1.
Brunei
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Brunei, officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, the country is surrounded by the state of Sarawak. It is separated into two parts by the Sarawak district of Limbang, Brunei is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo, the remainder of the islands territory is divided between the nations of Malaysia and Indonesia. Bruneis population was 408,786 in July 2012, the maritime state was visited by Spains Magellan Expedition in 1521 and fought against Spain in the 1578 Castille War. During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline, the Sultanate ceded Sarawak to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British resident as colonial manager in 1906, after the Japanese occupation during World War II, in 1959 a new constitution was written. In 1962, an armed rebellion against the monarchy was ended with the help of the British. Brunei gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984, Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s, with the GDP increasing 56% from 1999 to 2008, transformed Brunei into an industrialised country. It has developed wealth from petroleum and natural gas fields. Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asian nations, after Singapore, according to the International Monetary Fund, Brunei is ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. The IMF estimated in 2011 that Brunei was one of two countries with a debt at 0% of the national GDP. Forbes also ranks Brunei as the fifth-richest nation out of 182, based on its petroleum, according to legend, Brunei was founded by Awang Alak Betatar, later to be Sultan Muhammad Shah. He moved from Garang, a place in the Temburong District to the Brunei River estuary, according to legend, upon landing he exclaimed, Baru nah, from which the name Brunei was derived. He was the first Muslim ruler of Brunei, before the rise of the Bruneian Empire under the Muslim Bolkiah Dynasty, Brunei is believed to have been under Buddhist rulers. It was renamed Barunai in the 14th century, possibly influenced by the Sanskrit word varuṇ, the word Borneo is of the same origin. In the countrys name, Negara Brunei Darussalam, darussalam means abode of peace. The people are pagans and are men of goodwill and their colour is whiter than that of the other sort. in this island justice is well administered. One of the earliest Chinese records is the 977 AD letter to Chinese emperor from the ruler of Po-ni, which some scholars believe to refer to Borneo
2.
Southeast Asia
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Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies near the intersection of geological plates, with seismic and volcanic activity. Southeast Asia consists of two regions, Mainland Southeast Asia, also known historically as Indochina, comprising Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar. Maritime Southeast Asia, comprising Indonesia, East Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, East Timor, Brunei, Cocos Islands, definitions of Southeast Asia vary, but most definitions include the area represented by the countries listed below. All of the states are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the area, together with part of South Asia, was widely known as the East Indies or simply the Indies until the 20th century. Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, Papua New Guinea has stated that it might join ASEAN, and is currently an observer. Southeast Asia is geographically divided into two subregions, namely Mainland Southeast Asia and Maritime Southeast Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia includes, Maritime Southeast Asia includes, The Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India are geographically considered part of Southeast Asia. Eastern Bangladesh and the Seven Sister States of India are culturally part of Southeast Asia, the eastern half of Indonesia and East Timor are considered to be biogeographically part of Oceania. Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago, homo floresiensis also lived in the area up until 12,000 years ago, when they became extinct. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the population in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor. Solheim and others have shown evidence for a Nusantao maritime trading network ranging from Vietnam to the rest of the archipelago as early as 5000 BC to 1 AD. The peoples of Southeast Asia, especially those of Austronesian descent, have been seafarers for thousands of years and their vessels, such as the vinta, were ocean-worthy. Magellans voyage records how much more manoeuvrable their vessels were, as compared to the European ships, Passage through the Indian Ocean aided the colonisation of Madagascar by the Austronesian people, as well as commerce between West Asia and Southeast Asia. Gold from Sumatra is thought to have reached as far west as Rome and this was later replaced by Hinduism. Theravada Buddhism soon followed in 525, in the 15th century, Islamic influences began to enter. This forced the last Hindu court in Indonesia to retreat to Bali, in Mainland Southeast Asia, Burma, Cambodia and Thailand retained the Theravada form of Buddhism, brought to them from Sri Lanka. This type of Buddhism was fused with the Hindu-influenced Khmer culture, very little is known about Southeast Asian religious beliefs and practices before the advent of Indian merchants and religious influences from the 2nd century BCE onwards. Prior to the 13th century CE, Hinduism and Buddhism were the religions in Southeast Asia
3.
