Visit Brunei

Visit Brunei

Brunei officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace (Malay: Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi), is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island ofBorneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, the country is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak,Malaysia.

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It is separated into two parts by the Sarawak district ofLimbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo; the remainder of the island's territory is divided between the nations of Malaysia and Indonesia. Brunei's population was 408,786 in July 2012.

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At the peak of the Bruneian Empire, Sultan Bolkiah (reigned 1485–1528) is alleged to have had control over most regions of Borneo, including modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, as well as the Sulu archipelago off the northeast tip of Borneo, Seludong (modern-day Manila), and the islands off the northwest tip of Borneo. The maritime state was visited by Spain'sMagellan Expedition in 1521 and fought against Spain in 1578's Castille War.
During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline. The Sultanate ceded Sarawak (Kuching) to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British resident as colonial manager in 1906. After the Japanese occupation during World War II, in 1959 a new constitution was written. In 1962, a small armed rebellion against the monarchy was ended with the help of the British.
Brunei gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984. Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s, with the GDP increasing 56% from 1999 to 2008, transformed Brunei into an industrialised country. It has developed wealth from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields. Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asia nations, after Singapore, and is classified as a "developed country". According to theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. The IMF estimated, in 2011, that Brunei was one of two countries (the other beingLibya) with a public debt at 0% of the national GDP. Forbes also ranks Brunei as the fifth-richest nation out of 182, based on its petroleum and natural gas fields.
According to legend, Brunei was founded by Awang Alak Betatar, later to be Sultan Muhammad Shah. He moved from Garang, a place in theTemburong District to the Brunei River estuary, discovering Brunei. According to legend, upon landing he exclaimed, Baru nah (loosely translated as "that's it!" or "there"), from which the name "Brunei" was derived. He was the first Muslim ruler of Brunei. Before the rise of the Bruneian Empire under the Muslim Bolkiah Dynasty, Brunei is believed to have been under Buddhist rulers.
It was renamed "Barunai" in the 14th century, possibly influenced by the Sanskrit word "varu?" , meaning either "ocean" or the mythological "regent of the ocean". The word "Borneo" is of the same origin. In the country's full name,Negara Brunei Darussalam, darussalam (Arabic means "abode of peace", while negara means "country" in Malay.
The earliest recorded documentation by the West about Brunei is by an Italian known as Ludovico di Varthema, who also said the "Bruneian people have fairer skin tone than the peoples he met in Maluku Islands". On his documentation back to 1550;
We arrived at the island of Bornei (Brunei or Borneo), which is distant from the Maluch about two hundred miles, and we found that it was somewhat larger than the aforesaid and much lower. The people are pagans and are men of goodwill. Their colour is whiter than that of the other sort....in this island justice is well administered... Some historians have suggested that Bruneian Malay have been linked with the Chinese mainland due to its historical sources dependent on Chinese support.
Brunei is a southeast Asian country consisting of two unconnected parts with a total area of 5,765 square kilometres (2,226 sq mi) on the island of Borneo. It has 161 kilometres (100 mi) of coastline next to the South China sea, and it shares a 381 km (237 mi) border with Malaysia. It has 500 square kilometres (193 sq mi) of territorial waters, and a 200-nautical-mile (370 km; 230 mi) exclusive economic zone.
About 97% of the population lives in the larger western part (Belait, Tutong, and Brunei-Muara), while only about 10,000 people live in the mountainous eastern part (Temburong District). The total population of Brunei is approximately 408,000 as of July 2010, of which around 150,000 live in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. Other major towns are the port town ofMuara, the oil-producing town of Seria and its neighbouring town, Kuala Belait. In Belait District, the Panaga area is home to large numbers of Europeans expatriates, due to Royal Dutch Shell and British Army housing, and several recreational facilities are located there.
Most of Brunei is within the Borneo lowland rain forests ecoregion, which covers most of the island. Areas of mountain rain forests inland.
The climate of Brunei is tropical equatorial. The average annual temperature for the two years 2013 and 2014 was 27.6 °C (81.7 °F), in figures supplied by the Meteorology Department for the weather station located at the airport. In those two years, the highest average temperature for one day was 31.0 °C (87.8 °F) (on 7 May 2014) and the lowest average temperature for one day was 23.2 °C (73.8 °F) (on 22 January 2014). Islam is the official religion of Brunei, specifically that of the Sunni branch, as dictated by the Mudabh of Shafi'i. Two-thirds of the population, including the majority of Bruneian Malays and Bruneian Chinese, adhere to Islam. Other faiths practised are Buddhism (13%, mainly by the Chinese) and Christianity (10%).

