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Brunei Darussalam
National Name: Negara Brunei
Darussalam
Sultan: Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
(1967)
Current government officials
Land area: 2,035 sq mi (5,271 sq km);
total area: 2,228 sq mi (5,770 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 381,371 (growth
rate: 1.7%); birth rate: 18.3/1000; infant mortality rate:
12.6/1000; life expectancy: 75.5; density per sq km: 72
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Bandar Seri Begawan, 78,000
Other large cities: Kuala Belait
27,800, Seria 23,400
Monetary unit: Brunei dollar
Languages:
Malay (official), English, Chinese
Ethnicity/race:
Malay 67%, Chinese 15%, indigenous 6%, other
12%
National Holiday:
National Day, February 23
Religions:
Islam (official religion) 67%, Buddhist 13%,
Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs and other 10%
Literacy rate: 92.7% (2006 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $19.64 billion billion; per capita $51,000. Real growth
rate: 0.4%. Inflation: 0.4%. Unemployment: 4%
(2006). Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: rice,
vegetables, fruits; chickens, water buffalo, eggs. Labor
force: 146,300; note: includes foreign workers and military
personnel; temporary residents make up about 40% of labor force;
agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.9%, production of oil, natural
gas, services, and construction 61.1%, government 36% (2003
est.). Industries: petroleum, petroleum refining, liquefied
natural gas, construction. Natural resources: petroleum,
natural gas, timber. Exports: $4.514 billion f.o.b. (2004
est.): crude oil, natural gas, refined products. Imports:
$1.641 billion c.i.f. (2004 est.): machinery and transport
equipment, manufactured goods, food, chemicals. Major trading
partners: Japan, South Korea, Australia, U.S., Thailand,
Indonesia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, UK (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 90,000 (2002); mobile cellular: 137,000 (2002). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 10, shortwave 0 (1998).
Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997). Internet
hosts: 6,409 (2003). Internet users: 35,000 (2002).
Transportation: Highways: total:
2,525 km; paved: 2,525 km; unpaved: 0 km (2000). Waterways:
209 km; navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m (2004). Ports
and harbors: Lumut, Muara, Seria. Airports: 2 (2004
est.).
International disputes: in 2003 Brunei
and Malaysia ceased gas and oil exploration in their disputed
offshore and deepwater seabeds and negotiations have stalemated
prompting consideration of international legal adjudication;
Malaysia's land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is in dispute;
Brunei established an exclusive economic fishing zone encompassing
Louisa Reef in southern Spratly Islands in 1984 but makes no public
territorial claim to the offshore reefs; the 2002 "Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions in
the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally binding "code of
conduct" desired by several of the disputants.
Major sources and definitions
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