Democratic Kampuchea
1975–1982 | |||||||||||
Anthem: បទនគររាជ Nôkôr Réach "Majestic Kingdom" (1975–1976) ដប់ប្រាំពីរមេសាមហាជោគជ័យ Dâb Prămpir Mésa Môha Choŭkchoăy "Victorious Seventeenth of April" (1976–1982) | |||||||||||
Capital | Phnom Penh | ||||||||||
Official languages | Khmer | ||||||||||
Religion | State atheism | ||||||||||
Demonym(s) | Kampuchean • Cambodian | ||||||||||
Government | Unitary one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian dictatorship (under a coalition government from 75 - 76)[1][2][3] | ||||||||||
General Secretary | |||||||||||
• 1975 - 1979 | Pol Pot | ||||||||||
Head of State | |||||||||||
• 1975–1976 | Norodom Sihanouk | ||||||||||
• 1976 - 1979 | Khieu Samphan | ||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 1975 - 1976 | Penn Nouth | ||||||||||
• 1976 | Khieu Samphan | ||||||||||
• 1976 - 1979 | Pol Pot | ||||||||||
Legislature | People's Representative Assembly | ||||||||||
Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||
17 April 1975 | |||||||||||
• Proclamation | 15 January 1976 | ||||||||||
7 January 1979 | |||||||||||
22 June 1982 | |||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||
181,035 km2 (69,898 sq mi) | |||||||||||
Currency | None | ||||||||||
Driving side | right | ||||||||||
Calling code | 855 | ||||||||||
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Today part of | Cambodia |
Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of Cambodia/Kampuchea from 1976 to January 1979, during the Khmer Rouge Years, though the international community recognized it for ten more years. Its leader was Pol Pot, and its national anthem (song) was Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey. It was succeeded by the People's Republic of Kampuchea upon the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. While Democratic Kampuchea existed, about ¼ (25%) of its population died either because of starvation, brutality, or execution. The four-year period saw the deaths of approximately two million Cambodians through the combined result of political executions, starvation, and forced labour.[4][5] Due to the large numbers, the deaths during the rule of the Khmer Rouge are often considered a genocide, and commonly known as the Cambodian Holocaust or Cambodian Genocide. The Khmer Rouge period ended with the invasion of Cambodia by neighbour and former ally Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, which left Cambodia under Vietnamese occupation for a decade.
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Jackson, Karl D. (1989). Cambodia, 1975–1978: Rendezvous with Death. Princeton University Press. p. 219. ISBN 0-691-02541-X.
- ↑ "Khmer Rouge's Slaughter in Cambodia Is Ruled a Genocide". The New York Times. 15 November 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ↑ Kiernan, B. (2004) How Pol Pot came to Power. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. xix
- ↑ Khmer Rouge leader admits crimes
- ↑ Noam Chomsky on Cambodia under Pol Pot