Religion in Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist with 95% of the population being Theravada Buddhist. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation Most of the remaining population adheres to Islam, Christianity, Animism and Hinduism. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Animism (from Latin anima ( Soul, Life) commonly refers to a religious belief that Souls or Spirits exist in Animals Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

Buddhism

Buddhist nun. Bayon Temple, Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia (January 2005). The Bayon ( Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia.

Main article: Buddhism in Cambodia

Buddhism has existed in Cambodia since at least the 5th century CE, with some sources placing its origin as early as the 3rd century BCE. History See also History of Buddhism in Cambodia Unconfirmed Singhalese sources assert that missionaries of King Asohka introduced Buddhism into Theravada Buddhism has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century CE (excepting the Khmer Rouge period), and is currently estimated to be the faith of 95% of the population. History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation ^[1]

The history of Buddhism in Cambodia spans nearly two thousand years, across a number of successive kingdoms and empires. The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East Buddhism entered Cambodia through two different streams. The earliest forms of Buddhism, along with Hindu influences, entered the Funan kingdom with Hindu merchants. In later history, a second stream of Buddhism entered Khmer culture during the Angkor empire when Cambodia absorbed the various Buddhist traditions of the Mon kingdoms of Dvaravati and Haripunchai. The Mon ( Mon language: မန် or မည် မွန်လူမျိုး‌ mùn lùmjóʊ Thai: มอญ are an Ethnic group from See Dvaraka for the Yadava capital of the Mahabharata. The Dvaravati kingdom of the early Thai existed from the 6th to Hariphunchai (or Haribhunjaya)(Pali Haripunjaya was a Mon kingdom in the north of present Thailand in the centuries before the Thais moved into the area

For the first thousand years of Khmer history, Cambodia was ruled by a series of Hindu kings with an occasional Buddhist king, such as Jayavarman of Funan, and Suryvarman I. Funan (Old Khmer Bnam, Modern Khmer Phnom, Khmer script នគរភ្នំ (i A variety of Buddhist traditions co-existed peacefully throughout Cambodian lands, under the tolerant auspices of Hindu kings and the neighboring Mon-Theravada kingdoms.

Islam

Main article: Islam in Cambodia

Islam is the religion of a majority of the Cham (also called Khmer Islam) and Malay minorities in Cambodia. Islam is the religion of a majority of the Cham (also called Khmer Islam) and Malay minorities in Cambodia. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The Cham people ( Vietnamese: người Chăm or người Chàm) are an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. The Khmer people are the predominant Ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14 For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Malays (Melayu are an Ethnic group of Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East According to Po Dharma, there were 150,000 to 200,000 Muslims in Cambodia as late as 1975. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Persecution under the Khmer Rouge eroded their numbers, however, and by the late 1980s they probably had not regained their former strength. The Khmer Rouge (ខ្មែរក្រហម Kmae Krɑhɑɑm was the Communist ruling political party of Cambodia &mdashwhich it renamed The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. All of the Cham Muslims are Sunnis of the Shafi'i school. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The Shāfi‘ī Madhab ( ar شافعي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh, or religious law within Po Dharma divides the Muslim Cham in Cambodia into a traditionalist branch and an orthodox branch.

Hinduism

Apsaras relief from Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Main article: Hinduism in Southeast Asia

Cambodia was first influenced by Hinduism during the beginning of the Funan kingdom. APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap is the Cambodian management authority responsible for protecting the archeological park of Hinduism in Southeast Asia influenced the former Champa civilization in southern parts of Central Vietnam, Funan in Cambodia, the Khmer The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East Funan (Old Khmer Bnam, Modern Khmer Phnom, Khmer script នគរភ្នំ (i Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empire's official religions. The Khmer Empire was the largest empire of South East Asia based in what is now Cambodia. Cambodia is the home to one of the only two temples dedicated to Brahma in the world. Brahma is the Hindu god ( deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. Angkor Wat of Cambodia is the largest Hindu temple of the world. Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) (អង្គរវត្ត is a Temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman II

Christianity

See also: Roman Catholicism in Cambodia

Christianity, introduced into Cambodia by Roman Catholic missionaries in 1660, made little headway, at least among the Buddhists. The Roman Catholic Church in Cambodia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome In 1972 there were probably about 20,000 Christians in Cambodia, most of whom were Roman Catholics. Before the repatriation of the Vietnamese in 1970 and 1971, possibly as many as 62,000 Christians lived in Cambodia. According to Vatican statistics, in 1953, members of the Roman Catholic Church in Cambodia numbered 120,000, making it, at the time, the second largest religion in the country. In April 1970, just before repatriation, estimates indicate that about 50,000 Catholics were Vietnamese. Many of the Catholics remaining in Cambodia in 1972 were Europeans--chiefly French. Steinberg reported, also in 1953, that an American Unitarian mission maintained a teacher-training school in Phnom Penh, and Baptist missions functioned in Batdambang and Siemreab provinces. A Christian and Missionary Alliance mission was founded in Cambodia in 1923; by 1962 the mission had converted about 2,000 people. American Protestant missionary activity increased in Cambodia, especially among some of the hill tribes and among the Cham, after the establishment of the Khmer Republic. The 1962 census, which reported 2,000 Protestants in Cambodia, remains the most recent statistic for the group. In 1982 French geographer Jean Delvert reported that three Christian villages existed in Cambodia, but he gave no indication of the size, location, or type of any of them. Observers reported that in 1980 there were more registered Khmer Christians among the refugees in camps in Thailand than in all of Cambodia before 1970. Kiernan notes that, until June 1980, five weekly Protestant services were held in Phnom Penh by a Khmer pastor, but that they had been reduced to a single weekly service after police harassment. His estimates suggest that in 1987 the Christian community in Cambodia had shrunk to only a few thousand members. ^[2]

There are around 20,000 Catholics in Cambodia which represents only 0. 15% of the total population. There are no dioceses, but there are three territorial jurisdictions - one Apostolic Vicariate and two Apostolic Prefectures.

Tribal religions

Highland tribal groups, most with their own local religious systems, probably number fewer than 100,000 persons. The Khmer Loeu have been loosely described as animists, but most tribal groups have their own pantheon of local spirits. The Khmer Loeu are the non- Khmer highland tribes in Cambodia. In general they see their world filled with various invisible spirits (often called yang), some benevolent, others malevolent. They associate spirits with rice, soil, water, fire, stones, paths, and so forth. Sorcerers or specialists in each village contact these spirits and prescribe ways to appease them. In times of crisis or change, animal sacrifices may be made to placate the anger of the spirits. Illness is often believed to be caused by evil spirits or sorcerers. Some tribes have special medicine men or shamans who treat the sick. In addition to belief in spirits, villagers believe in taboos on many objects or practices. Among the Khmer Loeu, the Rhade and Jarai groups have a well developed hierarchy of spirits with a supreme ruler at its head. The E De (also Ê Đê, Rhade, or Rade) are an ethnic group of the Hill Cham agglomeration of southern Vietnam (population 270348 The Jarai (also Người Gia Rai, Gia Rai, or Gia-rai) is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam 's Central Highlands. ^[2]

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