Brunei

Brunei A small country in the island of Borneo, it was made a British protectorate in 1888. It was occupied by the Japanese during World War II (1941–5). While the Sultanate of Brunei had been an independent and at times powerful force before the arrival of the British, it was mainly the discovery of large on-and offshore oil and gas deposits which prompted it to remain under British protection and not join the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. It received partial home rule in 1959, though the Constitution was suspended and a state of emergency declared in 1962, which has been in force since. Completely autonomous since 1971, it became independent officially on 1 January 1984. Its wealth has continued to be predominantly based on oil and gas exports (over 90 per cent of all exports in 2001), even though the government has tried to diversify the domestic economy to reduce the country's dependence on food imports.