Professional Skills Module: Cambodia's Geography, Climate, and Water

This report offers a detailed examination of Cambodia's geographical features, climate, and water resources. It begins with an introduction highlighting Cambodia's location in Southeast Asia and its membership in ASEAN. The report then delves into the country's water resources, emphasizing the importance of the Tonle Sap and Mekong River, and the challenges posed by increasing population and economic growth. The geography section describes Cambodia's land area, borders, provinces, and key geographical features like the Bassac River Systems, Tonle Sap, Mekong River, and mountain ranges. The climate section provides insights into Cambodia's tropical climate, influenced by monsoon cycles, and details the four distinct seasons: November-February, March-May, June-August, and September-Early November. The conclusion summarizes Cambodia's dependence on water resources and its attractive climate conditions due to rivers and mountains. The report includes references to various sources for further information.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
professional SKILLS

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Water.....................................................................................................................................................2
Geography.............................................................................................................................................3
Climate..................................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4
References.............................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
Cambodia is a mountainous country located in Asia. The country has a number of
geographical features which makes it a beautiful place to live and to visit. Cambodia is also
an active member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as it is situated on
Southeast Asia (Anon., 2018). The report describes the geographical, climate and water
conditions in a precise manner to frame an overview of the geographical facts of the country
Water
Water plays a fundamental role in the development of a country. Cambodia has a very
specific bond with the water as the country is considered the best one in terms of water
resources. The capital of the country, Phnom Penh, has one of the most classy irrigation
systems of the period.
Cambodians are highly dependent on freshwater instead of coastal areas. The Tonle Sap and
Mekong River are the main sources for supplying protein to Cambodian and are also essential
for the Cambodian hydrological system. However, increasing population is also a challenge
for the government to fulfill the increasing needs of water. Economic growth leads to the
most important need of water for agriculture and industry which is the main reason for
making the difference between different sectors of the economy, affecting water quality and
quantity (Anon., 2015).
(Anon., 2007)

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Geography
Cambodia has a total land area of 181,035 kilometers in the south-western share of Indochina
peninsula. Out of the total land, more than 20% is used for the agriculture. It completely lies
among the tropics. Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia.
The international borders of Cambodia are shared by the Lao and Thailand. From the
Southeast, the country is bounded by the Gulf of Thailand. Cambodia is a geographical
interaction country in comparison to its neighbor countries, having20 provinces, 172 districts,
2 municipalities and 1547 communes. The country has an extensive mangrove stands and a
coastline of 435 kilometers.
The influencing characteristics of Cambodian landscape are the large Bassac River Systems,
Tonle Sap and Mekong River which goes through the country from North to South. The main
densely forested mountains of the country are the Elephant Mountains, Cardamom
Mountains, Dangrek Mountains, Chhlong highlands and Rattanakiri Plateau (Anon., 2018).
Climate
Cambodia is situated in the tropical zone of Southeast Asia, only 10-13 degrees North from
the equator. The climate of Cambodia is influenced by the annual monsoon cycle and the
weather remains warm to hot around the year. The changes in monsoon cycle are dominated
by the air pressure changes in central Asia. The air pressure drops in between June to
October, the rainy season starts in Cambodia. With increasing the air pressure in central Asia,
the rainless dry season starts in Cambodia. The daily temperature also falls and rises with the
summer and winter months, but not exactly on time with the dry and wet season. There are
mainly four seasons in Cambodia:
November-February
The average temperature remains around 20 0C and goes below this during the night. These
months, November to February are considered the best time to visit in Cambodia. These
months offer clear skies, comfortable warm days, light breeze, no rain, ideal beach weather,
and cool evenings in Cambodia. The temperature begins to rise a little in February with the
rise in warmness during the days.
March-May
These months ate considered as hot and dry in the climate of the country. During these
months, the level of lakes and rivers become as low as difficult to travel by boat and river

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ferry. The temperature rises more than 30 0 C in April and May. It is the less breezy time of
the year.
June-August
This season is considered as wet and hot as the rain begins to form the end of the May. The
trend of the rain is different on the beach towns and coast where the amount of rain is quite
high in comparison to the other parts of the region.
September to Early November
In these months, the air becomes colder in comparison to the warm months of the year. The
rainy season remains its end with the end of the month of October (Anon., 2018).
(Anon., 2018)
Conclusion
On the basis of the above report, it can be concluded that Cambodia is dependent on other
countries for the purpose of drinking water and not for the purpose of other needs. The
geographical areas of the country are bordered by the mountains and rivers which makes the
appropriate climate conditions to support the lives. The rivers and mountains are the main
reason behind the attractive climate conditions of the conditions.

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References
Anon., 2007. Water Resources Management in Cambodia. [Online]
Available at: http://www.wepa-db.net/pdf/0809cambodia/5.pdf
[Accessed 28 August 2018].
Anon., 2015. Water Supply and Sanitation in Cambodia. [Online]
Available at: https://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/WSP-Cambodia-WSS-
Turning-Finance-into-Service-for-the-Future.pdf
[Accessed 28 August 2018].
Anon., 2018. CAMBODIA GEOGRAPHY. [Online]
Available at: https://www.tourismcambodia.com/about-cambodia/geography.htm
[Accessed 28 August 2018].
Anon., 2018. Cambodia: Climate and Weather. [Online]
Available at: https://www.canbypublications.com/cambodia/climate.htm
[Accessed 28 August 2018].
Anon., 2018. Cambodia: Introduction. [Online]
Available at: https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/cambodia
[Accessed August 28 2018].
Anon., 2018. Weather and Climate in Cambodia. [Online]
Available at: https://southtravels.com/asia/cambodia/weather.html
[Accessed 28 August 2018].