Background: The Sultanate of Brunei's influence peaked between the 15th and 17th centuries when its control extended over coastal areas of northwest Borneo and the southern Philippines. Brunei subsequently entered a period of decline brought on by internal strife over royal succession colonial expansion of European powers and piracy. In 1888 Brunei became a British protectorate; independence was achieved in 1984. The same family has ruled Brunei for over six centuries. Brunei benefits from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields the source of one of the highest per capita GDPs in Asia.

Geographic coordinates: 4 30 N 114 40 E

Area
Rank: 173
Comparative: slightly smaller than Delaware

Coastline: 161 km

Climate: tropical; hot humid rainy

Terrain: flat coastal plain rises to mountains in east; hilly lowland in west

Natural resources: petroleum natural gas timber

Irrigated land: 10 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 8.5 km³ (1999)

Natural hazards: typhoons earthquakes and severe flooding are rare

Geography
Note: close to vital sea lanes through South China Sea linking Indian and Pacific Oceans; two parts physically separated by Malaysia; almost an enclave within Malaysia

Population: 408,786 (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 175
Growth rate: 1.691% (2012 est.)
Growth rate rank: 70
Below poverty line: NA%

Ethnic groups: Malay 66.3% Chinese 11.2% indigenous 3.4% other 19.1% (2004 est.)

Languages: Malay (official) English Chinese

Religions: Muslim (official) 67% Buddhist 13% Christian 10% other (includes indigenous beliefs) 10%

Population growth rate: 1.691% (2012 est.)
Rank: 70

Birth rate: 17.74 births/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 105

Death rate: 3.39 deaths/1000 population (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 215

Net migration rate: 2.55 migrant(s)/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 32

Environment
Current issues: seasonal smoke/haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 139

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 77

Total fertility rate: 1.85 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Rank: 151

Physicians density: 1.417 physicians/1000 population (2008)

Hospital bed density: 2.71 beds/1000 population (2008)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 114
People living with hivaids: fewer than 200 (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 157
Deaths: fewer than 200 (2003 est.)
Deaths rank: 112

Education expenditures: NA

Government type: constitutional sultanate (locally known as Malay Islamic Monarchy)

Administrative divisions: 4 districts (daerah-daerah singular - daerah); Belait Brunei-Muara Temburong Tutong

Independence: 1 January 1984 (from the UK)

National holiday: National Day 23 February (1984); note - 1 January 1984 was the date of independence from the UK 23 February 1984 was the date of independence from British protection

Constitution: 29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended under a State of Emergency since December 1962 others since independence on 1 January 1984)

Legal system: mixed legal system based on English common law and Islamic law

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage: 18 years of age for village elections; universal

Legislative branch: the Sultan appointed a Legislative Council with 29 members in September 2005; he increased the size of the council to 33 members in June 2011; the council meets annually in March

Judicial branch: Supreme Court - chief justice and judges are sworn in by monarch for three-year terms; Judicial Committee of Privy Council in London is final court of appeal for civil cases; Sharia courts deal with Islamic laws (2006)

Political parties and leaders: National Development Party or NDP [YASSIN Affendi]

International organization participation: ADB APEC ARF ASEAN C CP EAS G-77 IBRD ICAO ICC (NGOs) ICRM IDA IDB IFRCS ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC ISO (correspondent) ITSO ITU NAM OIC OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIFIL UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Flag description: yellow with two diagonal bands of white (top almost double width) and black starting from the upper hoist side; the national emblem in red is superimposed at the center; yellow is the color of royalty and symbolizes the sultanate; the white and black bands denote Brunei's chief ministers; the emblem includes five main components: a swallow-tailed flag the royal umbrella representing the monarchy the wings of four feathers symbolizing justice tranquility prosperity and peace the two upraised hands signifying the government's pledge to preserve and promote the welfare of the people and the crescent moon denoting Islam the state religion; the state motto 'Always render service with God's guidance' appears in yellow Arabic script on the crescent; a ribbon below the crescent reads 'Brunei the Abode of Peace'

