Democratic Kampuchea facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kampuchea (1975–1976) កម្ពុជា  (Khmer) Kâmpŭchéa  (Khmer) Democratic Kampuchea (1976–1979) កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ  (Khmer) Kâmpŭchéa Prâcheathippadey  (Khmer)
1975–1979
Flag (1976–79) National Emblem (1975–79)
Anthem: Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey ដប់ប្រាំពីរមេសាមហាជោគជ័យ "Great Victorious Seventeenth of April"
Location of Democratic Kampuchea
Capital	Phnom Penh
Common languages	Khmer
Government	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian dictatorship
Party General Secretary
• 1976–1979	Pol Pot
President of the State Presidium
• 1975–1976	Norodom Sihanouk
• 1976–1979	Khieu Samphan
Prime Minister
• 1976–1979	Pol Pot
• 1976	Nuon Chea (interim)
Legislature	People's Representative Assembly
Historical era	Cold War
• Fall of Phnom Penh	17 April 1975
• Proclamation	15 January 1976
• Vietnamese invasion	7 January 1979
• Establishment of the CGDK	22 June 1982
Area
181,035 km2 (69,898 sq mi)
Currency	None as money was abolished
Driving side	right
Calling code	855
Preceded by Succeeded by Khmer Republic People's Republic of Kampuchea Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
Today part of	Cambodia

Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of Cambodia/Kampuchea from 1976 to January 1979, during the Khmer Rouge Years, though the international community recognized it for ten more years. Its leader was Pol Pot, and its national anthem (song) was Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey. It was succeeded by the People's Republic of Kampuchea upon the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. While Democratic Kampuchea existed, about 20% of its population died either because of starvation, brutality, or execution. The four-year period saw the deaths of approximately two million Cambodians through the combined result of political executions, starvation, and forced labour. Due to the large numbers, the deaths during the rule of the Khmer Rouge are often considered a genocide, and commonly known as the Cambodian Holocaust or Cambodian Genocide. The Khmer Rouge period ended with the invasion of Cambodia by neighbour and former ally Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, which left Cambodia under Vietnamese occupation for a decade.

Images for kids

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  Administrative zones of Democratic Kampuchea

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  Kang Kek Iew (Kaing Guek Eav or Duch) before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

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  Pol Pot meeting with Romanian Marxist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu during the latter's visit to Cambodia in 1978

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  Aerial surveillance photo showing two Khmer Rouge gunboats during the initial seizing of the SS Mayaguez

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  Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (formerly Security Prison S-21)

See also

In Spanish: Kampuchea Democrática para niños