ScriptLookup

Khmer

ខ្មែរ
km 16M speakers

Khmer (ខ្មែរ) is a Austroasiatic language with approximately 16M speakers speakers. It is written using the Khmer script. Its BCP 47 language code is km.

Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ) is an Austroasiatic language and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million native speakers, it is the most widely spoken Mon-Khmer language. Khmer is the language of the Khmer Empire, which dominated much of mainland Southeast Asia from the 9th to 15th centuries CE.

Khmer is written in the Khmer script, a large abugida descended from the Brahmi script. It does not use spaces between words. Classical Khmer literature is closely tied to Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and Sanskrit loanwords are abundant.

Writing Systems Used for Khmer

Khmer
អក្សរខ្មែរ
Primary
សួស្ដី
LTR Khmr

Frequently Asked Questions

What alphabet or script does Khmer use?
Khmer is written using the Khmer script (ISO 15924 code: Khmr). Khmer is written left-to-right.
What direction is Khmer written?
Khmer is written Left-to-right. Text runs from left to right, the same direction as most European languages.
How many people speak Khmer?
Khmer has approximately 16M speakers speakers worldwide. It is a member of the Austroasiatic language family.
What language family does Khmer belong to?
Khmer belongs to the Austroasiatic language family. It is written with the Khmer script.
What is the language code for Khmer?
The BCP 47 language code for Khmer is "km". This code is used in software, web standards (the HTML lang attribute), and internationalization contexts.

Language Facts

BCP 47 Code
km
ISO 639-3
khm
Status
living
Speakers
16M speakers
Language Family
Austroasiatic
Scripts
1
Primary Script
Khmer

Other Khmer Languages

None found.

Data sourced from Unicode CLDR and ISO 639-3. Last updated April 20, 2026.