Place
Preah Vihear (province)
ព្រះវិហារ
Preah Vihear (ព្រះវិហារ) is a province in northern Cambodia, on the borders with Thailand and Laos.[1][2] It holds two World Heritage sites, the Temple of Preah Vihear and Koh Ker, a former capital of the Khmer kings.[1][3]
Geography
The Dangrek hills run along the northern edge of the province. Into Cambodia gives the length of the border as 129 kilometers (80 miles) with Thailand and 140 kilometers (87 miles) with Laos.[1] Kampong Thom lies to the south and Stung Treng to the east. Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey lie to the west.[1][2][4] The province covers 13,788[5] or 13,821.76 square kilometers (5,324 or 5,337 square miles).[1]
South of the hills, most of the land is flat or gently rolling plain. Rice is the main crop, with cassava, maize, fruit and vegetables. The Stung Sen river rises in Choam Ksant district, and the Mekong passes the eastern edge of the province through two communes of Chhaeb district. The wet season lasts from May to October and the dry season from November to April.[1]
The provincial capital, Preah Vihear city, lies about 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Phnom Penh by National Roads 6 and 62. The An Ses checkpoint is an international crossing into Thailand, and a second checkpoint at the Temple of Preah Vihear serves the two countries only.[1]
Protected areas
Into Cambodia lists eight protected areas that lie wholly or partly in the province.[1] The largest shares belong to Chhaeb Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary, with 313,978 hectares (775,900 acres) in Preah Vihear, and Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (ដែនជម្រកសត្វព្រៃគូលែនព្រហ្មទេព), with 240,273 hectares (593,700 acres). Kulen Promtep reaches into Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey, and Chhaeb Preah Roka into Kratie, Kampong Thom and Stung Treng.[1][4] Asian elephants and banteng, a wild cattle, live in Kulen Promtep. Boeung Pe Wildlife Sanctuary (ដែនជម្រកសត្វព្រៃបឹងពេរ), shared with Kampong Thom and Siem Reap, shelters the giant ibis and the white-shouldered ibis.[1] Part of the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary also lies in the province.[1][4]
People
The provisional results of the 2019 census counted 251,352 people in 56,331 households, up from 171,139 in 2008. Population grew by 3.5 percent a year between the two counts, the fastest rate of any province. The census report links the high growth in Preah Vihear and four other provinces to fairly high birth rates and to people arriving from other provinces as farming and other work expanded. The province had 18 people per square kilometer in 2019, up from 12 in 2008.[5] Into Cambodia gives a 2022 count from the commune database of 277,464 people in 66,683 households.[1]
As of 2024, the province has one municipality, Preah Vihear city, which is the seat of the provincial government, and seven districts: Chey Saen, Chhaeb, Choam Ksant, Kulen, Rovieng, Sangkum Thmei and Tbeng Meanchey. Together they hold 51 communes, two urban quarters (sangkat) and 232 villages.[1]
History
Jayavarman IV founded his capital at Koh Ker in 921. Until 928 the Khmer Empire had two competing capitals, Koh Ker and Angkor. Koh Ker was then the only capital until 944, when the center of power moved back to Angkor.[6] The history of the Temple of Preah Vihear begins with a hermitage founded in the 9th century, and most of the temple dates from the first half of the 11th century.[7] Into Cambodia names Yasovarman I, Suryavarman I, Jayavarman VI and Suryavarman II among the kings who built it.[1]
A treaty between France and Siam in 1904 made the watershed line the border in this area. A map based on the work of a joint boundary commission later showed the temple on the Cambodian side. Thailand kept an armed detachment at the temple from 1954, and Cambodia brought the case to the International Court of Justice. Thailand argued that the map was not binding, or that it had accepted the map only in the mistaken belief that the line followed the watershed. On June 15, 1962, the court found that Thailand had accepted the map and that the temple stood on Cambodian territory, and it ordered Thailand to withdraw any military or police forces there.[8]
Into Cambodia dates the creation of the province to a code of July 22, 1964, which followed the court's ruling. At first it had four districts. Rovieng, Chhaeb and Choam Ksant came from Kampong Thom province, and Angkor Thom district, with the communes of Anlong Veng, Thkov and Koh Ker, came from Siem Reap province. Tbeng Meanchey served as the provincial capital from 1982 to February 25, 2009. Tbeng Meanchey district became Preah Vihear city on May 17, 2009.[1]
The Temple of Preah Vihear joined the World Heritage List on July 7[1] or July 8, 2008, at Cambodia's request.[7][9] Armed incidents between the two countries followed in the border area near the temple. In April 2011 Cambodia asked the court to interpret its 1962 judgment. In July 2011 the court ordered both sides to pull their troops out of a provisional demilitarized zone around the temple. On November 11, 2013, it found that the 1962 judgment had given Cambodia sovereignty over the whole promontory of Preah Vihear.[9]
Koh Ker joined the World Heritage List on September 17, 2023, at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh.[3][6]
Temples
Koh Ker lies in forest between the Dangrek and Kulen ranges, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Angkor.[6] The site holds 169 known archaeological remains, among them 76 temples, along with ponds, dikes and old roads.[3] The National Authority for Preah Vihear, a government body, oversees its protection.[6]
The Temple of Preah Vihear, dedicated to Shiva, stands at the edge of a plateau high above the plain of Cambodia, in Choam Ksant district.[7][1] Its sanctuaries line an axis 800 meters (2,600 feet) long, joined by paved walks and stairways.[7]
Preah Khan Kampong Svay (ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័នកំពង់ស្វាយ), known locally as Prasat Bakan (ប្រាសាទបាកាណ), stands in Sangkum Thmei district.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 Into Cambodia, Preah Vihear Province (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 VAYO FM, The history of Oddar Meanchey province (2022; in Khmer)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Agence Kampuchea Presse, Cambodia Marks 2nd Anniversary of Koh Ker Temple's Listing as a World Heritage Site (September 17, 2025)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Into Cambodia, Stung Treng Province (undated)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 National Institute of Statistics, Provisional Population Census 2019 (2019)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Lingapura or Chok Gargyar (inscribed 2023)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Temple of Preah Vihear (inscribed 2008)
- ↑ International Court of Justice, Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand), case summary (undated)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 International Court of Justice, Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand), case summary (undated)