A sparkling jewel on the island of Borneo, along the shores of the South China Sea, the land of Brunei Darussalam is an Islamic Sultanate blessed with a royal heritage of 600 years. The Sultanate of Brunei on the northwest corner of the island of Borneo is embraced and at one point even split...

A sparkling jewel on the island of Borneo, along the shores of the South China Sea, the land of Brunei Darussalam is an Islamic Sultanate blessed with a royal heritage of 600 years. The Sultanate of Brunei on the northwest corner of the island of Borneo is embraced and at one point even split in two by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. This tiny Islamic state is especially known for the legendary wealth of its Sultan, and for being one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia, with a very high standard of living. Education and healthcare are free; houses, cars, and even pilgrimages to Mecca are subsidized. Theres no tax on personal income and the average per capita income among the highest in the world.

In the sixteenth century Brunei was the seat of power to an empire that covered all of Borneo and even captured large parts of the Philippines and Manila for a brief period. Today the Sultanate of Brunei lost most of its territory but is nonetheless thriving on massive oil and gas reserves.

The capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, is an ostensive display of modern architecture, but the rest of the country has remained unchanged for centuries and is luckily quite unspoiled. Because of the oil, Brunei has never needed to exploit its forestry to any great degree, with the result that tropical forests still covers around seventy percent of the total land area. The coast caters for with sandy beaches and azure waters and mangrove swamps There are quaint villages amongst majestic monuments to be found, remnants of over 1200 years of an exotic and rich culture.

The Islamic ban on alcohol and the fact that nightlife is virtually non-existent make this country an Ideal destination for those that love rest and outdoor adventure. Brunei's has an equatorial climate with lots of rainfall and humidity at an average temperature of 28 degrees Celsius.

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