CHRONOLOGY

1863: Fearing Thai and Vietnamese hegemony, King Ang Duong requests French protectorate.

1940: Japan seizes Cambodia.

1949: Cambodia becomes an Associated State in the French Union.

1953: King Norodom Sihanouk negotiates Cambodia's independence from the French.

1955: Sihanouk abdicates kingship to enter politics.

1970: Sihanouk is deposed by military.

1975: Khmer Rouge ousts US-backed Lon Nol regime after US bombing raids along Vietnam border. Sihanouk returns as temporary figurehead.

1979: Soviet-backed Vietnamese troops oust Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge forces.

1982: Three resistance groups, including Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge, form a coalition government in exile headed by Sihanouk.

1987: Sihanouk opens talks with Phnom Penh on peace.

1989: Vietnam announces its withdrawal.

1991: Three factions and Phnom Penh government agree to United Nations peace plan.