Preah Sihanouk (Khmer: ព្រះសីហនុ, UNGEGN: Preăh Seihânŭ, ALA-LC: Braḥ Sīhanu [preah səjhanuʔ], lit. 'The King Preah Sihanouk'), also Sihanoukville, is a province (khaet) in southwest Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. The provincial capital, also called Sihanoukville, is a deep water port city and a steadily growing and diversifying urban center on an elevated peninsula.
First established as Kampong Som (Khmer: កំពង់សោម, lit. 'The Som Rattan Port'), the province was later renamed in honor of former King Norodom Sihanouk, who orchestrated the establishment of Sihanoukville city and the Sihanoukville municipality as this took place alongside the construction of the Sihanoukville Port, which commenced in June 1955. The only deep water port of Cambodia, it includes an oil terminal and a transport logistics facility.
Preah Sihanouk is divided into four districts, each with a distinct economic character, defined largely by location and access to resources. In addition to the port and the growing tourism industry, the activities of countless NGOs and international investment have contributed to the rapid economic growth of the province over the course of the last decade. Primary economic sectors are transport and logistics, process manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries, textiles, and real estate.
The islands and beaches of Preah Sihanouk Province are an international tourist destination as visitor numbers have risen steadily since the late-20th century.
Sihanoukville municipality was elevated to provincial status on 22 December 2008 after King Norodom Sihamoni signed a decree converting the municipalities of Kep, Pailin, and Sihanoukville into provinces, as well as incorporating Kompong Seila District. As one of Cambodia's agriculturally and industrially most diverse provinces, its economic future has a solid basis, although the essential sectors of agriculture and tourism require strict and permanent administrative protection of local natural resources.
The official name in Khmer is: Khaet ('province') Preah ('holy') Sihanouk (name of the former king), which translates to, 'province of the holy Sihanouk' or 'honorable Sihanouk province'. It honors the former king Norodom Sihanouk (reigned 1941–1955 and 1993–2004) who was and still is revered as the "father of the modern nation". Sihanouk himself suggested the official Western variant Sihanoukville. The name "Sihanouk" is derived from Sanskrit through two Pali words, sīha ('lion'), and hanu ('jaws').
The former name Kampong Som (also romanized as Kompong Som) (Khmer: កំពង់សោម) means 'Port of the Moon' or 'Shiva's Port'. Som is derived from the Sanskrit word saumya, the original (Rig Vedic) meaning of which was Somā, the 'juice or sacrifice of the moon-god', but evolved into Pali 'moon', 'moonlike' 'name of Shiva'. The word Kampong or Kompong is of Malayan origin and means 'village' or 'hamlet'. Its meaning underwent extension towards 'pier' or 'river landing bridge'
Prior to the city's creation in 1955, no recorded settlement on the peninsula existed that was larger than a traditional trading or fishing village. During the many centuries of pre-Angkorian and Angkorian history – from Funan to Chenla and during the Khmer Empire, regional trade was centered at O Keo (Vietnamese: Óc Eo) in the Mekong Delta, now the province of Rạch Giá in Vietnam. The township of Prei Nokor (Saigon) was a commercial center of the Khmer Empire.
The Chronicle of Samtec Cauva Vamn Juon – one of the 18th and 19th century Cambodian Royal Chronicles – briefly mentions the region as the country was split into three parts during a nine year civil war from 1476 to 1485: "In 1479, Dhammaraja took on the throne at Catumukh (Phnom Penh) and controlled the provinces of Samrong Tong, Thpong, Kompong Saom, Kampot up to the Bassak, Preah Trapeang, Kramuon Sar, Koh Slaket and Peam"
0 Comments