Provinces of Cambodia

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Updates: 

Savath Roun wrote to provide me the correct derivation of the name Bătdâmbâng, saying there is a well-known legend of a king or prince who lost his staff at that location.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-4, dated 2002-12-10, adds Krong Pailin municipality. The ISO code for the new municipality is 24.

Change Notice 6 to FIPS PUB 10-4 was published on 2001-01-28. It shows the separation of Krong Pailin from Bătdâmbâng.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard), which came out in fall 1996. Change Notice 1 for FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 1998-12-01. The final ISO standard and the changed FIPS standard both show Cambodia divided into twenty provinces and three municipalities. They reflect changes which took place in about 1995. Between the draft and the final version of ISO 3166-2, all of the province codes were changed from two-letter codes to numbers. The following table shows the current divisions of Cambodia.

Country overview: 

At the beginning of the 20th century, most of Cambodia was part of French Indo-China, a French protectorate; the rest of it was in Siam. In 1907, the British and French delimited their respective "spheres of influence" in Siam. The French part, consisting of most of what are now the provinces of Bântéay Méanchey, Bătdâmbâng, Ŏtdâr Méanchey, and Siĕmréab, was quickly annexed to French Indo-China. French Indo-China at that time comprised the territories of Annam, Cambodge (Cambodia), Cochinchine (Cochin-China), Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (Kwangchowan), Laos, and Tongking. Kwangchowan was leased from China. In 1946, France surrendered its lease. On 1949-07-19, French Indo-China was granted independence as three Associate States of the French Union: Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. On 1970-10-09, Cambodia changed its name to the Khmer Republic. On 1979-01-08, it changed once again, to Kampuchea. In the 1980s, each political faction wanted to impose its preferred name, and the rest of the world has quietly gone back to using Cambodia.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Cambodja, Cambodia
2. Dutch: Cambodja, Koninkrijk Cambodja (formal)
3. English: State of Cambodia (formal), Kampuchea (obsolete), Khmer Republic (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Kambodža
5. French: Cambodge m
6. German: Kambodscha n
7. Icelandic: Kambódía
8. Italian: Cambogia f
9. Khmer: Roat Kampuchea (formal)
10. Norwegian: Kambodsja, Kongeriket Kambodsja (formal)
11. Portuguese: Camboja, Cambodia, Cambodja, Reino m do Camboja m (formal)
12. Spanish: Camboya, Estado m de Cambodia (formal), Kampuchea f (obsolete)
13. Swedish: Kambodja

Origin of name: 

Named for Kambu, legendary patriarch

Primary subdivisions: 

Cambodia is divided into twenty khêt (provinces) and four autonomous municipalities.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Cambodia page.

The secondary subdivisions of Cambodia are 185 districts, which are further subdivided into communes.

Territorial extent: 

Thmei Island, Tônsay Island, and Set Island (Sês) are in Kâmpôt province, Cambodia. Facing them across the border from the Vietnamese side are Phu Quoc Island and the Hai Tac Islands. Farther out in the Gulf of Thailand, the islands of Poulo Wai (Ko Way), Kaoh Prins (Prins Island), and Kaoh Tang (Tang Island) belong to Cambodia.

Origins of names: 

1. Bătdâmbâng: Khmer bat: lost, dambang: staff or scepter, place where a staff was lost
2. Kâmpóng Chhnăng: Malay kamban: port, Khmer chhnang: pots
3. Kâmpóng Saôm: Malay kamban: port, Sanskrit saumya: pleasant
4. Phnom Penh: Khmer phnom: mountain, penh: full (i.e. mountain of abundance)

Change history: 

