BRUNEI
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 5,770 km2; land area: 5,270 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Delaware
Land boundary: 381 km with Malaysia
Coastline: 161 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: may wish to purchase the Malaysian salient that divides
the country
Climate: tropical; hot, humid, rainy
Terrain: flat coastal plain rises to mountains in east; hilly
lowland in west
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, timber
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
1%; forest and woodland 79%; other 18%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: typhoons, earthquakes, and severe flooding are rare
Note: close to vital sea lanes through South China Sea linking
Indian and Pacific Oceans; two parts physically separated by Malaysia;
almost an enclave of Malaysia
PEOPLE
Population: 397,777 (July 1991), growth rate 6.3% (1991)
Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 4 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 45 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 77 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1991)
Ethnic divisions: Malay 64%, Chinese 20%, other 16%
Religion: Muslim (official) 63%, Buddhism 14%, Christian 8%,
indigenous beliefs and other 15% (1981)
Language: Malay (official), English, and Chinese
Literacy: 77% (male 85%, female 69%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1981)
Labor force: 89,000 (includes members of the Army); 33% of labor
force is foreign (1988); government 47.5%; production of oil, natural
gas, services, and construction 41.9%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing
3.8% (1986)
Organized labor: 2% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Negara Brunei Darussalam
Constitution: 29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended
under a State of Emergency since December 1962, others since
independence on 1 January 1984)
Legal system: based on Islamic law
National holiday: National Day, 23 February (1984)
Executive branch: sultan, prime minister, Council of Cabinet
Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council
(Majlis Masyuarat Megeri)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--Sultan and Prime Minister
Sir Muda HASSANAL BOLKIAH Muizzaddin Waddaulah (since 5 October 1967)
Political parties and leaders:
Brunei United National Party (inactive), Anak HASANUDDIN, chairman;
Brunei National Democratic Party (the first legal political party and now
banned), leader NA
Suffrage: none
Elections:
Legislative Council--last held in March 1962; in 1970
the Council was changed to an appointive body by decree of the sultan
and no elections are planned
Communists: probably none
Member of: APEC, ASEAN, C, ESCAP, ICAO, IDB, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC,
ISO (correspondent), ITU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Dato Paduka Haji Mohamed SUNI
bin Haji Idris; Chancery at 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037;
telephone (202) 342-0159;
US--Ambassador Christopher H. PHILLIPS; Embassy at Third Floor,
Teck Guan Plaza, Jalan Sultan, Bandar Seri Begawan (mailing address
is P. O. Box 2991, Bandar Seri Begawan and Box B, APO San Francisco,
96528); telephone 673 (2) 229-670
Flag: 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; the emblem includes a
swallow-tailed flag on top of a winged column within an upturned crescent
above a scroll and flanked by two upraised hands
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy is a mixture of foreign and domestic
entrepreneurship, government regulation and welfare measures, and
village tradition. It is almost totally supported by exports of
crude oil and natural gas, with revenues from the petroleum sector
accounting for more than 50% of GDP. Per capita GDP of $9,600
is among the highest in the Third World, and substantial income from
overseas investment supplements domestic production. The government
provides for all medical services and subsidizes food and housing.
GDP: $3.3 billion, per capita $9,600; real growth rate
2.7% (1989 est.)
commodities--machinery and transport equipment, manufactured
goods, food, chemicals;
partners--Singapore 36%, UK 26%, Switzerland 7%, US 7%, Japan 6%
(1988)
External debt: none
Industrial production: growth rate 12.9% (1987); accounts for
52.4% of GDP
Electricity: 310,000 kW capacity; 890 million kWh produced,
2,400 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: petroleum, liquefied natural gas, construction
Agriculture: imports about 80% of its food needs; principal crops
and livestock include rice, cassava, bananas, buffaloes, and pigs
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $20.6
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-87), $143.7 million
Currency: Bruneian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Bruneian dollar
(B$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Bruneian dollars (B$) per US$1--1.7454 (January
1991), 1.8125 (1990), 1.9503 (1989), 2.0124 (1988), 2.1060 (1987), 2.1774
(1986), 2.2002 (1985); note--the Bruneian dollar is at par with the
Singapore dollar
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 13 km 0.610-meter narrow-gauge private line
Highways: 1,090 km total; 370 km paved (bituminous treated) and
another 52 km under construction, 720 km gravel or unimproved
Inland waterways: 209 km; navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2
meters
Ports: Kuala Belait, Muara
Merchant marine: 7 liquefied gas carriers (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 348,476 GRT/340,635 DWT
Pipelines: crude oil, 135 km; refined products, 418 km;
natural gas, 920 km
Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft (3 Boeing 757-200,
1 Boeing 737-200)
Airports: 2 total, 2 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1
with runway over 3,659 m; 1 with runway 1,406 m
Telecommunications: service throughout country is adequate for
present needs; international service good to adjacent Malaysia;
radiobroadcast coverage good; 33,000 telephones (1987); stations--4
AM/FM, 1 TV; 74,000 radio receivers (1987); satellite earth stations--1
Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Royal Brunei Armed Forces (including Ground Forces,
Flotilla, and Air Wing), Royal Brunei Police
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 110,727; 63,730 fit for
military service; 3,199 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $233.1 million, 7.1% of GDP (1988)
