Brunei, also referred to as the “Nation of Brunei” and “the Abode of Peace” is an independent Islamic sultanate that lies on the northern coast of Borneo Island and is entirely encircled by the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. Interestingly, Sarawak’s Limbang District is the separator that divides Brunei into two halves.
The two separate lands of Brunei that we know today are the result of the state’s past history with the colonial empire. Although Brunei occupies a relatively small portion of territorial grounds, this sovereign country unexpectedly has a thriving economy, with a whopping amount of GDP per capita.
Overview of Brunei’s geography
Before we proceed further into the story behind Brunei’s split existence, let’s take a brief look at the overall landscape of Brunei. According to Britannica, Brunei features a narrow coastal plain that spans along its northern border, giving way to rocky hills to the south. In the Southeast Region, Pagon Peak stands tall as the nation’s highest point with a height of 6,070 feet or about 1,850 meters high.
Moving to the east part of Brunei, there are several rivers, including the Temburong and Pandaruan that flows north into the South China Sea. On the contrary, the western segment—which consists of the Capital City of Bandar Seri Begawan and rivers such as the Belait and Tutong—is larger than the other half of the country.
The history behind Brunei’s disconnected state
Back in the day, the Brunei Empire under Sultan Bolkiah (1485–1528) originally extended control over northern Borneo territories such as modern day Sabah and Sarawak, the Sulu archipelago in the northeast edge of Borneo, Seludong (now known as Manila), and also islands off Borneo’s northwest coast. The sultanate state was discovered later on in 1521 by Spain’s Magellan Expedition and ultimately broke into conflict with Spain during the Castille War in 1578.
It was then during the reign of the British colony in the 19th century that Brunei’s empire along with its vast territory began to crumble. As mentioned in the profile of Brunei Darussalam published by ahacentre.org, Brunei starts to lost its territorial lands in the hands of the colonial empire in 1841 with the grant of Sarawak region to James Brook—a British explorer who was then named as Sarawak’s first “White Rajas”. It is said that the cession of Sarawak from the Bruneian Sultanate to James Brook was a reward for his assistance in putting down a rebellion.
In addition, Brooke received further land concessions, which helped in expanding Sarawak’s territory. Following Great Britain’s annexation of Labuan Islands in Brunei Bay, Brunei eventually also lost Sabah to a British North Borneo Chartered Company, which made Sabah now become a part of Eastern Malaysia in North Eastern Borneo.
After the split
Brunei became a British protectorate in 1888, in 1906, a British resident was appointed as a colonial manager. In 1959, a new constitution was written following the Japanese occupation during World War II. With help from the British, a small armed rebellion against the monarchy was put to an end in 1962.
Throughout the 1970s, Brunei’s political life remained stable due to the state’s economic boom as one of the world’s richest oil producers. Brunei and the United Kingdom reached an agreement in 1979 that called for Brunei’s complete independence from Britain on 1 January 1984. Neighboring countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia assured Brunei that they would acknowledge Brunei’s sovereignty, easing the sultan’s concern of the country’s land being seized by either neighboring states.
