The Kingdom of Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese peninsula, with a land area of approximately 181,035 square kilometers. International borders are shared with Thailand to the northwest and the Lao People's Democratic Republic on the north; connecting with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the east and the southeast. The country is bounded on the southeast by the Gulf of Thailand. Phnom Penh is the capital city of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The country's administration is composed of 20 provinces, 2 municipalities, 172 districts, and 1,547 communes. The country has a coastline of 435 kilometers. Cambodia lies completely within the tropics with its southern-most point located only 11.5 degrees above the equator. The climate is warm and rainy with a monsoon season. Winter lasts from December to January and is sunny and dry. The monsoon is from June to mid-October. There are strong winds and heavy rains and it rains almost every afternoon. During the monsoon season, Cambodia receives a great deal of rain; up to 200 inches on the coast. April is the hottest month of the year with maximum daily temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius. However, the temperature drops to nearly 25 degrees in the coolest month of January. The average annual temperature is about 27 degrees Celsius. The Kingdom of Cambodia is home to one of the ancient wonders of the world. Angkor Wat is the biggest religious building in the world and all the temples of Angkor cover an area of about 200 square kilometers. 287 temples have been counted in the region, the construction of which spanned the 9th to 13th centuries. The temples of Angkor are located in northwestern Cambodia, situated approximately 6 kilometers from Siem Reap, and about 260 kilometers from the capital city Phnom Penh. In 1992, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee declared the monument, and the entire ancient city of Angkor, a World Heritage Site. Today, a great deal of restoration work has been done on numerous of the temples. However, due to safety concerns, some of the temples are closed to tourists. |
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