conventional long form: Negara Brunei Darussalam
conventional short form: Brunei

BX

constitutional sultanate

Bandar Seri Begawan

4 districts (daerah-daerah, singular -
daerah); Belait, Brunei and Muara, Temburong, Tutong

1 January 1984 (from UK)

National Day, 23 February (1984)

29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended under a
State of Emergency since December 1962, others since independence on 1
January 1984)

based on English common law; for Muslims, Islamic
Shari'a law supersedes civil law in a number of areas

none

chief of state: Sultan and Prime Minister His Majesty Paduka Seri
Baginda Sultan Haji HASSANAL Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah (since 5
October 1967); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head
of government
head of government: Sultan and Prime Minister His Majesty Paduka Seri
Baginda Sultan Haji HASSANAL Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah (since 5
October 1967); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head
of government
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

unicameral Legislative Council or Majlis Masyuarat
Megeri (a privy council that serves only in a consultative capacity;
NA seats; members appointed by the monarch)
elections: last held in March 1962
note: in 1970 the Council was changed to an appointive body by decree
of the monarch; an elected Legislative Council is being considered as
part of constitutional reform, but elections are unlikely for several
years

Supreme Court, chief justice and judges are sworn in
by the monarch for three-year terms

Brunei Solidarity National Party or
PPKB in Malay ; the
PPKB is the only legal political party in Brunei; it was registered in
1985, but became largely inactive after 1988, it was revived in 1995
and again in 1998; it has less than 200 registered party members;
other parties include Brunei People's Party or PRB (banned in 1962)
and Brunei National Democratic Party (registered in May 1965,
deregistered by the Brunei Government in 1988)

APEC, ASEAN, C, CCC, ESCAP,
G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFRCS, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD,
UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO

chief of mission: Ambassador Pengiran Anak Dato Haji PUTEH Ibni
Mohammad Alam
chancery: 3520 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:  (202) 342-0159
FAX:  (202) 342-0158

chief of mission: Ambassador Sylvia Gaye STANFIELD
embassy: Third Floor, Teck Guan Plaza, Jalan Sultan, Bandar Seri
Begawan
mailing address: PSC 470 (BSB), FPO AP 96507
telephone:  (2) 229670
FAX:  (2) 225293

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