Pol Pot

1925 – 1998

Pol Pot was the dictator of Cambodia who led the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979, converting the country into a totalitarian one-party state. Under his rule, the Khmer Rouge perpetrated the Cambodian genocide, systematically executing and starving an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people—roughly a quarter of the nation's population. His brutal policies of forced urban evacuation, slave labor, and mass murder established him as one of the most murderous despots in modern history.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM