ABSTRACT
Cambodia does not have the maritime focus or range of maritime interests of many other South-East Asian countries. It has a sparsely inhabited coastline of only 435 km on the Gulf of Thailand and has two significant river systems: the Mekong and the Bassac, a tributary of the Mekong. There are 62 offshore islands–mostly close inshore–at least six of which are inhabited. Cambodia’s history, its fitful development and shortage of resources, as well as a natural preoccupation with threats from inland and internal sources, have tended to limit the capability and roles of the naval forces that it has maintained since independence. This remains the situation in 2012.
