions, and irrigation works studied in the history syllabus.

Khmer king who reigned from about 1181 to 1218, restored unity after Cham attacks, and sponsored major building projects including the Bayon and hospitals and rest houses along roads across the kingdom.

The pre-modern state centred in the Cambodian plain whose power rested on rice agriculture, control of trade routes, temple-based religion, and a network of roads linking provincial centres to the capital.

An early Southeast Asian polity in the Mekong delta region, known from Chinese accounts and dated to the first centuries CE, associated with trade, early Indian influence, and the port of Oc Eo.

A term used mainly in Chinese records for polities that succeeded Funan in the Cambodian interior between roughly the 6th and 8th centuries, before the Angkor period.

A group of coastal Southeast Asian polities in present-day central Vietnam that traded and fought with Khmer states, including attacks on Angkor in the 12th century.

The arrangement from 1863 under which Cambodia's monarchy accepted French political control; it ended in 1953 after post-war pressure and the royal campaign for independence led by Norodom Sihanouk.

The transfer of sovereign power from France to Cambodia, marked by ceremonies in November 1953 and celebrated each 9 November, after which Cambodia pursued non-aligned foreign policy.

Cambodian king and later head of state who led the independence campaign, promoted neutrality in the Cold War, was overthrown in 1970, and remained a central political figure until his abdication in 2004.

The communist movement led by Pol Pot that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and imposed forced collectivisation, mass displacement, and killings that caused the deaths of a large share of the population.

The official name of Cambodia under Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979, a period of abolished money, emptied cities, and mass mortality later examined by a UN-backed tribunal.

A hybrid tribunal established in 2006 inside Cambodia's court system, with Cambodian and international judges, to try senior Khmer Rouge leaders and those most responsible for grave crimes.

The 1991 accords signed by Cambodian factions and foreign states that ended civil war, created a UN transitional authority, and led to elections and a new constitution in 1993.

The long river that flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam; its Cambodian stretch and Tonle Sap connection sustain fisheries, silt deposition, and transport.

Cambodia's large freshwater lake, which expands and contracts seasonally as the Mekong reverses flow into it, supporting a highly productive fishery and floating settlements.

The seasonal rise and fall of water levels that spreads nutrients and sediment over floodplains, triggers fish breeding, and replenishes soils on which lowland rice farming depends.

Rice planted on land that is flooded in the wet season and cultivated as floodwaters retreat, relying on residual soil moisture and suited to areas around the Tonle Sap and lower Mekong.

The seasonal reversal of prevailing winds that brings the southwest monsoon rains from about May to October and drier northeast winds later, setting the rhythm of agriculture in Cambodia.

A forested upland range in southwest Cambodia that forms a rain shadow, shelters biodiversity, and separates the coastal plain from the central lowlands.

An escarpment along Cambodia's northern border with Thailand, marking a natural boundary and influencing drainage and transport between the two countries.

Rivers such as the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok that drain northeastern Cambodia into the Mekong, carrying sediment and supporting hydropower development and downstream fisheries.

Electricity generated from falling or flowing water; dams on Cambodian rivers and upstream on the Mekong raise questions about fish migration, sediment supply, and displacement of communities.

A prolonged shortage of rainfall that lowers river and lake levels, reduces rice yields, and stresses rural livelihoods in Cambodia, especially when the monsoon arrives late or ends early.

Fishing in rivers and lakes rather than the sea; Cambodia's inland catch, centred on the Tonle Sap system, supplies most dietary protein and supports processing and export industries.

The number of people per unit area, usually per square kilometre; Cambodia's average is low but settlement is concentrated in the central plains and around Phnom Penh.

The rising share of people living in towns and cities, driven in Cambodia by rural-to-urban migration, garment employment, and growth of the capital region.

A system in which a hereditary king is head of state while elected institutions exercise governing power under a constitution; Cambodia adopted this form in its 1993 constitution.

The division of state authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so that each checks the others, a principle written into Cambodia's constitutional framework.

The principle that laws are publicly known, applied equally, and bind officials as well as citizens, so that power is exercised through legal rules rather than arbitrary decision.

Cambodia's elected lower house, whose members pass laws, approve the budget, and hold the government accountable under the constitution.

Entitlements held by every person, such as life, liberty, expression, and fair trial, recognised in Cambodia's constitution and in international instruments the country has ratified.

The right to hold and share opinions and information through speech, press, and other media, subject to legal limits that must themselves be necessary and proportionate.

The abuse of entrusted public power for private gain, such as bribery or embezzlement; it weakens institutions, raises costs for citizens, and is addressed by Cambodia's anti-corruption law and body.

Management of public affairs that is accountable, transparent, responsive, and efficient, using resources lawfully to serve citizens rather than private interests.

The total market value of goods and services produced within a country in a period; growth in this measure is a standard though incomplete indicator of economic performance.

A sustained rise in the general price level that reduces the purchasing power of money and affects wages, savings, and the cost of living for households.

Investment by a firm or individual in productive assets in another country, bringing capital, technology, and jobs; Cambodia attracts it in garments, construction, and special economic zones.

A designated area with special rules on customs, tax, and infrastructure to attract export-oriented industry, used in Cambodia to cluster factories and create employment.

The price of one currency expressed in another; movements affect the cost of imports, the competitiveness of exports, and the local value of foreign earnings and debt.

The difference between a country's exports and imports of goods and services over a period; a deficit means imports exceed exports and must be financed by other flows.

Small loans, often without conventional collateral, provided to low-income borrowers to start or expand income-generating activity; common in Cambodian rural finance.

Policy and practice aimed at raising the incomes and capabilities of the poorest, measured through consumption, access to services, and vulnerability to shocks.

The writing system used for Khmer, an abugida in which consonant letters carry inherent vowels and are modified by subscript consonants and vowel signs.

Words borrowed into Khmer from Sanskrit, often through religion and royal administration, visible in terms for kingship, ritual, and abstract concepts used in formal writing.

A register of Khmer vocabulary reserved for speaking about the king and royal family, using distinct words for body parts, actions, and possessions instead of everyday terms.

The Khmer version of the Ramayana epic, adapted with local characters and episodes, performed in dance and shadow theatre and studied as a major work of Khmer literature.

A genre of Khmer didactic verse setting out moral instruction on conduct, gender roles, and social duty, traditionally memorised and used to teach ethics and proper speech.