Preah Sihanouk province – a port city founded in 1955
Before the city of Sihanoukville was created in 1955, no settlement on the peninsula was larger than a traditional trading or fishing village. For centuries, from Funan to Chenla and the Khmer Empire, regional trade was centred elsewhere, in the Mekong Delta, and the coast here lived mainly from fishing.
The founding of the port in the 1950s changed everything: the new deep-water harbour on the Gulf of Thailand made the town Cambodia's main seaport, and the city grew quickly around it. The province is named after King Norodom Sihanouk. Today Preah Sihanouk is known for its port, islands and beaches. Do you have a story or memory from Sihanoukville? Share it with the community!