In earliest times, Cambodia was probably a collection of competing kingdoms, with cultural influence borrowed from India. Great monuments were built during the Angkor period of unification, from the 9th to 12th centuries. From the 16th century, Cambodia experienced European intervention, as well as incursions by its Thai and Vietnamese neighbors. The country was colonized by the French from the late 19th century until gaining independence on November 9, 1954. Civil wars and foreign intervention have caused social and economic disruption in Cambodia, but hopes are high for peace and stability under democratic rule.
Conditions are now safe for travel.
Buddhism is the state religion of Cambodia, though it was outlawed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. Cambodian Buddhism has often followed a pluralistic approach, gracefully blending new influences with existing ones. Evidence indicates that Buddhism was practiced in the region from the earliest centuries of the Christian era. The ancient kingdom of Funan was known as a center of Buddhist learning in the 1st and 6th centuries. Inscriptions discovered near Angkor Thom reveal that Brahmanism, Buddhism, and Vaisnavism flourished simultaneously during the 9th century.