Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia, serving as the country’s political, economic, industrial, and cultural center. Located at the meeting point of the Tonlé Sap River, Mekong River, and Bassac River, the city is home to more than two million people and plays an important role in Cambodia’s development and modern identity.

Phnom Penh was founded in 1434 after the fall of Angkor Thom and became the capital of the Khmer kingdom. Although the capital moved several times throughout history, the city was officially reestablished as the national capital in 1865 during the reign of King Norodom under the French protectorate period. During the 1920s, Phnom Penh became known as the “Pearl of Asia” and was considered one of the most beautiful French-built cities in Indochina.

Today, Phnom Penh is a fascinating destination where colonial architecture, traditional Khmer culture, and modern city life exist side by side. Visitors can still see many colonial-era buildings along the city’s wide boulevards, as well as historic temples, museums, royal palaces, and lively local markets.

The city is also an important center for education and culture, home to institutions such as the Royal University of Phnom Penh and several higher education centers established during the modern development of Cambodia.

Together with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh remains one of Cambodia’s most significant tourism destinations, attracting visitors with its history, architecture, riverside atmosphere, and vibrant urban culture.

important attractions:

Royal Palace The Royal Palace is a complex of buildings which serves as the royal residence of the King of Cambodia. Its full name in Khmer is the Preah Barom Reacheaveang Chaktomuk Serei Mongkol. The Cambodian monarchs have occupied it since it was built in the 1860s, with a period of absence when the country came into turmoil during and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The palace was constructed between 1866 and 1870, after King Norodom relocated the royal capital from Oudong to Phnom Penh. It was built atop an old citadel called Banteay Keo. It faces approximately East and is situated at the Western bank of the cross division of the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong River called Chaktomuk (an allusion to Brahma).	National Museum The National Museum of Cambodia is Cambodia's largest museum of cultural history and is the country's leading historical and archaeological museum. It is located in Chey Chumneas,[1] Phnom Penh. The museum houses one of the world's largest collections of Khmer art, including sculptural, Khmer ceramics, bronzes, and ethnographic objects. Its collection includes over 14,000 items, from prehistoric times to periods before, during and after the Khmer Empire, which at its height stretched from Thailand, across present-day Cambodia, to southern Vietnam.	Killing Field Choeung Ek is the site of a former orchard and mass grave of victims of the Khmer Rouge – killed between 1975 and 1979 – in Dangkao Section, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, about 17 kilometres (11 mi) south of the Phnom Penh city centre. It is the best-known of the sites known as The Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge regime executed over one million people between 1975 and 1979. Mass graves containing 8,895 bodies were discovered at Choeung Ek after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Many of the dead were former political prisoners who were kept by the Khmer Rouge in their Tuol Sleng detention center and in other Cambodian detention centers. Today, Choeung Ek is a memorial, marked by a Buddhist stupa. The stupa has acrylic glass sides and is filled with more than 5,000 human skulls. Some of the lower levels are opened during the day so that the skulls can be seen directly. Many have been shattered or smashed in.	Genocide Museum The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or simply Tuol Sleng, "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill") is a museum chronicling the Cambodian genocide. Located in Phnom Penh, the site is a former secondary school which was used as Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 until its fall in 1979. From 1976 to 1979, an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng and it was one of between 150 and 196 torture and execution centers established by the Khmer Rouge. On 26 July 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia convicted the prison's chief, Kang Kek Iew, for crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. He died on 2 September 2020 while serving a life sentence.
Independence Monument The Independence Monument in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, was built in 1958 to memorialise Cambodia's independence from France in 1953. It stands on the intersection of Norodom Boulevard and Sihanouk Boulevard in the centre of the city. It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, of the style seen at the Khmer temple at Banteay Srei and other Khmer historical sites. The Independence Monument was designed by the Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann, who was “personally selected and instructed” by Prince Norodom Sihanouk on how it should look like, combining “the religious and the secular.” It stands 37 metres tall. During national celebrations, The Independence Monument is the center of activity. A ceremonial flame on the interior pedestal is often lit by a royal or high official on these occasions, and floral tributes line the stairs. Every year, The Independence Monument is visited by foreign tourists and locals alike. Behind the monument is the Norodom Sihanouk Memorial, constructed in 2013.	Wat Phnom Wat Phnom is a Buddhist temple (wat) is a pagoda that symbolizes the name of Phnom Penh, a historical site in the record of Khmer national identity. Wat Phnom Doun Penh has a total height of 46 meters equal to the height of feet (150ft). The pagoda is named after grandmother "Doun Penh" who has the story of the discovery of the four statues: one Vishnu statue and four buddhas statue. In 1372, a wealthy old lady named "Doun Penh" lived on a small hill near the bank of the confluence of the four rivers. One day, when it was raining, Doun Penh went down to the port to take a bath and saw a floating Koki tree in the river and she call the village to fished it from the water. She and the villagers took a piece of wood to scrape off the mud and in the hole of the Koki tree, there were four Buddha statues made of bronze and brass and one made of marble. Another statue was in the form of Vishnu with the hands holding a staff, a chain, a snail, and a lotus flower. Doun Penh ask the villagers to help retrieve the Koki tree and receive the four treasures. Later, Doun Penh assigned the villagers to build an artificial hill and build a small wooden temple on top of the hill to house the statue. She invited monks to pray for the statues and the monks named the hermitage "Wat Phnom" which is known to this day.	Central Market The Central Market is an Art Deco landmark of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The bright yellow building completed in 1937 has a 26m high central dome, with four tall arch-roofed arms branching out diagonally across the block, creating vast hallways housing countless stalls and a variety of goods. Initially designed by city architect Jean Desbois, construction works were supervised by French architect Louis Chauchon. When it first opened in 1937, it was said to be the biggest market in Asia; today it still operates as a market.	Koh Dach Koh dach, Kandal is a picturesque island located on the banks of Mekong River, on the upstream of Phnom Penh. Kandal is one of the provinces in Cambodia offering a vast range of sightseeing places and historical sites. Koh dach, Kandal is one of the popular tourist destinations in the province as well as in Cambodia. The entire area of Koh dach island covers 30 square kilometers of land lying on the shores of Mekong River. The travelers, who want a break from the buys and hectic life, can land to this secluded and sleepy island. The tourists can reach the island within a minute from Phnom Penh by availing boats. The island is located on the National Road No. 6a in Kon Dach Commune.