KAMPONG SP

also spelled Kompong Speu, town, south-central Cambodia. The town lies along the Tnat River at the foot of the Dmrei (Elephant) Mountains and astride a national highway linking Phnom Penh, the national capital, with Kmpng Sam, the country's principal seaport. The surrounding area supports rice, sugarcane, palm trees, cotton, cassava, and corn (maize); there are also silk spinning, timber trade, and a major sugar refinery in the area. Various irrigation projects have improved the region's agricultural potential, notably a series of dams on the Tnat River, constructed in the early 1960s just west of Kmpng Sp. Pop. (1971 est.) 8,921.