Place
Oddar Meanchey
ឧត្តរមានជ័យ
Oddar Meanchey (ឧត្តរមានជ័យ) is a province in northwest Cambodia, on the border with Thailand. In Khmer oddar means north and meanchey means victory.[1]
Geography
The Thai border runs for 224 kilometers (139 miles) along the north of the province, following the Dangrek (ដងរែក) mountains, with the Thai provinces of Buriram, Surin and Sisaket on the other side. The provincial history says the whole border is hilly, with five passes across it. To the south lies Siem Reap (សៀមរាប), to the east Preah Vihear (ព្រះវិហារ) and to the west Banteay Meanchey (បន្ទាយមានជ័យ).[1] The province covers 6,158 square kilometers (2,378 square miles).[2]
History
The province was first created by a royal decree of July 12, 1964, in the Sangkum Reastr Niyum years. After war broke out in 1970, its administration was moved to Siem Reap. A royal decree of January 28, 1995, split it from Siem Reap as a province again. Its administration formally began work on April 27, 1999. The provincial history calls it the last province to join the integration that ended Cambodia's long civil war, on April 23, 1998.[1]
Temples
The provincial history counts 18 standing temples in the province, with seven ancient bridges, 82 temple mounds and 14 old ponds.[1] Prasat Trapeang Prasat Khang Tbong (ប្រាសាទត្រពាំងប្រាសាទខាងត្បូង), about 500 meters north of the roundabout in Trapeang Prasat district town, was built before the Angkor period for the worship of Shiva. Its three towers stand on one base, and an old moat runs around it. The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts braced it after part of it broke away.[3]
Prasat Ta Krabei (ប្រាសាទតាក្របី) stands in the Dangrek hills in Banteay Ampil district, about 57 kilometers (35 miles) from Samraong. It dates from the 11th century, with carving in the later Angkor or Bayon style. Its first name was Prasat Dangvay; local people began calling it Ta Krabei because the carving on its tower looks like a buffalo.[4]
Monks' forest
In 2000 the monk Bun Saluth, a former provincial chief of monks in the province, declared a community forest near Samraong to protect it. Known as Sorng Rukhavorn or the Monks' Community Forest, it covered 18,261 hectares (45,120 acres). Monks patrol it every day for logging, traps and fires set to clear land.[5] A sub-decree of April 5, 2018, joined it with the Rattanak Rokha community forest in a wildlife sanctuary of 30,254 hectares (74,760 acres).[5][6] After a planting in 2020 was lost to floods, about 1,000 monks, villagers, young people and officials planted 6,000 seedlings of rare trees there, among them 500 fruit trees.[5]
Population
The 2019 provisional census counted 261,252 people in Oddar Meanchey, up from 185,819 in 2008. At 3.1% a year it was among the fastest-growing provinces, behind Preah Vihear, Mondul Kiri and Stung Treng.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 VAYO FM, The history of Oddar Meanchey province (2022; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Institute of Statistics, Provisional Population Census 2019 (2019)
- ↑ Thmey Thmey, Prasat Trapeang Prasat Khang Tbong in Oddar Meanchey was built before the Angkor period (December 7, 2020; in Khmer)
- ↑ Thmey Thmey 25, Prasat Ta Krabei, a small and slender temple in Oddar Meanchey (2021; in Khmer)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cambodianess, Massive Tree-Planting Ceremony to Preserve Forest Sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey (July 18, 2022)
- ↑ The Phnom Penh Post, Struggling forests to become sanctuaries (April 2018)