ABSTRACT
Brunei, known formally as Negara Brunei Darussalam (Brunei, Abode of Peace), is on the island of Borneo facing north to the South China Sea. It is divided into two sectors surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. With a population of only 429,000, and with the second-highest GNI per capita in Southeast Asia ($39,800), only Singapore rivals Brunei in terms of wealth and small size. About 70 percent of the people of Brunei are ethnically Malay, and most of this group works in the public sector. The Chinese community, which makes up nearly one-fifth of the population (but for the most part does not have Bruneian citizenship), supplies most of the nonpublic workforce. Indigenous, non-Muslim ethnic groups who live in the interior regions compose about 10 percent of Brunei’s population. Imported laborers from neighboring countries supply additional labor to the microstate. As an Islamic monarchy, Islam is the state religion.
