The Kingdom of Cambodia or Kampuchea as it was earlier called, is located in southeast Asia between latitudes 13 00 N and longitudes 105 00 E. It covers an area of 181,040 sq km with Thailand, and Laos to the north, Vietnam to its east and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Once the center of the famous Khmer Empire, today Cambodia is still recovering from the aftermath of years of war and strife. The topography is mostly low, flat plains, but there are three mountainous areas in the south-west, northern border with Thailand, and the north-east. Roughly three-fourths of the country is covered by tropical forest; of which only one-fifth is arable land. The bulk of the remaining land is composed of sandy and infertile soil.

The Mekong and Tonle Sap (Great Lake) are the major water source. The climate is governed by two monsoons: the cool, dry northeastern monsoon from November to March and the humid south-western monsoon from May to October. Average annual temperatures vary from 21 to 35oC (70 to 95oF).

The major disasters faced by Cambodia are floods, droughts, forest fires, landslides and storms. Besides the natural hazards Cambodia also suffers from man-made disasters like armed conflict with its resultant problems of refugees and displaced people, and landmines.

Floods:

The main reasons for floods are deforestation, erosion of the riverbanks, causing the river to become shallower, lack of building and engineering codes, lack of irrigation systems and heavy rains. The two main types are the flash floods and river floods occurring mainly during the rainy season.

Storms:

Cambodia was hit by Typhoon Linda in 1997. The Pou lo wei island was affected the most causing wreckage of 81 fishing boats and hundred of victims.

Links:
For latest report on disasters in Cambodia

Other disasters
Landmines in Cambodia
http://www.refintl.org/demining/camaccounts.shtml
http://members.aol.com/Combodia/mines.htm

International Agencies
American Red Cross
Care
World Bank

LWS Cambodia
Email: lwscam@bigpond.com.kh