History of Phnom Penh

The establishment of Phnom Penh as the capital of Cambodia is, historically speaking, a relatively recent event. Yet the area has been central to Cambodia's economy and politics for almost 600 years. After King Ponhea Yat abandoned Angkor in 1422, he founded his new capital and five wats at Phnom Penh. The choice of this area at the confluence of two great rivers may have reflected a shift from an agrarian to a trade oriented economy. Later kings moved the capital several times, and Phnom Penh did not become the permanent seat of government until 1866. At the time, the city was little more than a few huts lining the river.

Beginning with earnest in the 1880s, French planners built canals to control the wetlands, and constructed roads, buildings and a port. By the 1920s, Phnom Penh was reputed to be the most beautiful city in Indochina. After Cambodia gained independence in 1953 there was a spurt of construction of modern buildings in a much more Cambodian style, but most development ended with the coup of 1970. As the war between the Khmer Rouge and the republican government spread, the city was laid to siege. On April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge and was completely evacuated. It remained almost empty until the Khmer Rouge defeat in 1979. People began to return to Phnom Penh and rebuild almost immediately. After the 1993 UN sponsored elections, tourism and commercial investment returned to Cambodia, bringing a boom of development in the city that continues today.