Siem Reap is the capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, and a popular resort town as the gateway to Angkor region. Siem Reap has colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter, and around the Old Market.
In the city, there are museums, traditional Apsara dance performances, a Cambodian cultural village, souvenir and handy craft shops, silk farms, rice-paddies in the countryside, fishing villages and a bird sanctuary near the Tonle Sap Lake.
Siem Reap today—being a popular tourist destination—has a large number of hotels, resorts, restaurants and businesses closely related to tourism. This is much owed to its proximity to the Angkor temples, the most popular tourist attraction in Cambodia.
Most tourists come to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, (about 6 km north of the city), and other Angkor ruins. There are also many shopping opportunities around the Psar Chas area.
There are also a large number of NGOs and other not-for profits that operate in and around Siem Reap, and play a vital role in the economy, as well as helping to develop it for the future. Thousands of expatriates call the city home and also significantly impact the economy.