However, with the advent of Chen-la, the hub of the kingdom moved farther west, to Koh Ker and Angkor and the region lost its importance.

In the 15th century, the Khmer emperors, under threat from the Siamese (former name of people of current Thailand) decided to resettle back to the east, to Oudong, Lovek then Phnom Penh.

Thousands of people in Prey Veng province were killed by the Khmer Rouge and buried in mass graves.

As the Vietnamese army advanced in January 1979, the region regained its position and became one of the first areas of Cambodia liberated from the Khmer Rouge.

The province is bordered by those of Kampong Cham to the northwest, Tbong Khmum to the northeast, Kandal to the west, and Svay Rieng to the east and by Vietnam (Đồng Tháp, Long An and Tây Ninh) or Kampuchea Krom (Phsar Dek, Kampong Kho and Rong Domrey) to the south.

The majority of the population is of Khmer origin and only 1.13% are from ethnic minorities such as Kinh (Viet), the Muslim Chams or Laos.

Rubber trees have played an important economic role in the past, but the plantations were abandoned during the wars that bloodied the country decades ago.

Archaeological research has shown that it was an important cultural center of the kingdom of Fu-Nan, and a sacred place in which they worshipped Shiva.

The site seems to have retained its sacred character throughout the Angkor period, and traces of animist and Buddhist rituals have also been found.