Freethinkers, mostly Chinese, form about 7% of the population. Although most of them practise some form of religion with elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, they prefer to present themselves as having practised no religion officially, hence labelled as atheists in official censuses. Followers of indigenous religions are about 2% of the population. The culture of Brunei is predominantly Malay (reflecting its ethnicity), with heavy influences from Islam, but is seen as much more conservative than Indonesia andMalaysia. Influences to Bruneian culture come from the Malay cultures of theMalay Archipelago. Four periods of cultural influence have occurred, animist, Hindu, Islamic, and Western. Islam had a very strong influence, and was adopted as Brunei's ideology and philosophy. Brunei's official main language is the Malay language but the English language is also widely spoken as it is considered a compulsory subject in the majority of the schools.
As a Sharia country, the sale and public consumption of alcohol is banned. Non-Muslims are allowed to bring in a limited amount of alcohol from their point of embarkation overseas for their own private consumption.
The government has made efforts to protect women's rights. The law prohibits sexual harassment and stipulates that whoever assaults or uses criminal force, intending thereby to outrage or knowing it is likely to outrage the modesty of a person, shall be punished with imprisonment for as much as five years and caning. The law stipulates imprisonment of up to 30 years, and caning with not fewer than 12 strokes for rape. The law does not criminalise spousal rape; it explicitly states that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, as long as she is not under 13 years of age, is not rape. Protections against sexual assault by a spouse are provided under the amended Islamic Family Law Order 2010 and Married Women Act Order 2010. The penalty for breaching a protection order is a fine not exceeding BN$2,000 ($1,538) or imprisonment not exceeding six months.
Citizenship is derived through one's parents rather than through birth within the country's territory. Parents with stateless status are required to apply for a special pass for a child born in the country; failure to register a child may make it difficult to enroll the child in school. By law sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age constitutes rape and is punishable by imprisonment for not less than eight years and not more than thirty years and not less than twelve strokes of the cane. The intent of the law is to protect girls from exploitation through prostitution and "other immoral purposes" including pornography. Brunei's revised penal code came into force on April 22, 2014, stipulating the death penalty for numerous offences, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Mohammed, insulting any verses of the Quran and Hadith, blasphemy, declaring oneself a prophet or non-Muslim, robbery, rape, adultery, sodomy, extramarital sexual relations for Muslims and murder. Stoning to death was the specified "method of execution for crimes of a sexual nature." Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) declared that, "Application of the death penalty for such a broad range of offences contravenes international law.” Visit Brunei
Male and female homosexuality is illegal in Brunei. The country passed a law that came into force on 22 April 2014, allowing the death penalty to be administered by stoning for homosexual acts, such as sexual intercourse, given there is enough evidence pointing to the action (i.e. with 4 trusted, impartial, and truthful witnesses in attendance). It has been acknowledged as a crime in Brunei with the introduction of the Sharia law. The law also stipulates that adultery is to be punished with death by stoning given there is enough evidence pointing to the action (i.e. with 4 trusted, impartial, and truthful witnesses in attendance). Without 4 qualified witnesses, there will be no stoning.  Visit Brunei
Upon adopting sharia, the Sultan banned public celebration of the Christian festival of Christmas, believing that it was interfering with the practise of Islam. Breaking this law is punished with a penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of US$20,000. Visit Brunei
As of August 2015, there were no cases within the Sharia Penal Code that would entail the death penalty without four qualified witnesses. Visit Brunei
Brunei is the first country in Asia to ban on shark finning nationwide.  Visit Brunei
Selling other rare animals such as pangolins and endangered birds are considered as a serious crimes, however Brunei is lacking of animal rights enforcers. Visit Brunei
here are four government-run hospitals in Brunei, one for every district. There are also 16 health centres and 10 health clinics. Visit Brunei
Healthcare in Brunei is charged at B$1 per consultation for citizens and is free for anyone under 12 years old. A health centre run by Brunei Shell Petroleum is located in Panaga. For medical assistance not available in the country, citizens are sent overseas at the government's expense In the period of 2011–12, 327 patients were treated in Malaysia and Singapore at the cost to the government of $12 million. Visit Brunei

Brunei has 2.8 hospital beds per 1000 people. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is currently at 0.1%, and numerous AIDS awareness campaigns are currently being held.7.5% of the population are obese, the highest prevalence rate in ASEAN. Also, studies by the Ministry of Health show that at least 20% of schoolchildren in Brunei are either overweight or obese. The largest hospital in Brunei is Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital (RIPAS) hospital, which has 538 beds is situated in the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. Visit Brunei

There are two private medical centres, Gleneagles JPMC Sdn Bhd . and Jerudong Park Medical Centre. The Health Promotion Centre opened in November 2008 and serves to educate the public on the importance of having a healthy lifestyle. There is currently no medical school in Brunei, and Bruneians wishing to study to become doctors must attend university overseas. However, the Institute of Medicines had been introduced at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam and a new building has been built for the faculty.Visit Brunei

The building, including research lab facilities, was completed in 2009. There has been a School of Nursing since 1951. Fifty-eight nurse managers were appointed in RIPAS to improve service and provide better medical care. In December 2008, The nursing college merged with the Institute of Medicines at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam to produce more nurses and midwives. It is now called the PAPRSB (Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'datul Bolkiah) Institute of Health Sciences Visit Brunei

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