Cambodian riel

The riel (; Khmer: រៀល, romanized: riĕl [riəl]; sign: ៛; ISO code: KHR) is the currency of Cambodia; its base unit is the eponymous riel. There have been two distinct riels, the first issued between 1953 and May 1975. Between 1975 and 1980, the country had no monetary system due to the Khmer Rouge regime's radical policies to abolish currency. A second currency, also named riel, has been issued since 20 March 1980. Since the late 1990s, the riel has had an unofficial fixed exchange rate of 4,100:1 with the United States dollar, which is also used as a de facto currency for commercial transactions. Its subunits, the kak (1⁄10 riel) and the sen (1⁄100), are no longer in common use due to inflation. Popular belief suggests that the name of the currency comes from the Mekong river fish riĕl ("small fish" in Khmer). It is more likely that it derives from the high-silver content Spanish-American dollar, whose value is eight reales, a coin widely used for international trade in Asia and the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries. Thus, the riel shares the same etymology as various Middle Eastern currencies called "rial", which are all derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word real.