Cambodia's Cham Muslims (known locally as the Khmer Islam) offi­cially number around 200,000. Unofficial counts put the figure higher at around 400,000. The Chams live in villages on the banks of the Mekong and the Tonle Sap Rivers, mostly in Kompong Cham, Kompong Speu and Kompong Chhnang Provinces. They suffered particularly vicious persecution between 1975 and 1979, when a large part of their commu­nity was exterminated. Many Cham mosques that were destroyed under the Khmer Rouge have been rebuilt.