Brunei 1999

In 1999, the population of Brunei was estimated to be around 350,000 people. The economy of Brunei was largely based on petroleum and natural gas exports. Its foreign relations were mainly with other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. Politically, Brunei in 1999 was a constitutional sultanate under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The Prime Minister was Pengiran Abdul Rahman and his party held a majority in Parliament. The country had a unicameral parliamentary system known as the Legislative Council of Brunei. See ethnicityology for Brunei in the year of 2018.

Yearbook 1999

Brunei 1999

Brunei. Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Brunei. The aftermath followed the scandal in 1998 when it was revealed that Prince Jefri, brother of the Sultan, had spent large sums from the country’s treasury. Jefri, returned to his home country at the beginning of the year, where 200 auditors were called in to find out about his business. During the fall, the prince was forced to sell parts of his art collection (worth about SEK 5.5 billion). Low oil prices and the Asian financial crisis have also contributed to the Sultanate’s financial difficulties. Some analysts feared that state benefits such as free education and health care were threatened.

  • Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of BRN which stands for Brunei and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.

Map of Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan in English

Brunei

State of Asia. The territory extends along the northwestern coast of the island of Borneo and is surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, which extends a strip of territory into it, separating it into two parts.

The Brunei occupies a coastal plain, swampy and invaded by mangroves, and two internal appendages, which go as far as the first reliefs of the Crocker Mountains. Densely populated, its residents are made up largely of Malaysians (70%), in addition to Chinese and Indians and, within, indigenous groups (Daiacchi etc.). The share of the ethnic Malaysian population tends to grow mainly due to the emigration of many Chinese, a consequence of a policy that tends to enhance the culture Malay and to characterize the state in an Islamic sense. The population is mainly concentrated in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan (over 27,000 residents) and around the oil centers, where there has also been an immigration of labor from neighboring territories.

The country’s economy depends almost entirely on oil and natural gas resources, the proceeds of which are used to finance development projects aimed at diversifying the production structure. Agriculture (rice, bananas, citrus fruits, cassava, coconut palm) has lost much of its importance. Forests yield a fair amount of wood and rubber. The oil fields – 219,300 barrels per day (2006) – of Seria, Ampa and Jerudong are connected by pipeline to the Lutong refineries in Sarawak; the natural gas extracted in Seria is mainly used for the production of electricity. In the industrial field, the petrochemical, shipbuilding, food, textile, wood and rubber sectors are developed. Thanks to the export of oil and natural gas, the trade balance is in surplus.

For the value of GDP per capita ($ 38,005 2008 estimate), Brunei is among the top 15 countries in the world ranking, alongside many Western states and in a similar position, but better than that of the classic oil producers of the Near and Middle East. Obviously, this income indicator is not sufficient to classify Brunei among the developed countries, considering its overwhelming dependence on the production of hydrocarbons and their export (more than half directed towards the Japan), wealth disparities, social conditions still largely unsatisfactory. The government has therefore undertaken a series of initiatives aimed at enlarging and differentiating the modest industrial apparatus, at establishing commercial relations with a greater number of countries, as well as at favoring, through tax concessions, foreign investments in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The main port is that of Muara.

About the author