Pol Pot

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History & Society

Pol Pot

Cambodian political leader

Also known as: Saloth Sar

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 • Article History

Pol Pot

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Category: History & Society

Original name:: Saloth Sar

Born:: May 19, 1925, Kompong Thom province, Cambodia

Died:: April 15, 1998, near Anlong Veng, along the Cambodia-Thailand border (aged 72)

Title / Office:: prime minister (1976-1979), Cambodia

Political Affiliation:: Communist Party of Kampuchea; Khmer Rouge

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Pol Pot (born May 19, 1925, Kompong Thom province, Cambodia—died April 15, 1998, near Anlong Veng, along the Cambodia-Thailand border) was a Khmer political leader who led the Khmer Rouge totalitarian regime (1975–79) in Cambodia that imposed severe hardships on the Cambodian people. His radical communist government forced the mass evacuations of cities, killed or displaced millions of people, and left a legacy of brutality and impoverishment. The son of a landowning farmer, Saloth Sar was sent at age five or six to live with an elder brother in Phnom Penh, where he was educated in a French curriculum. A ...(100 of 505 words)

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