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chief of state: Sultan and Prime Minister Sir HASSANAL Bolkiah (since 5 October 1967); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: Sultan and Prime Minister Sir HASSANAL Bolkiah (since 5 October 1967)

cabinet: Council of Cabinet Ministers appointed and presided over by the monarch; deals with executive matters; note - there is also a Religious Council (members appointed by the monarch) that advises on religious matters, a Privy Council (members appointed by the monarch) that deals with constitutional matters, and the Council of Succession (members appointed by the monarch) that determines the succession to the throne if the need arises

elections: none; the monarch is hereditary

Legislative branch:

Legislative Council met on 25 September 2004 for first time in 20 years with 21 members appointed by the Sultan; passed constitutional amendments calling for a 45-seat council with 15 elected members; Sultan dissolved council on 1 September 2005 and appointed a new council with 29 members as of 2 September 2005; council met in March 2006 and in March 2007

elections: last held in March 1962 (date of next election NA)

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court - chief justice and judges are sworn in by monarch for three-year terms; Judicial Committee of Privy Council in London is final court of appeal for civil cases; Shariah courts deal with Islamic laws (2006)

Political parties and leaders:

National Development Party or NDP [YASSIN Affendi]

note: Brunei National Solidarity Party or PPKB [Abdul LATIF bin Chuchu] and People's Awareness Party or PAKAR [Awang Haji MAIDIN bin Haji Ahmad] were deregistered; parties are small and have limited activity

Political pressure groups and leaders:

NA

International organization participation:

ADB, APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN, C, EAS, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Pengiran Anak Dato PUTEH

chancery: 3520 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: [1] (202) 237-1838

FAX: [1] (202) 885-0560

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Emil SKODON

embassy: Third Floor, Teck Guan Plaza, Jalan Sultan, Bandar Seri Begawan, BS8811

mailing address: PSC 470 (BSB), FPO AP 96507; P.O. Box 2991, Bandar Seri Begawan BS8675, Negara Brunei Darussalam

telephone: [673] 222-0384

FAX: [673] 222-5293

Flag description:

yellow with two diagonal bands of white (top, almost double width) and black starting from the upper hoist side; the national emblem in red is superimposed at the center; the emblem includes a swallow-tailed flag on top of a winged column within an upturned crescent above a scroll and flanked by two upraised hands

Economy Brunei

Economy - overview:

Brunei has a small well-to-do economy that encompasses a mixture of foreign and domestic entrepreneurship, government regulation, welfare measures, and village tradition. Crude oil and natural gas production account for just over half of GDP and more than 90% of exports. Per capita GDP is among the highest in Asia, and substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. The government provides for all medical services and free education through the university level and subsidizes rice and housing. Brunei's leaders are concerned that steadily increased integration in the world economy will undermine internal social cohesion. Plans for the future include upgrading the labor force, reducing unemployment, strengthening the banking and tourist sectors, and, in general, further widening the economic base beyond oil and gas.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$19.64 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$12.39 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

0.4% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$51,000 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 0.9%

industry: 71.6%

services: 27.5% (2005 est.)

Labor force:

180,400 (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 2.9%

industry: 61.1%

services: 36% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate:

4% (2006)

Population below poverty line:

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: NA%

highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

0.4% (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $3.765 billion

expenditures: $4.815 billion (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:

rice, vegetables, fruits; chickens, water buffalo, cattle, goats, eggs

Industries:

petroleum, petroleum refining, liquefied natural gas, construction

Industrial production growth rate:

1.8% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:

2.735 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 100%

hydro: 0%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption:

2.625 billion kWh (2005 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:

219,300 bbl/day (2006)

Oil - consumption:

14,900 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

205,600 bbl/day (2006)

Oil - imports:

660.1 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:

1.35 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

11.03 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

2.254 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

8.776 billion cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2005)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

374.8 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

$7.101 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$6.767 billion f.o.b. (2006)

Exports - commodities:

crude oil, natural gas, refined products, clothing

Exports - partners:

