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Population and People
Cambodia's population stands at 12 million, of which the Khmer make
up 90%. Other groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Burmese
and various ethnic hill tribes, many of the latter living in the
mountainous regions to the north and southwest. The Khmer account
for 80 percent of agricultural workers, while the Vietnamese and
Chinese dominate the business sector.
 Language
Cambodia's official language is Khmer, and this is spoken by the
majority of the population. However, Vietnamese and several Chinese
dialects can also be heard. Unlike the languages of Thailand, Vietnam,
Laos and China, Khmer is non-tonal, but has also picked up and adapted
many words from Sanskrit and Pali. Khmer has also borrowed many
terms from Chinese and European languages, particularly French.
The roots of written Khmer derive from a South Indian alphabet.
It uses thirty-three consonants, twenty-four dependent vowels, twelve
independent vowels, and diacritic markers. Vowels may be written
before, after, over, or under a consonant symbol. Unfortunately,
50% of the population is illiterate.
 Religion
The state religion of Theravada Buddhism was first introduced to
Cambodia during the days of the great Angkor kingdom and prospered.
For centuries, monks were the only literate people residing in rural
communities, and filled the important role of teachers. However,
in 1975, the Khmer Rouge massacred the majority of monks and destroyed
most of the temples and it was not until after the Vietnamese invas
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