Geography of Cambodia

According to allcitycodes, Cambodia is located between 10° and 16° north latitude, 106° and 108° east longitude. In the southwest it is washed by the waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Coastline 443 km. The coast from the border with Thailand to the Koki River is low and swampy, further to Cape Sorivong it is steep, followed by a wide strip of sandy beaches. In the section from Kampongsaom to Vealren Bay, the beaches are again replaced by rocks. Further to the border with Vietnam, the shores of the Gulf of Thailand are low and muddy. On the coast are the Samit and Vealren peninsulas, separated from one another by the Kampong Saom Bay. Cambodia owns a group of islands in the Gulf of Thailand. The largest of them is Kong Island with an area of 80 km2.

Cambodia is bordered by Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and southeast, and Thailand to the north and northwest. Land borders: total length 2572 km; with Laos – 541 km, with Vietnam – 1228 km, with Thailand – 803 km.

Cambodia is a predominantly flat country. A significant part of the territory is occupied by the low-lying Central Plain, open to the northwest and southeast. Along the perimeter of the Central Plain are mountains and plateaus, incl. the Kravan (Cardamonov) mountains in the west, the Dangrek mountains in the north, and the Chloung plateau in the east. The highest point of Cambodia is Mount Oral (1813 m), located in the Kravanh mountain system.

The river network of Cambodia is quite dense. The rivers belong to the three main basins – the Gulf of Thailand, the Mekong and Lake Tonle Sap. In the dry season, the water area of Cambodia’s largest lake, Tonle Sap, is 2,700 km2, 150 km long, and 32 km wide. During the rainy season, its area increases by more than 3 times and reaches 10 thousand km2. The depth increases 5-10 times, reaching 12 m.

In Cambodia, there are mainly two types of soils: alluvial and lateritic (basalt). Alluvial are divided into sandy, meadow, or floodplain, clay, lateritic – into red, red-yellow and red-brown.

Depending on the height above sea level, Cambodia is divided into a number of climatic zones with vegetation characteristic of each of them. Approximately ½ of the country’s territory (90 thousand km2) is covered with forests. There are two main types of forests: flooded – mangrove forest on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand and forests around Lake Tonle Sap, as well as upland – located in the mountains and on elevated plains. The mangrove forest is formed by low-growing trees and creeping shrubs with evergreen foliage. Most of the upland forests are occupied by the so-called. multi-tiered forest – the height of the trees of the upper tier reaches 40-45 m, the middle tier – trees 15-20 m high and lianas, shrubs, grasses, mosses, ferns grow below.

Of the predatory animals in Cambodia (mainly in mountain forests), there are a tiger, a leopard, a Bengal cat – the smallest animal from the cat family. Boars, wild deer, bulls, buffaloes live in the country. Many different types of monkeys, reptiles.

The bowels of the country contain reserves of precious stones, manganese, phosphorites, bauxites, and insignificant reserves of iron ore. In the province of Kampong Thom traces of copper, gold and coal have been found. Placers of gold, zircon and corundum were found in the province of Stungtraeng, and a deposit of phosphorites (350 thousand tons) was found near the town of Tukmeah in the province of Kampot. There are also deposits of phosphorites in the province of Battambang (the districts of Phnomkrapa and Sampou – 360 thousand tons). Bauxite reserves of commercial importance (5-10 million tons) have been discovered in the same province. In addition, there are deposits of iron, manganese, precious stones. Oil reserves have been discovered at the bottom of the Cambodian territory of the Gulf of Thailand.

Three factors determine the characteristics of the climate in Cambodia: a) the country is located near the equator within the tropical zone; b) is located in the tropical monsoon zone, which determines the presence of dry and wet seasons; c) from the sea, the Kravan mountains block the path of the humid monsoon, which causes more precipitation in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthese mountains and on the coast than on the Central Plain. Throughout the year, the air temperature in the country is kept mainly within the range of +25-30°C.

There are two climatic seasons: from November to April, the northeast, or winter, monsoon blows. This period also includes the coolest months – December-January and the hottest – April, when the average air temperature can rise to + 37-38 ° С. From May to November, the southwest, or summer, monsoon blows from the Indian Ocean. The country is in the rainy season. On the whole, 750-2000 mm of precipitation per year falls on the territory of Cambodia during the year. Most of them fall in the Kravan mountains. So, in 1923, 7971 mm fell in a year on Mule Island. On the Central Plain there are much fewer of them, in the region of the Northern Highlands they are somewhat more than on the Central Plain, but much less than in the Kravan mountains.