Battambang Today

Battambang Today
Nowadays Battambang province is a vital agricultural area. Crops include corn, beans, oranges, sesame, and especially rice. According to 2002 year’s statistics, Battambang province produced five hundred thousand tons of rice. It is bordered by the Tonle Sap lake in the east, Pursat province to the southeast, Thailand and Pailin province in the west and Banteay Meanchey to the north. Battambang covers an area of 1,270,200 hectares. 172,000 hectares is towns and villages, 264,500 hectares is agricultural land and 476,520 ha is forest. The rest is floodland. There are 13 districts, 96 communes, and 741 villages. There are about 172,451 families and 1,250,695 people. 53 percent are women. 70% of people farm.
Battambang is also the name of the provincial capital and is Cambodia’s second largest city. It is about 291km from Phnom Penh. You can get there on National Route 5, or by train. Boats also travel to and from Siem Reap