Statistics
Area:	336 km²
Inhabitants:	28,660 (1998)
Pop. density:	85.3 inh./km²
ISO 3166-2:	KH-23
Map

Kep City Cambodia

Kep (also known as Keb) is a municipality in Cambodia with the status of a province. It is subdivided into two districts. Kep, which is located just a few kilometers from the border with Vietnam, used to be Cambodia's most popular beach town but has fallen on hard times in recent years.

Many of Kep's villas are abandoned, but some of the town's former splendor is still apparent. The ocean is lined with wide sidewalks and large statues that now seem largely out of place. The king built a palace overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, but it was never furnished and now sits empty. A good, paved road connects the town with Kampot.

Kep's beaches are mostly mangrove and black rock rather than the white sands of Sihanoukville, but Rabbit Island is just a short boat ride away. Kep appears to be experiencing something of a renaissance, with several mid-range and luxury guesthouses and bungalows recently open or under construction. The town's seafood is cheap, plentiful and delicious - particularly the crabs. In addition, Kep is home to an extensive national park.
 

The background of Kep City: Kep is the seaside-tourist city locating at Southwest of Phnom Penh; the city can be accessible by the National Road No 3 from Phnom Penh via Kampot province in 173-kilometer distance or by the National Road No 2 from Phnom Penh via Takeo province. It also can be accessible by rail from Phnom Penh to stop at Dam Nak Cham Eu station. Then continue more seven Kilometers by a road to Kep City.

Foreign tourists can go from Vietnam to Kep City via bordercross of Ha Tieng (Prek Chak) in 40-kilometer distance. Tourists can also go from Sihanouk Ville or from Vietnam by boat or ship to the port of Kep City.

Kep City was organized in 1908 during the French colonial time. The city was developed as the beautiful seaside tourist resort in 60th decade during the time of Sang Kum Reas Ni Yum.

The name “Kep” is taken from French word “Le Cap” means peninsular. The story related to the name of Kep said that there was a king named Sa Kor Reach who had the mighty spell. He put the sleeping spell to a commander at Ang Kor Thum, then stole the commander’s white horse and fled together with his troop to the southwestern seaside. When he took a rest at the seaside, he was approached by the commander’s troops who had chased him from behind. Suddenly, he got on the horseback; the horse jumped up, and mad him falls down with the horseseat. Then, he got on the horseback again and fled away without picking up the horse seat because the commander's troops nearly approached him. So that, we called the area “Kep Seh” means “the horseseat”; then we only called “Kep” until now.

Kep is a small city rich in fresh seafood like crab, snail and cuttlefish. The city has one beach only having 1,000-meter length. The beach is different from the Sihanouk Ville beach because it has black sand.