Brunei is a nation located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Besides its South China Sea coastline, it is totally bordered by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is separated into 2 components by the Sarawak district of Limbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state totally on Borneo; the rest of the island is separated between Malaysia and Indonesia. As of 2020, its population was 460,345, of whom regarding 100,000 reside in the resources and also largest city, Bandar Seri Begawan. The government is an absolute monarchy ruled by its Sultan, qualified the Yang di-Pertuan, and also carries out a combination of English common law and sharia regulation, in addition to basic Islamic methods.

At the optimal of the Bruneian Empire, Sultan Bolkiah (ruled 1485– 1528) is declared to have had control over many areas of Borneo, including modern Sarawak as well as Sabah, along with the Sulu Island chain off the northeast tip of Borneo, and the islands off the northwest idea of Borneo. Cases additionally specify that they had control over Seludong (or the Kingdom of Maynila, where the modern-day Philippine funding Manila currently stands) yet Southeast Asian scholars believe this describes a negotiation Mount Selurong in Indonesia. The maritime state of Brunei was gone to by Spain’s Magellan Exploration in 1521 as well as dealt with against Spain in the 1578 Castilian Battle.

During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline. The Sultanate ceded Sarawak (Kuching) to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and also it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Business. In 1888, Brunei ended up being a British protectorate as well as was assigned a British homeowner as colonial supervisor in 1906. After the Japanese profession during World War II, in 1959 a brand-new constitution was created. In 1962, a tiny armed disobedience against the monarchy was finished with the help of the British.

Brunei has been led by the Sultanate of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah considering that 1967, and had acquired its freedom as a British protectorate in 1 January 1984. The country is an autocratic absolute monarchy. Economic development throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with the GDP raising 56% from 1999 to 2008, transformed Brunei into an industrialised nation. It has created riches from considerable petroleum and also natural gas fields. Brunei has the second-highest Human Advancement Index among the Southeast Eastern countries, after Singapore, and is categorized as an established country.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is placed fifth worldwide by gross domestic product per head at acquiring power parity. The IMF approximated in 2011 that Brunei was just one of 2 nations with a public debt at 0% of the national GDP.