Economy overview: Brunei has a small well-to-do economy that depends on revenue from natural resource extraction but encompasses a mixture of foreign and domestic entrepreneurship government regulation welfare measures and village tradition. Crude oil and natural gas production account for just over half of GDP and more than 90% of exports. Per capita GDP is among the highest in Asia and substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. The government provides for all medical services and free education through the university level and subsidizes rice and housing. A new monetary authority was established in January 2011 with responsibilities that include monetary policy monitoring of financial institutions and currency trading activities.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 127

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 119

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 11

Agriculture products: rice vegetables fruits; chickens water buffalo cattle goats eggs

Industrial production growth rate: -5.4% (2008 est.)
Rank: 163

Labor force: 198,800 (2010 est.)
Rank: 170

Unemployment rate: 3.7% (2008)
Rank: 22

Population below poverty line: NA%

Budget
Surplus or deficit: 16.1% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 4

Taxes and other revenues: 48.9% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 19

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2% (2011 est.)
Rank: 14

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 5.5% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 150

Stock of narrow money: $3.254 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 113

Stock of broad money: $10.64 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 102

Stock of domestic credit: $3.019 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
Rank: 120

Market value of publicly traded shares: $N/A

Current account balance: $3.977 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 31

Exports: $8.25 billion (2007)
Rank: 93
Commodities: crude oil natural gas garments
Partners: Japan 45.2% South Korea 15.9% Australia 11.4% Indonesia 8.1% India 5.7% China 4.4% (2011)

Imports: $2.055 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 154
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment manufactured goods food chemicals
Partners: Singapore 27.4% India 15.4% China 12.8% South Korea 10.1% Malaysia 9.4% Germany 7.9% (2011)

Debt external: $0 (2005)
Rank: 202

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 3.395 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Production rank: 127
Consumption: 3.177 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 131
Exports: 0 kWh (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 170
Imports: 0 kWh (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 166
Installed generating capacity: 759,000 kW (2009 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 128
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 10
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 58
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 162
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 116

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 149,900 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 44
Crude oil exports: 141,300 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 35
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 165
Crude oil proven reserves: 1.1 billion bbl (1 January 2012 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 41

Refined petroleum
Products production: 14,720 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products production rank: 101
Products consumption: 14,640 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 146
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products exports rank: 159
Products imports: 1016 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products imports rank: 194

Natural gas
Production: 11.8 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 41
Consumption: 2.97 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 74
Exports: 8.83 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 23
Imports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 168
Proven reserves: 390.8 billion m³ (1 January 2012 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 35

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 8.271 million Mt (2010 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 107

Telephones
Main lines in use: 79,800 (2011)
Main lines in use rank: 151
Mobile cellular: 443,200 (2011)
Mobile cellular rank: 168

Broadcast media: state-controlled Radio Television Brunei (RTB) operates 4 channels; 3 Malaysian TV stations are available; foreign TV broadcasts are available via satellite and cable systems; RTB operates 5 radio networks and broadcasts on multiple frequencies; British Forces Broadcast Service (BFBS) provides radio broadcasts on 2 FM stations; some radio broadcast stations from Malaysia are available via repeaters (2009)

Internet
Country code: .bn
Hosts: 49,457 (2012)
Hosts rank: 96
Users: 314,900 (2009)
Users rank: 128

Military expenditures: 4.5% of GDP (2006)
Rank: 19

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.) for voluntary military service; non-Malays are ineligible to serve; recruits from the army navy and air force all undergo 43-week initial training (2012)

Airports: 1 (2012)
Rank: 220

Heliports: 3 (2012)

Pipelines: condensate 33 km; gas 37 km; oil 18 km (2010)

Roadways
Rank: 166

Waterways: 209 km (navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m; the Belait Brunei and Tutong rivers are major transport links) (2012)
Rank: 97

Merchant marine
Rank: 115

Ports and terminals: Lumut Muara Seria

Disputes international: per Letters of Exchange signed in 2009 Malaysia in 2010 ceded two hydrocarbon concession blocks to Brunei in exchange for Brunei's sultan dropping claims to the Limbang corridor which divides Brunei; nonetheless Brunei claims a maritime boundary extending as far as a median with Vietnam thus asserting an implicit claim to Louisa Reef

Illicit drugs: drug trafficking and illegally importing controlled substances are serious offenses in Brunei and carry a mandatory death penalty