Cambodia, First Worldwide in Public Holidays

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets participants as he attends the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Samrang Pring
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets participants as he attends the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Samrang Pring
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Cambodia, First Worldwide in Public Holidays

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets participants as he attends the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Samrang Pring
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets participants as he attends the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh, November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

When it comes to holidays, Cambodians can feel sorry for other countries. While some consider themselves lucky because they have more than 10 official holidays a year, Cambodia has 28 days, almost a month.

The South-Eastern Asian Kingdom tops the world’s list in the number of public holidays, followed by Sri Lanka with 25, while India and Kazakhstan have 21 days.

According to the German News Agency, the public holidays in Cambodia highlight the country’s complicated history, as well as the unusual confusion between socialism, Buddhism and royalty.

All the country’s population – 97 percent of them - are Buddhist, which explains the reason behind the great number of religious holidays.

Although the family of King Norodom Sihamoni prefers to stay away from lights, they are widely respected and appreciated among the people: the King's birthday is a holiday, as well as his mother's birthday, the date of his father's death and the day of his crowning.

In addition, there are holidays to commemorate Cambodia's independence from France, the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, the signature of the Constitution, and the signature of Paris Peace Agreements in 1991.

Public holidays also include Labor Day, International Women's Day, Children's Day and Human Rights Day.

Most Cambodians take full advantage of their abundant holidays, with many of them visiting family members across the country or heading to the beach.

In the capital, Phnom Penh, the ambiance is calmer during the holidays, which may be extended for an appropriate period.

For example, the three-day holiday to celebrate the new Cambodian year, which takes place in mid-April each year, may last for about two weeks.



Prince Harry Retraces Diana’s Footsteps by Walking Through a Land Mine Field in Angola for Charity

 16 July 2025, Angola, Luanda: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walks through a minefield in Cuito Cuanavale. (PA Media/dpa)
16 July 2025, Angola, Luanda: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walks through a minefield in Cuito Cuanavale. (PA Media/dpa)
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Prince Harry Retraces Diana’s Footsteps by Walking Through a Land Mine Field in Angola for Charity

 16 July 2025, Angola, Luanda: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walks through a minefield in Cuito Cuanavale. (PA Media/dpa)
16 July 2025, Angola, Luanda: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walks through a minefield in Cuito Cuanavale. (PA Media/dpa)

Prince Harry followed in his late mother's footsteps on Wednesday by wearing a flak jacket and walking down a path in an active land mine field in Angola to raise awareness for a charity's work clearing explosives from old warzones.

The Duke of Sussex is in the southern African country with the Halo Trust organization, the same group Princess Diana worked with when she went to Angola in January 1997, seven months before she was killed in a car crash in Paris.

Diana's advocacy and the images of her walking through a minefield helped mobilize support for a land mine ban treaty that was ratified later that year.

Harry walked through a land mine field near a village in Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola, according to Halo Trust. It's not the first time he has retraced his mother's steps after traveling to Angola for a similar awareness campaign in 2019.

The land mines across Angola were left behind from its 27-year civil war from 1975 to 2002. The Halo Trust says at least 60,000 people have been killed or injured by land mines since 2008. It says it has located and destroyed over 120,000 land mines and 100,000 other explosive devices in Angola since it started work in the country in 1994, but 1,000 minefields still need to be cleared.