Battambang

Capital of Battambang province, and second-largest city of Cambodia, situated west of Tonlé Sap (Great Lake) in a fertile, rice-gowing plain; population (province, 1994 est) 566,000; (city, 1995 est) 110,000. There is a phosphate plant, using locally mined phosphates, a textile mill, and a rice research station. Industries also include the processing of cacao, betel nuts, cardamom, fruit, and fish. The city lies on the Sangke River, which is navigable for part of the year, and there is also a railway junction on the route to Thailand. Battambang has a large Chinese merchant community, dealing in the region's agricultural produce.

The city is an ancient one and includes the 10th-century Khymer ruins. For long periods of its history, Battambang was under Thai suzerainty. The population has fluctuated considerably since the 1970s because of political unrest.