The name of Cambodia in Khmer is កម្ពុជា (UNGEGN: Kâmpŭchéa, ALA-LC: Kambujā ), officially ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា (UNGEGN: Preăhréachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa, ALA-LC: Braḥrājāṇācakr Kambujā ; lit. 'Kingdom of Cambodia'). This term derives from Sanskrit कम्बोजदेश (IAST: Kambojadeśa), which means the "land of Kamboja".

History

The same name (i.e. Kamboj/Kambuja) is also found in Burmese and Thai chronicles referring to regions within those kingdoms. An origin-myth recorded in the Baksei Chamkrong inscription, dated AD 947, derives Kambuja from Svayambhuva Kamboj, a legendary Indian sage under whose gotra later, the merchant Kaundinya I reached the Indochinese peninsula and married a Nāga princess named Soma, thus uniting the Indian and local Southeast Asian Funanese cultures. In this story Kambuja derives from Kambu+ja, and means "descendants of Kambu." Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchéa means "Kingdom of Cambodia". Etymologically, its components are: preăh ("sacred"); réach- ("king, royal, realm", from Sanskrit); -éana- (from Pāli , "authority, command, power"); -châkr (from Sanskrit chakra, meaning "wheel", a symbol of power and rule). The name used on formal occasions, such as political speeches and news programs, is ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា Prâtés Kâmpŭchéa, literally "the Country of Cambodia". The colloquial name most used by Cambodians is ស្រុកខ្មែរ Srŏk Khmêr, literally "Land of the Khmers" or "Khmer’s Land". srŏk is a Mon-Khmer word roughly equal to the Sanskritic Prâtés, but less formal.

Official names of Cambodia since independence