former totalitarian regime From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of Cambodia/Kampuchea from 1976 to January 1979. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge ruled the country.
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 | |||||||||||
• Establishment of the CGDK | 22 June 1982 | ||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||
181,035 km2 (69,898 sq mi) | |||||||||||
Currency | None | ||||||||||
Driving side | right | ||||||||||
Calling code | 855 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Today part of | Cambodia |
When Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979 and took over the government, Democratic Kampuchea became the People's Republic of Kampuchea.
See the main article: Cambodian Genocide
Around 2 million Cambodians died in Democratic Kampuchea during the Cambodian Genocide.[4] This was around 25% of the population: one in every four people.[5]
The Khmer Rouge mass-murdered hundreds of thousands of people in "killing fields," then buried them in mass graves.[4][6] They also forced city populations into the countryside to work in labor camps, where many died from starvation, overwork, and disease.[6]
In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. They removed the Khmer Rouge from power, and created a pro-Vietnamese government.[7] This ended Democratic Kampuchea and the Cambodian genocide.
However, the international community continued to recognize Democratic Kampuchea as a country for ten more years.
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