South China Sea
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The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Karimata and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 square kilometres. The areas importance largely results from one-third of the worlds shipping sailing through its waters, the sea and its mostly uninhabited islands are subject to competing claims of sovereignty by several countries. These claims are reflected in the variety of names used for the islands. South China Sea is the dominant term used in English for the sea, and this name is a result of early European interest in the sea as a route from Europe and South Asia to the trading opportunities of China. In the sixteenth century Portuguese sailors called it the China Sea, the International Hydrographic Organization refers to the sea as South China Sea. The Classic of Poetry, Zuo Zhuan, and Guoyu classics of the Spring and Autumn period also referred to the sea, Nan Hai, the South Sea, was one of the Four Seas of Chinese literature. There are three other seas, one for each of the four cardinal directions, during the Eastern Han dynasty, Chinas rulers called the Sea Zhang Hai. Fei Hai became popular during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, usage of the current Chinese name, Nan Hai, became gradually widespread during the Qing Dynasty. In Southeast Asia it was called the Champa Sea or Sea of Cham. The majority of the sea came under Japanese naval control during World War II following the acquisition of many surrounding South East Asian territories in 1941. Japan calls the sea Minami Shina Kai South China Sea and this was written 南支那海 until 2004, when the Japanese Foreign Ministry and other departments switched the spelling 南シナ海, which has become the standard usage in Japan. In China, it is called the South Sea, 南海 Nánhǎi, in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, it was long called the South China Sea, with the part within Philippine territorial waters often called the Luzon Sea, Dagat Luzon, by the Philippines. However, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, a PAGASA spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea. In September 2012, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed Administrative Order No, states and territories with borders on the sea include, the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Major rivers that flow into the South China Sea include the Pearl, Min, Jiulong, Red, Mekong, Rajang, Pahang, Pampanga, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the South China Sea as follows, On the South. From Fuki Kaku the North point of Formosa to Kiushan Tao on to the South point of Haitan Tao, the Mainland, the Southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand and the East coast of the Malay Peninsula. The sea lies above a drowned continental shelf, during recent ice ages global sea level was hundreds of metres lower, the South China Sea opened around 45 million years ago when the Dangerous Ground rifted away from southern China. Extension culminated in seafloor spreading around 30 million years ago, a process that propagated to the SW resulting in the V-shaped basin we see today, extension ceased around 17 million years ago
4.
East Malaysia
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East Malaysia, also known as Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan or Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak, and it lies to the east of Peninsular Malaysia, which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are separated by the South China Sea, while East Malaysia is less populated and less developed than West Malaysia, its land mass is larger and it has notably more natural resources, chiefly oil and gas reserves. Some parts of present-day East Malaysia, especially the regions, were once part of the thalassocracy of the Sultanate of Brunei. However, most parts of the region consisted of independent tribal societies. In 1658, the northern and eastern coasts of Sabah were ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu while the west coast of Sabah, beginning in the mid 19th century, Sabah and Sarawak became British protectorates, and, in 1946, they became separate British colonies. Sabah and Sarawak were separate British colonies from Malaya, and did not become part of the Federation of Malaya in 1957, however, each voted to become part of the new Federation of Malaysia along with the Federation of Malaya and Singapore in 1963. Previously, there were efforts to unite Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak under the North Borneo Federation, Sabah and Sarawak retained a higher degree of local government and legislative autonomy than other states in West Malaysia. For example, both states have their own immigration controls, requiring Malaysian citizens from West Malaysia to carry passports or identity cards when visiting East Malaysia, the islands of Labuan were once part of North Borneo in 1946 before becoming a Federal Territory in Malaysia on 1984. It was used to establish a centre for finance in 1990. The consensus seems to be that Sabah and Sarawak are merely states of the federation with a higher degree of autonomy compared to states in Peninsular Malaysia. There are also separate laws governing Sabah and Sarawak, as opposed to the National Land Code. With regard to the administration of justice, the courts in East Malaysia are part of the court system in Malaysia. The Constitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two High Courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction – The High Court in Malaya and the High Court in Sabah, the current Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak is Richard Malanjum from Sabah. His office is the fourth highest in the Malaysian judicial system, in 1976, all the Sabah and Sarawak MPs supported the Malaysian parliament bill which downgraded both the states from equal partners to one of the 13 states in the federation. Political parties in Sarawak and Sabah evolved independently of each other, party switching and party leadership tussle are common in both the states. The landscape of East Malaysia is mostly rain forests with areas of mountain rain forest towards the interior regions. The total area of East Malaysia is 200,565 km2, representing approximately 61% of the land area of Malaysia
5.
