| Santuk ស្រុកសន្ទុក | |
|---|---|
| District ( srok ) | |
  Santuk Location in Cambodia | |
| Coordinates: 12°40′N105°30′E / 12.667°N 105.500°E | |
| Country |  |
| Province | Kampong Thom |
| Time zone | +7 |
| Geocode | 0607 |
Santuk is a district within Kampong Thom Province, in central Cambodia. According to the 1998 census of Cambodia, it had a population of 58,434. [1] Santuk Silk Farm and Phnom Santuk lie in the district.
Kampong Thom is a province (khaet) of Cambodia. It borders the provinces of Siem Reap to the northwest, Preah Vihear to the north, Stung Treng to the northeast, Kratie to the east, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang to the south, and the Tonle Sap to the west.
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 16 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practised by approximately 95 percent of the population. The country's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by the Royal Throne Council as head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Hun Sen, the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, ruling Cambodia since 1985. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire, which flourished for over 600 years, allowing successive kings to control and exert influence over much of Southeast Asia and accumulate immense power and wealth. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia and undertook many religious infrastructural projects throughout the region, including the construction of more than 1,000 temples and monuments in Angkor alone. Angkor Wat is the most famous of these structures and is designated as a World Heritage Site. After the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by its neighbours. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, which doubled the size of the country by reclaiming the north and west from Thailand.
Santuk Silk Farm is a silk farm, located about 11 miles (18km) southeast of Kampong Thom City, Cambodia, near the village of Kakaoh. The farm, established by Vietnam War veteran Bud Gibbons in 2006, demonstrates the process of the silk worm, from its earliest stages, from egg to cocoon. The farm employs some 15 girls to weave the raw silk into thread; they make scarves and other items, sold in the shop on site.
