Cambodia And United Nations Essay, Research Paper

Cambodia is a small

country located in Southeast Asia bordering the Gulf of Thailand.

Cambodia lies between Thailand and Vietnam. It occupies a total area

of 181,040 square kilometers, and out of all of this, only 176,520 square

kilometers are on land. Cambodia has a 2,572-kilometer long land

boundary and 443 kilometer coastline.

Cambodia has a tropical climate like most

countries in Southeast Asia. In this tropical climate, there is a

rainy, monsoon season from May to October. The dry season lasts from

December to March. The land terrain in Cambodia is mostly made up

of low lands, flat plains, with mountains in the Southwest and north.

There is a wide amount of natural resources in Cambodia. The natural

resources include, timber, gemstones, manganese, phosphates, and hydropower

potential.

The main kind of agriculture in Cambodia

is subsistence farming. This is where the food you grow on your farm

is for your own good. The opposite of subsistence farming is commercial

farming where big industries farm for commercial profit. The Mekong

river floods the fields in the wet season, making the land perfect for

growing rice, which is their main cash crop. Even though they grow

a lot of rice, their main export is rubber, and their man import is machinery.

Cambodia has a small population compared

to the many states of the United States of America. As of July 1993,

Cambodia had a total population of 9,898,900. The nationality, or

the names of the people who live in Cambodia are Cambodian(s). The

primary ethnic group that makes up 90% of the total population is Khmer.

The major religion in Cambodia is Theravada Buddhism. About 95% of

the people in Cambodia follow this religion. The official language

is Khmer, and French is the second most common language.

The French colonized Cambodia for 83 years.

Cambodia became independent in November 1953. This was because Norodom

Sihanuk led a peaceful independence movement against the French.

Norodom Sihanuk was the current Prince of Cambodia at that time.

Soon after this, a communist group called

the Khmer Rouge, which was lead by Pol Pot and backed up by the Chinese

stepped in. They were in charge of Cambodia for eight years.

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge murder millions of innocent Cambodians.

Their rule ended when the Vietnamese took control.

The Royal Government of Cambodia administers

the government in Cambodia. There are currently two Prime Ministers,

who are Hun Sen, and Ran Narit. This was because after Pol Pot was

over thrown, there was one Prime Minister, but they had conflicts over

who it was supposed to be. The UN later came in and made the two

opposing people both prime Ministers so that there would be no conflict.

This started on an internationally supervised

election in 1993. Cambodia gained its independence on November 1953.

This day is it?s national holiday. The capital of country capital

of Cambodia is Phnom Penh. The national flag has a blue background

with a temple in the middle. A picture of it is on the poster display.

The economy in Cambodia is certainly not

the best in the world. It is in fact a very poor country. Cambodia?s

economy is still recovering from a sudden switch to a free-trade market

in 1990, and a cutoff in aid from former Soviet countries. The country

does not have that many roads bridges or powerhouses. The country

is not heavily populated within cities. About 90% of all the people

who live in Cambodia live on the countryside. These people are highly

dependent on subsistence agriculture. The GDP per capita was $289

US dollars.

The main currency in Cambodia is the reil.

The value of the real has been going down for a long time and is very unstable.

For example, in 1996, 2620 real equaled one US dollar.

The life expectancy of many people in Cambodia

is not that high. The reason is because of many diseases, and conflicts,

which lead to early deaths. In 1990 the percentage of al the people

in Cambodia that were older than 15 was 53%. The life expectancy

at Birth in 1995 was 51 years of age. Of the 9,898,900 people in

Cambodia, the adult literacy rate was 65.3%.

Communication in Cambodia is not good

at all. There are hardly any telecommunication companies available,

and international services are limited to Vietnam and other few countries

only. Now, commuting from place to place is not as bad. Cambodia

has 612 kilometers of railroads, and 13,351 kilometers of highways.

There are also 3,700 kilometers of inland waterways, and ports are available

in Phnom Penh, and Kampong Saom. Cambodia only has nine useable airports.

The situation in Cambodia now is not that

good, but a lot better than how it used to be. It has been over 20

years since Vietnam soldiers ended the bloodshed caused by the Khmer Rouge.

There are still many killings, which have been caused by grenades or shootings

during public demonstrations. Recently on Easter Sunday of March

30, 1997 in Phnom Penh, there were grenades thrown at a crowd during a

public demonstration, which was supposed to be headed toward Sam Rainsy.

Sam Rainsy was the most visible and vocal Human Rights advocate in Cambodia.

In this, Easter Sunday Massacre, there were 19 innocent people killed,

and over a 100 people injured. The attempt to get Sam Rainsy failed,

and all the people in Cambodia waited for the International public to help

out.

There has not been much International help

in Cambodia and still the violence and economic problems continue.

I seriously think that people should help more than they are doing now,

and make this a big situation because many lives are at stake. My

proposal to the United Nations Economic Council is that they start donating

some money to Cambodia to help out their economy. By building up

their economy they can use their money to build schools, hospitals, and

more roads. By having educated people, more people could go and get

jobs and strengthen the economy even more.

My second proposal is towards the Human

Rights Council of the United Nations. The Human Rights Council should

send food and medical aid to Cambodia. They should and could do this

until the economy of Cambodia gets better and good enough to support its

own people.

My third proposal to the United Nations

is towards the Security Council. With a lot of violence going on

in Cambodia, there needs to be some authority that can take control.

The Security Council should send down troops to stop the violence and keep

a sort of peace in Cambodia.

Truly I think that Cambodia is a nice country,

but a nice country with many problems. These problems can of course

be fixed with a lot of help, which the United Nations can help them with.

We will just have to wait and see how Cambodia shapes up.