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Saloth Sar was born on May 19, 1925 — the eighth of nine children and the second of three sons to Pen Saloth and Sok Nem.

His older brother, Saloth Chhay was born 3 years earlier.

The family were living in the small fishing village of Prek Sbauv, Kampong Thom Province during the French colonialism of the area.

Pen Saloth was a rice farmer who owned 12 hectares of land and several buffaloes and the family was considered to be moderately wealthy by the day's standards.

Although Pen Saloth's family was of Sino-Khmer descent and Saloth Sar was named accordingly due to his fair complexion (" Sar " means white in Khmer ), the family had already assimilated themselves with mainstream Khmer society by the time Sar was born.