1. 1904: Stœ̆ng Trêng province transferred from Laos to Cambodge.
2. 1949: At independence, Cambodia had fourteen provinces: Battambang, Kompong Cham, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Speu, Kompong Thom, Kampot, Kandal, Kratie, Pursat, Prey Veng, Siem Reap, Stung Treng, Svay Rieng, and Takeo.
3. ~1962: Môndól Kiri, Rôtânôkiri, and Kaôh Kŏng provinces, and Phnom Penh autonomous municipality, split from neighboring provinces. At about that time, the capital of Kândal moved from Phnom Penh to Ta Khmau.
4. 1976: Khmer Rouge abolished provinces and created seven zones (Northern, Northeastern, Northwestern, Central, Eastern, Western, and Southwestern) and two special regions (Kracheh Special Region Number 505 and Siemreab Special Region Number 106). The zones were divided into numbered damban (regions).
5. 1977: Siemreab Special Region Number 106 abolished.
6. 1979: Zones abolished and provinces reinstated when the Khmer Rouge fell to the Kampuchean National United Front.
7. ~1980: Preăh Vihéar province split from Stœ̆ng Trêng.
8. ~1983: Kâmpóng Saôm autonomous municipality (formerly Sihanoukville) split from Kâmpôt province.
9. 1988: Bântéay Méanchey formed from part of Bătdâmbâng and small parts of Poŭthĭsăt and Siĕmréab-Ŏtdâr Méanchey provinces. At that point, the divisions of Cambodia were as shown in this table.

1. ~1995: If recent changes to the FIPS PUB 10-4 list are accurate, the following changes can be inferred. Status of autonomous municipalities changed to krong (municipalities). Siĕmréab-Ŏtdâr Méanchey split into Siĕmréab and Ŏtdâr Méanchey (capital Samrong); Krŏng Kêb (Kâmpôt province) became a municipality. Name of Kâmpóng Saôm changed to Krŏng Preăh Sihanouk.
2. Some sources from the early 1980s showed Bokor (Bok Koŭ) and Krŏng Kêb as autonomous municipalities. If they were not separate, they would have been in Kâmpôt province.
3. ~1997: Krong Pailin municipality split from Bătdâmbâng province (former FIPS code CB20).

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Bântéay Méanchey: Banteay Mean Cheay (variant)
2. Bătdâmbâng: Baat Dambang, Băt Dâm Bâng, Battambang (variant)
3. Kâmpóng Cham: Kampong Chaam, Kompong Cham (variant)
4. Kâmpóng Chhnăng: Kompong Chnang (variant)
5. Kâmpóng Saôm: Kompong Som (variant)
6. Kâmpóng Spœ: Kompong Speu, Kompong Spueu (variant)
7. Kâmpóng Thum: Kompong Thom (variant)
8. Kândal: Kandaal (variant)
9. Kaôh Kŏng: Koh Kong (variant)
10. Krâchéh: Kratié (French); Kratiê, Krâ Chéh, Krachen (variant)
11. Krong Keb: Keb, Kep, Krong Kaeb (variant)
12. Krong Pailin: Pailin (variant)
13. Krŏng Preăh Sihanouk: Kâmpóng Saôm, Kompong Som (obsolete); Krŏng Preăh Seihânŭ, Preah Seihanu (variant)
14. Môndól Kiri: Mondolkiri, Môndŭl Kiri (variant)
15. Ŏtdâr Méanchey: Oddâr Méanchey, Otdar Mean Chey (variant)
16. Phnom Penh: Phnum Pénh (variant)
17. Poŭthĭsăt: Pousaat, Pousat, Pursat (variant)
18. Prey Vêng: Prey Veaeng (variant)
19. Rôtânôkiri: Râtanăkiri, Rotanah Kiri, Rotanak Kiri (variant)
20. Siĕmréab: Siem Reab, Siem Reap, Siĕm Réab, Siemreap (variant)
21. Stœ̆ng Trêng: Stueng Traeng, Stung Treng (variant)
22. Svay Rieng: Soairieng (obsolete-variant); Svaay Rieng (variant)
23. Takêv: Taakaev, Takaev, Takeo (variant)
24. Some sources show the name of the capital of Kaôh Kŏng as Krong Khemarak Phoumin, or Khemarak Phouminville.
25. Andaung Pich, also known as åndong Péch or Ba Kev, may have been the capital of Rôtânôkiri at some time.