Japan 30.8%, Indonesia 20.1%, South Korea 15%, Australia 11.6%, US 7.8% (2006)

Imports:

$2 billion c.i.f. (2006)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, chemicals

Imports - partners:

Singapore 31.6%, Malaysia 19%, UK 8.1%, Japan 5.6%, China 5.5%, Thailand 4.6% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$770,000 (2004)

Debt - external:

$0 (2005)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA

Currency (code):

Bruneian dollar (BND)

Currency code:

BND

Exchange rates:

Bruneian dollars per US dollar - NA (2007), 1.5886 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003)

Fiscal year:

1 April - 31 March

Communications Brunei

Telephones - main lines in use:

80,200 (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

254,000 (2006)

Telephone system:

general assessment: service throughout the country is excellent; international service is good to Southeast Asia, Middle East, Western Europe, and the US

domestic: every service available

international: country code - 673; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; the Asia-America Gateway submarine cable network, scheduled for completion by late 2008, will provide new links to Asia and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 1, FM 2 (transmitting on 18 different frequencies), shortwave 0 (British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) station transmits two FM signals with English and Nepali service) (2006)

Radios:

329,000 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:

4 (includes 2 UHF stations broadcasting a subscription service) (2006)

Televisions:

201,900 (1998)

Internet country code:

.bn

Internet hosts:

15,347 (2007)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

2 (2000)

Internet users:

165,600 (2006)

Transportation Brunei

Airports:

2 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 1

over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 1

914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)

Heliports:

3 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 672 km; oil 463 km (2007)

Roadways:

total: 3,650 km

paved: 2,819 km

unpaved: 831 km (2005)

Waterways:

209 km (navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m) (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 465,937 GRT/413,393 DWT

by type: liquefied gas 8

foreign-owned: 8 (UK 8) (2007)

Ports and terminals:

Lumut, Muara, Seria

Military Brunei

Military branches:

Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF): Royal Brunei Land Forces, Royal Brunei Navy, Royal Brunei Air Force (Tentera Udara Diraja Brunei) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age (est.) for voluntary military service; non-Malays are ineligible to serve (2007)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 108,356

females age 16-49: 110,153 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 91,297

females age 16-49: 93,228 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

males age 16-49: 3,223

females age 16-49: 3,182 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

4.5% (2006)

Transnational Issues Brunei

Disputes - international:

Brunei and Malaysia reached a tentative deal in 2007 consultations to resolve their offshore and deepwater seabed dispute and resume hydrocarbon exploration, terminated in 2003, near the site of a major discovery; Malaysia's land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is in dispute; Brunei established an exclusive economic fishing zone encompassing Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands in 1984, but makes no public territorial claim to the offshore reefs; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions in the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants

Illicit drugs:

drug trafficking and illegally importing controlled substances are serious offenses in Brunei and carry a mandatory death penalty

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

Bulgaria

Introduction Bulgaria

Background:

The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.

Geography Bulgaria

Location:

Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey

Geographic coordinates:

43 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 110,910 sq km

land: 110,550 sq km

water: 360 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than Tennessee

Land boundaries:

total: 1,808 km

border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia 318 km, Turkey 240 km

Coastline:

354 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers

Terrain:

mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Black Sea 0 m

highest point: Musala 2,925 m

Natural resources:

bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land

Land use:

arable land: 29.94%

permanent crops: 1.9%

other: 68.16% (2005)

Irrigated land:

5,880 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

19.4 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic / industrial / agricultural):

total: 6.92 cu km/yr (3%/78%/19%)

per capita: 895 cu m/yr (2003)

Natural hazards:

earthquakes, landslides

Environment - current issues:

air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia

People Bulgaria

Population:

7,262,675 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 13.8% (male 514,238/female 489,608)

15-64 years: 68.6% (male 2,449,812/female 2,532,845)

65 years and over: 17.6% (male 520,962/female 755,210) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 41.1 years

male: 38.9 years

female: 43.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.813% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

9.58 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

14.3 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-3.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female

total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 18.51 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 22 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 14.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 72.83 years