Brunei Darussalam Women's Pearl Fashion Jewelry 76

Brunei Darussalam Women's Pearl  Fashion Jewelry.

By Aamir Mannan

Identification. Brunei Darussalam is a multiethnic society in which one ethnic group, the Barunay, has a monopoly of political power. Variations in tradition among other ethnic groups are not regional but cultural, social, and linguistic. Indigenous Muslims usually are referred to as Brunei Malays even if they are not native speakers of the Malay language.

Speculations about the etymology include derivations from the Malay ( baru nah ("there!"), a Sanskrit form, and the Kelabit name for the Limbang River.

Location and Geography. The original home of Brunei culture is the area around the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. Settlements of Barunay and Kadayan also are found along the coasts of northern Sarawak and southwestern Sabah in Malaysia; Tutong and Belait settlements are found exclusively in Brunei. Bisaya, Iban, and Penan people also live in Sarawak and Dusun and Murut people in both Sarawak and Sabah.

Brunei Darussalam is 2,226 square miles (5,763 square kilometers), with a coastline of about 100 miles (161 kilometers) on the South China Sea coast of northwestern Borneo and along the western shores of the southernmost portion of Brunei Bay. Brunei is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The climate is equatorial with high temperatures, high humidity, and heavy rainfall, although there is no distinct wet season. The country is divided into three contiguous administrative districts—Brunei-Muara, Tutong, and Belait—with a fourth, Temburong, separated by the Limbang Valley of Sarawak. The names of the districts derive from their main rivers.

Approximately 75 percent of the country is forested, although the exportation of whole logs has been banned. The country is covered with a wide range of mangrove, heath, peat swamp, mixed dipterocarp, and montane forests. There are numerous rivers, whose broad valleys contain most of the country's settlements. The southern portion of Temburong is mountainous and sparsely populated.