Royaume du Cambodge

Rare colour map of Cambodia, published probably in Phnom Penh in 1961 by the Geographic Service (S. G.) of the kingdom. This map at a scale of 1:1,000,000 shows the various provinces of the country, eight years after its independence (1953). Published in French, the language of the former colonial power, the map indicates the limits of the provinces, the location of the provincial capitals and of the “Srok” (districts), of the phum (villages), as well as the route of the national, provincial, “embanked” roads and of the tracks, of the railway and of the principal watercourses. The map is completed with the location of the airfields and of the hotels. A table of distances indicates the mileage between Phnom Penh and various cities of importance, national and regional (240 km distance to Saigon, 734 to Bangkok). Finally, the population of the country is officially 5,748,842 inhabitants (some 18 million at present). This map was published during the Sangkum era, the name of the political organisation created by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, during which he exercised power from 1955 to 1970. The logo of the Geographic Service is visible in the upper left part of the map; it is likely the same institution as the Geographic Service of the F.A.R.K. (Royal Khmer Armed Forces).