Brunei

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National Name: Negara Brunei Darussalam

Languages: Malay (official), English, Chinese

Ethnicity/race: Malay 67%, Chinese 15%, indigenous 6%, other 12%

National Holiday: National Day, February 23

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

Literacy rate: 92.7% (2011 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $21.11 billion billion; per capita $38,500. Real growth rate: –2.8%. Inflation: 2%. Unemployment: 2.7% (2011). Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: rice, vegetables, fruits; chickens, water buffalo, eggs. Labor force: 198,800; 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: $10.67 billion f.o.b. (2011 est.): crude oil, natural gas, refined products. Imports: $228.4 billion c.i.f. (2011 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: 79,900 (2011); mobile cellular: 435,100 (2011). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 10, shortwave 0 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997). Internet hosts: 49,403 (2011). Internet users: 314,900 (2011).

Transportation: Highways: total: 2,971 km (2011). Waterways: 209 km; navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m (2004). Ports and harbors: Lumut, Muara, Seria. Airports: 2 (2011 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.

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