Cambodia officially the Kingdom of Cambodia (Khmer: រាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា; UNGEGN: Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa), is a country in Mainland Southeast Asia, spanning an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles), bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. The capital and most populous city is Phnom Penh.
In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja".[15] This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to Southeast Asia and undertook religious infrastructural projects throughout the region. In the fifteenth century, Cambodia experienced a decline of power, and in 1863, it became a protectorate of France.
