Ruler · Twentieth century · Cambodia

Pol Pot

1925–1998

Leader of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, 1925 to 1998, whose regime killed about a quarter of his country's people. The Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975 and emptied the cities, forcing everyone into rural labor. Driven out by Vietnam in 1979, he led a guerrilla remnant until his death.