Climate
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Climate is the statistics of weather, usually over a 30-year interval. Climate differs from weather, in that weather only describes the conditions of these variables in a given region. A regions climate is generated by the system, which has five components, atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, climates can be classified according to the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme was the Köppen climate classification, the Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on the origin of air masses that define the climate of a region. Paleoclimatology is the study of ancient climates, Climate models are mathematical models of past, present and future climates. Climate change may occur long and short timescales from a variety of factors. For example, a 3°C change in mean annual temperature corresponds to a shift in isotherms of approximately 300–400 km in latitude or 500 m in elevation, therefore, species are expected to move upwards in elevation or towards the poles in latitude in response to shifting climate zones. Climate is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period, the standard averaging period is 30 years, but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations, the classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system. The World Meteorological Organization describes climate normals as reference points used by climatologists to compare current climatological trends to that of the past or what is considered normal, a Normal is defined as the arithmetic average of a climate element over a 30-year period. A30 year period is used, as it is enough to filter out any interannual variation or anomalies. The WMO originated from the International Meteorological Organization which set up a commission for climatology in 1929. At its 1934 Wiesbaden meeting the commission designated the thirty-year period from 1901 to 1930 as the reference time frame for climatological standard normals. In 1982 the WMO agreed to update climate normals, and in these were completed on the basis of climate data from 1 January 1961 to 31 December 1990. The difference between climate and weather is usefully summarized by the popular phrase Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get. Over historical time spans there are a number of nearly constant variables that determine climate, including latitude, altitude, proportion of land to water and these change only over periods of millions of years due to processes such as plate tectonics
6.
Tropical climate
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A tropical climate in the Köppen climate classification it is a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures of at least 18 °C. In tropical climates there is only two seasons, a wet season and a dry season. Tropical climates are frost-free and changes in the angle are small. In tropical climates temperature remains constant throughout the year. Within the tropical climate there are distinct varieties based on precipitation, In the Tropical rainforest climate. These climates usually occur within 5–10° latitude of the equator, in some eastern coast areas, they may extend to as much as over 26° away from the equator. This climate is dominated by the doldrums Low Pressure System all year round and it is dominated by the monsoon winds which change direction according to the seasons. This climate has a driest month with less than 60 millimetres. Examples, Southern part of Arabian Peninsula, mountaintops within the tropics, e. g. Mount Kenya, can be cold. However, like lowlands in the tropics, there is seasonal variation of temperature. Because of the effect of sun angle on climate most areas within the tropics are hot year-round, the ITCZ is shown, for July average, in the graphic. Areas of ascending air have heavy rainfall, areas of descending air are dry, the ITCZ somewhat follows the solar equator throughout the year, but with geographical variations, and in some areas is heavily influenced by local large-scale monsoons
7.
Tropical rainforest climate
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A tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate, is a tropical climate usually found along the equator. Regions with this climate typically feature tropical rainforests, and it is designated Af by the Köppen climate classification. One day in an equatorial climate can be similar to the next. A tropical rainforest is found at latitudes within 10 degrees North and South of the equator. The climate is most commonly found in South America, Central Africa, however, tropical rainforest microclimates are found in many other regions, while not everywhere along the equatorial region features a tropical rainforest climate. Additionally, while tropical rainforest climates are located near the equator. For instance, Santos, Brazil and Fort Lauderdale, United States are not only far removed from the equator, yet both of these cities feature a tropical rainforest climate, albeit with noticeably cooler and warmer periods of the year
8.
Mountain
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A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism and these forces can locally raise the surface of the earth. Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers, weather conditions, a few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in huge mountain ranges. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level and these colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains, different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction and recreation, the highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain. Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as criteria for defining a mountain, whether a landform is called a mountain may depend on local usage. The highest point in San Francisco, California, is called Mount Davidson, notwithstanding its height of 300 m, similarly, Mount Scott outside Lawton, Oklahoma is only 251 m from its base to its highest point. Whittows Dictionary of Physical Geography states Some authorities regard eminences above 600 metres as mountains, in addition, some definitions also include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 or 500 feet. For a while, the US defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or taller, any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill. However, today, the United States Geological Survey concludes that these terms do not have technical definitions in the US, using these definitions, mountains cover 33% of Eurasia, 19% of South America, 24% of North America, and 14% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earths land mass is mountainous, there are three main types of mountains, volcanic, fold, and block. All three types are formed from plate tectonics, when portions of the Earths crust move, crumple, compressional forces, isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features. The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher and steeper, major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Volcanoes are formed when a plate is pushed below another plate, at a depth of around 100 km, melting occurs in rock above the slab, and forms magma that reaches the surface. When the magma reaches the surface, it builds a volcanic mountain. Examples of volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the magma does not have to reach the surface in order to create a mountain, magma that solidifies below ground can still form dome mountains, such as Navajo Mountain in the US
9.
