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Angkor
is a
name
conventionally
applied
to
the
region
of
Cambodia
serving
as
the
seat
of
the
Khmer
empire
that
flourished
from
approximately
the
9th
century
to
the
15th
century
A.D.
(The
word
"Angkor"
itself
is
derived
from
the
Sanskrit
"nagara,"
meaning
"city.")More
precisely,
the
Angkorian
period
may
be
defined
as
the
period
from
802
A.D.,
when
the
Khmer
Hindu
monarch
Jayavarman
II
declared
himself
the
"universal
monarch"
and
"god-king"
of
Cambodia,
until
1431
A.D.,
when
Thai
invaders
sacked
the
Khmer
capital,
causing
its
population
to
migrate
south
to
the
area
of
Phnom
Penh. |
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The
ruins
of
Angkor
are
located
amid
forests
and
farmland
to
the
north
of
the
Great
Lake
(Tonle
Sap)
and
south
of
the
Kulen
Hills,
near
modern
day
Siem
Reap,
and
are
a
UNESCO
World
Heritage
Site.
The
temples
of
the
Angkor
area
number
over
one
thousand,
ranging
in
scale
from
nondescript
piles
of
brick
rubble
scattered
through
rice
fields
to
the
magnificent
Angkor
Wat,
said
to
be
the
world's
largest
single
religious
monument.
Many
of
the
temples
at
Angkor
have
been
restored,
and
together
they
comprise
the
most
significant
site
of
Khmer
architecture.
Visitor
numbers
approach
two
million
annually. |
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In
2007
an
international
team
of
researchers
using
satellite
photographs
and
other
modern
techniques
concluded
that
Angkor
had
been
the
largest
preindustrial
city
in
the
world
with
an
urban
sprawl
of
400
square
miles.
The
closest
rival
to
Angkor,
the
Mayan
city
of
Tikal
in
Guatemala,
was
roughly
50
square
miles
in
total
size. |
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