Brunei - Country information


		Brunei	Population Government Economy Geography Communication Transportation

Population		Top of page

Inhabitants		Life expectancy
374,577 (July 2007 est.)		total population: 75.3 years male: 73.12 years female: 77.59 years (2007 est.)

Ethnic groups		Religions
Malay 67%, Chinese 15%, indigenous 6%, other 12%		Muslim (official) 67%, Buddhist 13%, Christian 10%, other (includes indigenous beliefs) 10%

Languages		Literacy
Malay (official), English, Chinese		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93.9% male: 96.3% female: 91.4% (2002)

Government		Top of page

Government type		Capital
constitutional sultanate		Bandar Seri Begawan

Independance		National day
1 January 1984 (from UK)		National Day, 23 February (1984); note - 1 January 1984 was the date of independence from the UK, 23 February 1984 was the date of independence from British protection

Constitution		Legal system
29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended under a State of Emergency since December 1962, others since independence on 1 January 1984)		based on English common law; for Muslims, Islamic Shari'a law supersedes civil law in a number of areas

Economy		Top of page

GDP (purchasing power parity)		Growth rate
$9.531 billion (2005 est.)		0.4% (2005 est.)

GDP per inhabitant		Unemployment rate
$25,600 (2005 est.)		4% (2006)

Population below poverty line		Inflation rate
NA%		1.1% (2005)

Exports		Imports
$6.247 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)		$1.481 billion c.i.f. (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		Currency
		Bruneian dollar (BND)

Military expenditures
5.8% (2006 est.)

Geography		Top of page

Location		Area
Southeastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and Malaysia		5,770 sq km

Climate		Natural resources
tropical; hot, humid, rainy		petroleum, natural gas, timber

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