Brunei Darussalam

National Name: Negara Brunei Darussalam

Sultan: Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (1967)

Land area: 2,035 sq mi (5,271 sq km); total area: 2,228 sq mi (5,770 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 379,444 (growth rate: 1.9%); birth rate: 18.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.2/1000; life expectancy: 75.0; density per sq mi: 186

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%

Religions: Islam (official religion) 67%, Buddhist 13%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs and other 10%

Literacy rate: 92% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2003 est.): $6.842 billion; per capita $23,600. Real growth rate: 1.7%. Inflation: 0.9% (2004). Unemployment: 4.8% (2004). 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.


 

Go to Country details page