Basic Facts

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos
Capital: Phnom Penh
Area: 181,035 square kilometers
Population: 15,706,756
GDP per capita (PPP): $3,500 USD (2015 estimate)
Ethnic groups: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
Languages: Khmer (official) 96.3%, other 3.7% (2008 estimate)
Religions: Buddhist (official) 96.4%, Muslim 2.1%, other 1.3%, unspecified 0.2%
Government type: multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy
Literacy: total population: 77.6%, male: 85.1%, female: 70.9%(National Population Census, 2008)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): total – 10 years, male – 11 years, female – 10 years
Age structure:
0-14 years: 31.43%
15-24 years: 19.71%
25-54 years: 39.61%
55-64 years: 5.2%
65 years and over: 4.04%

Source: CIA, the World Factbook

Learn Khmer

General Phrases:

Sure sdey – Hi
Chum reap sure – Hello
Or kun – Thank you
Neak kok sabay te? – How are you?
Khmer sok sabay, or kun. – I am fine, thank you.

 

Adjectives:

Thum – big
Touik – small
Tlai pek – too expensive
Chngai pek – too far

Numbers:

1 – muy
2 – pi
3 – bei
4 – boun
5 – pram
6 – pram muy
7 – pram pi
8 – pram bei
9 – pram boun
10 – dahp

Transportation and places:

Neak nou ai na? – Where are you?
Khnom nou sonthakea – I am at the hotel.
Khnom nou pteah – I am at home.
Khnom jang tou sala rien – I want to go to school.
Sala rien – school
Tlai pon mahn – how much?
Bot chveng – turn left
Bot sdam – turn right
Tov trong – go straight

At a Restaurant:

Khnom som sieu phou kommong – Could I please have a menu?
Saich jrouk – pork
Saich moan – chicken
Saich trey – fish
Som kut loy – Could I please have a bill?
Som ap loy – Could I please have my change?

Other words related to work:

Neak krou – female teacher
Lok krou – male teacher
Tweu kar – work (verb)
Tot chamlorng – photocopy
Muy chab – one copy