1989 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1989 (Internet Archive)
People and Society
Birth rate
23 births/ 1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
4 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
64% Malay, 20% Chinese, 16% other
Infant mortality rate
10 deaths/ 1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
89,000 (includes members of the Army); 33% of labor force is foreign (1988); 50.4% production of oil, natural gas, and construction; 47.6% trade, services, and other; 2.0% agriculture, forestry, and fishing (1984)
Language
Malay (official), English, and Chinese
Life expectancy at birth
74 years male, 77 years female (1990)
Literacy
45%
Nationality
noun — Bruneian(s); adjective— Bruneian
Net migration rate
52 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
2% of labor force
Population
372,108 (July 1990), growth rate 7.1% (1990)
Religion
60% Muslim (official); 8% Christian; 32% Buddhist and indigenous beliefs
Total fertility rate
2.9 children born/ woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
4 districts (daerah-daerah, singular — daerah); Belait, Brunei and Muara, Temburong, Tutong
Capital
Bandar Seri Begawan
Communists
probably none
Constitution
29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended under a State of Emergency since December 1962, others since independence on 1 January 1984)
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Date 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 Teck Guan Plaza (corner of Jalan McArthur), Bandar Seri Begawan (mailing ad-
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
Executive branch
sultan, prime minister, Council of Cabinet Ministers
Independence
1 January 1984 (from UK)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Leaders
Chief of State and Head of Government— Sultan and Prime Minister Sir Muda HASSANAL BOLKIAH Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah (since 5 October 1 967) Political parties and leaders: Brunei National United Party (inactive), Anak Hasanuddin, chairman; Brunei National Democratic Party (the first legal political party and now banned) Abdul Latif bin Abdul Hamid, chairman
Legal system
based on Islamic law
Legislative branch
unicameral Legislative Council (Majlis Masyuarat Megeri)
Long-form name
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Member of
ASEAN, ESCAP (associate member), IMO, INTERPOL, QIC, UN
National holiday
National Day, 23 February (1984)
Suffrage
none
Type
constitutional sultanate