Brunei

**Brunei Darussalam** (officially called the **State of Brunei**, **Sultanate of Brunei** or simply **Brunei**) is a country in Southeast Asia. It is north of Malaysia on the island of Borneo. The country is rather landlocked by Malaysia. To the north is the South China Sea and the Philippines to the northeast.

The capital of Brunei is Bandar Seri Begawan. The country is small and has a small population.  The leader of the country is the Sultan of Brunei. Due to the sale of his oil, he is one of the richest people in the world. The official religion in Brunei is Islam. There are also minorities of people who follow Buddhism or Animism. Brunei's official language and national language is Malay and English language. Brunei is one of the smallest Muslim countries in the world.

## History

From the 14th to the 16th centuries Brunei Darussalam was the seat of a powerful sultanate extending over Sabah, Sarawak and the southern Philippines. Thus, the current Sultan represents one of the oldest continuously ruling dynasties in the world. By the 19th century, the Brunei Darussalam Empire had been whittled away by wars, piracy and the colonial expansion of European powers.

In 1847, the sultan ended a treaty with Great Britain and in 1888 Brunei Darussalam officially became a British protectorate. In 1906, the Residential System was established in Brunei Darussalam. A British Resident was nominated as a representative of the British government to advise the sultan in all matters except Malay customs, traditions and Islamic religion.

The 1959 Agreement established a written constitution which gave Brunei Darussalam internal self-government. In 1971, the agreement was amended and revised to assert full internal independence except defence and external affairs.

On June 5, 1966 His Highness Sultan Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien abdicated in favour of his son Pengiran Muda Mahkota Hassanal Bolkiah. On January 1, 1984 Brunei Darussalam resumed full independence and the Sultan took office as Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Home Affairs Minister, presiding over a cabinet of six. In October 1986, the cabinet was expanded to 11 members, with His Majesty relinquishing the portfolios of Finance and Home Affairs and taking over the Defence portfolio which his late father had held since 1984. In 1988 another reshuffle brought about the elevation of the deputy minister to a full minister and the creation of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources designed to boost the country's development.

In spite of the sizable non-Muslim population (about 1/3 of the population) and criticism by the international community, the Sultan still announced Brunei's adoption of Sharia law in 2013 to fully enforce on the Muslim majority and partially enforce on non-Muslims. It was expected to take full effect in 2016 after 3 phases, and had begun partial enforcement in its first phase in 2014. It is the first country in East and Southeast Asia to practice Sharia law.

## Divisions

Brunei is divided into four districts (_daerahs_) and 38 subdistricts (_mukims_).

|No.|District||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1.|Belait||||
|2.|Brunei-Muara||||
|3.|Temburong||||
|4.|Tutong||||

The daerah of Temburong is physically separated from the rest of Brunei by the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Over 90% of Brunei's total population lives in 15 of the 38 mukims.

### Cities

Officially, there are no places in Brunei that have "city" status.  Some of the important places are:

- Bandar Seri Begawan (Pop. ~181,500, Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Council)
- Kuala Belait (Pop. ~38,000, Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Council)
- Seria (Pop. ~35,400, Kuala Belait/Seria Municipal Council)
- Jerudong (Pop. ~30,000, Kuala Belait/Seria Municipal Council)
- Tutong (Pop. ~27,500, Tutong Municipal Council)
- Bangar - administrative centre of the Temburong district
- Muara Town - has the only deep sea port of Brunei
- Sukang
- Panaga

## Revenue

Brunei gets most of its income by selling oil. In 2011 the IMF said that Brunei was one of two countries (the other being Libya) with no public debt.

## Currency

Brunei uses the Brunei Ringgit to trade. However, the Singapore dollar can be used here as both currencies are of the same value.

## Related pages

- Brunei at the Olympics
- Brunei national football team
- List of rivers of Brunei

## Infobox (infobox)

- **child**: yes
- **label1**: Official scripts


## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Brunei Darussalam
- **common name**: Brunei
- **image flag**: Flag of Brunei.svg
- **image coat**: Emblem of Brunei.svg
- **symbol type**: Emblem
- **capital**: Bandar Seri Begawan
- **largest city**: Bandar Seri Begawan
- **languages type**: Official language
- **languages**: Malay language, Malay
- **languages2 type**: Other languages
and dialects
- **religion year**: 2023
- **demonym**: Bruneian
- **government type**: Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy ("de jure")<hr>Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy ("de facto")
- **leader title1**: List of Sultans of Brunei, Sultan and Prime Minister of Brunei, Prime Minister
- **leader name1**: Hassanal Bolkiah
- **leader title2**: Crown Prince and Senior Minister
- **leader name2**: Al-Muhtadee Billah
- **leader title3**: State Mufti of Brunei, State Mufti
- **leader name3**: Abdul Aziz Juned
- **legislature**: Legislative Council of Brunei
- **sovereignty type**: History of Brunei, Formation
- **established event1**: History of Brunei, Ancient Brunei
- **established date1**: 510–1368
- **established event2**: Bruneian Sultanate (1368–1888), Sultanate
- **established date2**: 1368–1888
- **established event3**: British protectorate, Protectorate established
- **established date3**: 17 September 1888
- **established event4**: Independence from United Kingdom
- **established date4**: 1 January 1984
- **established event5**: Admitted to the United Nations
- **established date5**: 21 September 1984
- **established event6**: Constitutional monarchy
- **established date6**: 4 July 2007
- **area km2**: 5,765
- **area rank**: 164th
- **area sq mi**: 2,226
- **percent water**: 8.6
- **population estimate**: 455,858
- **population estimate year**: 2023
- **population estimate rank**: 175th
- **population density km2**: 72.11
- **population density sq mi**: 186.75
- **population density rank**: 134th
- **gdp ppp**: $60.547 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2023
- **gdp ppp rank**: 135th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $70,609
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 8th
- **gdp nominal**: $37.152 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2023
- **gdp nominal rank**: 122nd
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $32,153
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 21st
- **hdi**: 0.830
- **hdi year**: 2024
- **hdi change**: steady
- **hdi rank**: 47th
- **currency**: Bruneian pound
- **currency code**: BNP£
- **time zone**: Time in Brunei, Brunei Standard Time
- **utc offset**: +8
- **date format**: dd/mm/yyyy
- **drives on**: left
- **calling code**: +673
- **cctld**: .bn
- **footnote a**: Also 080 from East Malaysia.
- **population census**: 445,400
- **population census year**: 2023