The history of Cambodia since the 1970s has been marred by unrest, including bombings and invasions by the United States during the Vietnam War, extremely high civilian deaths during the Pol Pot regime, 10 years of Vietnamese occupation, and regular outbreaks of civil war. This meant many years of little or no economic development, and much of the population still lives in poverty. However, since 2004 the economy has grown about 10 percent per year, and the per-capita Gross Domestic Product in 2008 is estimated at $2,000, up from $1,800 in 2006. However, inflation is also high: consumer price inflation was estimated at 20.2 percent in 2008.

Population is estimated at about 14.5 million, with 36.6 percent under the age of 14 (an extremely high percentage, ...