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nPostednon November 9, 2015
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nPeoplenhave lived in what is now Cambodia for thousands of years….
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nThe great Khmer Empire rose here – the , the largest empire innarea during the 12th Century…
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nButnempires tend to fall, and “dark ages” often follow times ofninvention and innovation. The Ayutthaya Kingdom (of Siam, nownThailand) conquered the Khmer Empire, both Siamese and Vietnamesenpeoples enslaved many Cambodian people, and eventually Europeannpowers were sniffing around Southeast Asia, eager to carve it up intoncolonies. By 1863 Cambodia had become a protectorate of France.
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nAlmostna century later, on this date in 1953, Cambodia achieved independencenfrom France. n
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| Cambodians celebrate their independence with parades and floats, flags and balloons. |
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nCambodianby the numbers…
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nAboutn 95% of all Cambodians practice Theravada Buddhism.
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- In addition to Vietnamese, Chinese, and Chams (an ethnic group from Southeast Asia), there are 30 “hill tribes” – people who live in the highlands of Cambodia and who are distantly related to the Khmer.
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nCambodian scored 99thn out of just 102 countries as far as rule-of-law goes. That’s a realn bummer, because in nations where the rule of law is weak, violencen is more common, laws are enforced more unfairly, foreign companiesn do not want to invest there, tourists do not want to travel there –n even medicines fail to reach the hospitals and clinics where theyn are needed!
(I am not sure why only 102 were ranked, whenn there are almost 200 nations in the world! But Cambodia WAS rankedn the worst in all of East Asia.)
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nThen Khmer Empire flourished for more than 600 years.
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Evenn though tourism in Cambodia is generally somewhat depressed by itsn reputation for violence and crime, the amazing temple complex of then Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat, is now a major tourist destination. Fromn only 7,650 visitors to Angkor Wat in 1993, there were more thann 2,000,000 (two million) visitors per year in both 2012 and 2013.
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An up-close look at Angkor Wat shows that to some
extent it is being taken over by nature, again…in this case,
by moss and lichen and algae (above)
and trees (below).n
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Itn may be that tourists are safer at this ancient site than they aren elsewhere in Cambodia, because it has been declared a UNESCO Worldn Heritage Site, and it is being managed by a private company who paysn rent to the Cambodian government.n
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nThere are about 3,000 “apsaras,” or heavenly nymphs, carved into the walls of Angkor Wat. Each is unique.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversarynof the first use of limelight
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nIqbalnDay in Pakistan
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nAstronomernCarl Sagan’s birthday
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n(a.k.a.SagannDay)
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nAnniversarynof the Great Northeast Blackout
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nAstronomernBenjamin Banneker’s birthday
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nNovembern holidays
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nNovembern birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in November
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nDecembern birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in December
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