Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Sihanoukville sits on Cambodia's Gulf of Thailand coast with roughly 200,000 residents and operates the country's only deep-water port. Founded in 1955 as Kampong Saom, the city was renamed in 1964 after King Norodom Sihanouk, and its 1959 French-built harbor now handles most of Cambodia's container traffic. Ochheuteal Beach stretches 3.3 km along the central coast, while Ream National Park, 18 km to the east, protects 210 km² of mangroves, coral reefs, and 155 recorded bird species. The 1962 opening of the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port coincided with the country's first cement factory, anchoring the town to an industrial trajectory that still defines its shoreline today.