Fertility Rates in Cambodia: A Bumpy Road

In ancient times, Cambodia was home to one of the largest city complexes on earth, Angkor. At its apogee in the 12th century, the whole city of Angkor expanded over Formula: see text hectares and had a population of 1–2 million people, which was only equaled by that of Ancient Rome. Angkor subsequently declined but remained occupied until the 18th century, at the beginning of the French protectorate. In modern times, Cambodia became embedded in the global conflict against the occupying Japanese troops during World War II. This was followed by a lasting war that engulfed the whole Southeast Asia area, but the toll paid by the population remained limited. In the second half of the 20th century, Cambodia suddenly became the site of an acute drama, one of the worst that the world has known since the Holocaust. The Khmer Rouge regime led to the collapse of the whole country’s social system and triggered a brutal rise in mortality—direct and induced—and gender imbalance. Together with increased mortality, which eradicated approximately a third of the country’s population, there was a profound drop in fertility. The nearly total collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime after Cambodia was freed in 1979 was followed by an important rise in fertility leading to a rebound effect or “baby boom” during the 80s. Today, as in 1960 before the Khmer Rouge drama, global fertility rates in Cambodia are similar to those of its neighbor, Vietnam. Total fertility rates, which neared six children per woman in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1960, have, however, dropped in both countries and stand just at population replacement level.