E. and
S. by Cochin-China, S.W. by the Gulf of Siam, and W. by Siam. Its area
is estimated at approximately 65,000 sq. m.; its population at
1,500,000, of whom some three-quarters are Cambodians, the rest Chinese,
Annamese, Chams, Malays, and aboriginal natives. The whole of Cambodia
lies in the basin of the lower Mekong, which, entering this territory on
the north, flows south for some distance, then inclines south-west as
far as Pnom-penh, where it spreads into a delta and resumes a southerly
course. The salient feature of Cambodian geography is the large lake
Tonle-Sap, in a depression 68 m. long from south-east to north-west and
15 m. wide. It is fed by several rivers and innumerable torrents, and
at flood-time serves as a reservoir for the Mekong, with which it is
connected by a channel some 70 m. long, known as the Bras du Lac and
joining the river at Pnom-Penh. In June the waters of the Mekong,
swollen by the rains and the melting of the Tibetan snows, rise to a
height of 40 to 45 ft. and flow through the Bras du Lac towards the
lake, which then covers an area of 770 sq. m., and like the river
inundates the marshes and forests on its borders. During the dry season
the current reverses and the depression empties so that the lake shrinks
to an area of 100 sq. m., and its depth falls from 45-48 ft. to a
maximum of 5 ft. Tonle-Sap probably represents the chief wealth of
Cambodia. It supports a fishing population of over 30,000, most of whom
are Annamese; the fish, which are taken by means of large nets at the
end of the inundation, are either dried or fermented for the production
of the sauce known as _nuoc-mam_. The northern and western provinces of
Cambodia which fall outside the densely populated zone of inundation are
thinly peopled; they consist of plateaus, in many places thickly wooded
and intersected by mountains, the highest of which does not exceed 5000
ft. The region to the east of the Mekong is traversed by spurs of the
mountains of Annam and by affluents of the Mekong, the most important of
these being the Se-khong and the Tonle-srepok, which unite to flow into
the Mekong at Stung-treng. Small islands, inhabited by a fishing
population, fringe the west coast.

_Climate, Fauna and Flora._--The climate of Cambodia, like that of
Cochin China, which it closely resembles, varies with the monsoons.
During the north-east monsoon, from the middle of October to the middle
of April, dry weather prevails and the th