Peninsula in Southeast Asia
. With a total landmass of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 sq mi), it is bordered by Thailand
to the northwest, Laos
to the northeast, Vietnam
to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand
to the southwest.
With a population of over 14.8 million, Cambodia is the 69th most populous country in the world.
1953 Cambodia becomes independent from France.
1955 King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates the throne in favor of his father, King Norodom Suramarit.
1955 Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.
1958 A parcel bomb sent by Ngo Dinh Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
1967 Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to "new left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden.
1969 The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
1970 Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
1970 Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
1970 Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong.
1970 Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.