Brunei

Abstract

HISTORY. The Sultanate of Brunei once had authority over the whole of Borneo and parts of the Sulu Islands and the Philippines, but at the end of the 16th century its power declined and various cessions were made to Great Britain, the Rajah of Sarawak and the British North Borneo Company in the 19th century to combat piracy and anarchy. By the middle of the 19th century the State had been reduced to its present limits. In 1847 the Sultan of Brunei entered into a treaty with Great Britain for the furtherance of commercial relations and the suppression of piracy, and in 1888, by a further treaty, the State was placed under the protection of Great Britain. On 7 Jan. 1979 the Sultan and the UK signed a new treaty under which Brunei became a sovereign independent state on 31 Dec. 1983.