Kampong Cham  is the sixth largest city in Cambodia with a population of 63,771 people (2006) and is located on the Mekong River. Kampong Cham is 124 kilometers northeast from Phnom Penh and can be reached by either boat or by asphalt road. It takes about 2.5 hours by vehicle or 2.5 hours by boat from Phnom Penh to the city of Kampong Cham. Its geographic location is 12.00°N, 105.46°E.
The city is connected to the province of Tbong khmum by the Kizuna bridge, the first in Cambodia to span the Mekong.
The city is subdivided into four khums and 31 phums.
Kampong means "the side of a river or any other water body" with Cham meaning Cham ethnicity of Champa. A similar Malay word "Kampung" means "village" - an example of a false cognate as the two languages are otherwise unrelated.