Quick facts
Capital
Bandar Seri Begawan
Population
466,330
Region
South-Eastern Asia
Currency
Brunei dollar (BND)
Language
Malay
Interesting Facts About Brunei
- Brunei is the only sovereign state entirely on the island of Borneo; the rest of the island is divided between Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Brunei's territory is bifurcated by the Sarawak district of Limbang, a Malaysian enclave that splits the country into two parts.
- The official language is Standard Malay, which can be written in both Latin alphabet (Rumi) and Arabic alphabet (Jawi) scripts.
- Brunei Malay, the principal spoken language, is about 84% cognate with standard Malay and mostly mutually intelligible with it.
- English is widely spoken and serves as the language of instruction from primary to tertiary education throughout the country.
- Indigenous ethnicities in Brunei include the Belait, Brunei Bisaya, Dusun, Kedayan, Lun Bawang, Murut, and Tutong peoples.
- More than 82% of Brunei's population identify as Muslim, following the Sunni denomination and Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence.
- Arabic is taught in schools as the religious language of Muslims, with a majority of the Muslim population receiving formal or informal education in reading, writing, and pronunciation.
View Bandar Seri Begawan guide
Bandar Seri Begawan
Capital of Brunei