US currency is used
_#_Exchange rates: US currency is used
_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
_*Communications #_Highways: 106 km motorable roads (1983)
_#_Ports: Road Town
_#_Airports: 3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways less than 1,220 m
_#_Telecommunications: 3,000 telephones; worldwide external telephone service; submarine cable communication links to Bermuda; stations—1 AM, no FM, 1 TV
_*Defense Forces #Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK % @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)
_#_Nationality: noun—Bruneian(s); adjective—Bruneian
_#_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
_#_Type: constitutional sultanate
_#_Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan
_#_Administrative divisions: 4 districts (daerah-daerah, singular—daerah); Belait, Brunei and Muara, Temburong, Tutong
_#_Independence: 1 January 1984 (from UK)
_#_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.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1989 est.)
_#_Unemployment: 2.5%, shortage of skilled labor (1989 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $230 million (1988 est.)
_#_Exports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities—crude
