Very little is known about prehistoric Cambodia, although archeological evidence has established that prior to 1000 BC Cambodians subsisted on a diet of fish and rice and lived in houses on stilts, as they still do today. From the 1st to the 6th centuries, much of Cambodia belonged to the South-East Asian kingdom of Funan, which played a vital role in developing the political institutions, culture and art of later Khmer states. However, it was the Angkorian era, beginning in the 8th century, that really transformed the kingdom into an artistic and religious power.

Forces of the Thai kingdom of Ayudhya sacked Angkor in 1431, leaving the Khmers plagued by dynastic rivalries and continual warfare with the Thais for a century and a half. The Spanish and Portuguese, who had recently become active in the region, also played a part in these wars until resentment of their power led to the massacre of the Spanish garrison at Phnom Penh in 1599. A series of weak kings ruled from 1600 until the French arrived in 1863.

After some gunboat diplomacy and the signing of a treaty of protectorate in 1863, the French went on to force King Norodom to sign another treaty, this time turning his country into a virtual colony in 1884. A relatively peaceful period followed (even the peasant uprising of 1916 was considered peaceful). In 1941, on the assumption that he would prove suitably pliable, the French installed 19 year-old Prince Sihanouk on the Cambodian throne. This turned out to be a major miscalculation as the years after 1945 were strife-torn, with the waning of French colonial power aided by the proximity of the Franco-Viet Minh War that raged in Vietnam and Laos. Cambodian independence was eventually proclaimed in 1953, the enigmatic King Norodom Sihanouk going on to dominate national politics for the next 15 years before being overthrown by the army.

In 1969 the United States carpet-bombed suspected communist base camps in Cambodia, killing thousands of civilians and dragging the country unwillingly into the US-Vietnam conflict. American and South Vietnamese troops invaded the country in 1970 to eradicate Vietnamese communist forces but were unsuccessful; they did manage, however, to push Cambodia's leftist guerrillas (the Khmer Rouge) further into the country's interior. Savage fighting soon engulfed the entire country, with Phnom Penh falling to the Khmer Rouge in 1975.

Over the next four years the Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot's leadership, systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians (especially the educated) in a bid to turn Cambodia into a Maoist, peasant-dominated agrarian cooperative. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, forcing the Khmer Rouge to flee to the relative sanctuary of the jungles along the Thai border. From there, they conducted a guerrilla war against the Vietnamese-backed government throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.

In mid-1993, UN-administered elections led to a new constitution and the reinstatement of Norodom Sihanouk as king. The Khmer Rouge boycotted the elections, rejected peace talks and continued to buy large quantities of arms from the Cambodian military leadership. In the months following the election, a government-sponsored amnesty secured the first defections from Khmer ranks, with more defections occurring from 1994 when the Khmer Rouge was finally outlawed by the Cambodian government.

The Royal Government of Cambodia, a coalition government between Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Funcinpec in the new term, launched on 30 November 1998 its concrete political platform for the rehabilitation and development of the country in every sector It has placed priorities on strengthening peace, political stability, upholding democracy, rule of law, public administration reforms, military reforms, economic and public finance reforms, judicial reforms, economic development and poverty alleviation. In a conference held from 31st January - 03 February 1999, the Royal Government disseminated the main contents of this political platform to all ministries, institutions and local authorities for its implementation.

Since the general elections on 26 July 1998 and the formation of the coalition government, the main achievement has been the introduction of the pacification policy, which led to the peaceful end of Khmer Rouge military and political organization and the arrest in April 1999 of Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok who will be put on trial soon. This achievement is the continuation of the great one obtained by the old government. The integration of former Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in their original units was undertaken in accordance with the government's political platform, This is the first time that the whole territory of the country has been controlled by a unique state that is legal, sovereign and legitimate. The Cambodian people throughout the country are joyfully united with their families and can travel freely to every part of the country during the Khmer traditional New Year, Phchum Ben Day and the new Millennium - year 2000 celebration.