Sea level
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Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earths oceans from which heights such as elevations may be measured. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. The careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change, the term above sea level generally refers to above mean sea level. Precise determination of a sea level is a difficult problem because of the many factors that affect sea level. Sea level varies quite a lot on several scales of time and this is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, wind, atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, temperature, salinity and so forth. The easiest way this may be calculated is by selecting a location and calculating the mean sea level at that point, for example, a period of 19 years of hourly level observations may be averaged and used to determine the mean sea level at some measurement point. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land, hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates. In the UK, the Ordnance Datum is the sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Prior to 1921, the datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, in Hong Kong, mPD is a surveying term meaning metres above Principal Datum and refers to height of 1. 230m below the average sea level. In France, the Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and it is used for a part of continental Europe and main part of Africa as official sea level. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001, height above mean sea level is the elevation or altitude of an object, relative to the average sea level datum. It is also used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to sea level, and in the atmospheric sciences. An alternative is to base height measurements on an ellipsoid of the entire Earth, in aviation, the ellipsoid known as World Geodetic System 84 is increasingly used to define heights, however, differences up to 100 metres exist between this ellipsoid height and mean tidal height. The alternative is to use a vertical datum such as NAVD88. When referring to geographic features such as mountains on a topographic map, the elevation of a mountain denotes the highest point or summit and is typically illustrated as a small circle on a topographic map with the AMSL height shown in metres, feet or both. In the rare case that a location is below sea level, for one such case, see Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
10.
Brunei-Muara District
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Brunei-Muara is the northern-most district in Brunei. It is the smallest of Bruneis four districts in term of area but by far the most populous, other major towns in the Brunei-Muara district include Muara town. The Brunei-Muara district houses the largest and deepest port in Brunei, about 80% of the district is highly urbanized, more than any other districts in Brunei. More than 296,500 people live in the capital city area. Bandar Seri Begawan, Gadong, Jerudong, Berakas and other densely populated kampongs are the urban region of the district. Each of the districts in Brunei are divided into mukims or counties/sub-districts, the Brunei-Muara district is govern by a District Officer, each mukims by a Penghulu or head of county and each villages by a Ketua Kampong or head of village. The current District Officer of the Brunei-Muara district is Dato Paduka Awang Haji Mohd, originally, during the reign of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, the Brunei-Muara district has 17 mukims where Berakas was not yet divided into two divisions and Kumbang Pasang was considered a mukim. However, during the reign of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the Brunei-Muara district received a change, Mukim Berakas was divided into two parts, Berakas A and Berakas B due to rapid residential and infrastructural developments. While Kumbang Pasang become absorbed into Kianggeh, of all the mukims,6 of them are located in the water village and are therefore considered as water village mukims. All of the water village mukims are referred to as Kampong Ayer or the village as a whole. Although they are a part of the village collective, each mukims are identified as a separate division or entity for administrative reasons. The district has the highest number of private and public schools, ranging from education to tertiary. There are two schools in the district, namely Jerudong International School and International School Brunei. The countrys leading college, Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College is also located in this district. Before the establishment of the oil and gas industry, Brunei-Muara was the center of the coal industry, until 1924, up to 650,000 tonnes of coal was produced. Today the district is the largest commercial district within Brunei, with the commercial centers of Gadong. Bruneis largest shopping mall, The Mall is located in Gadong Town, along with a number of hotels, such as the Sheraton Utama Hotel, Rizqun International Hotel and Empire Hotel and Country Club. Tourism is also one of the largest contributors to the districts GDP, all of the government ministry headquarters are located in this district, such as the Ministry of Finance Brunei
11.
Bandar Seri Begawan
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Bandar Seri Begawan /ˌbɑːndə sᵻˌriː bᵻˈɡaʊ. ən/ or /ˌbæn-/ BAND-ə sə-REE bə-GOW-ən, formerly known as Brunei Town, is the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Brunei. Bandar Seri Begawan has an population of 50,000, and including the whole Brunei-Muara District. The original name for city was Bandar Brunei or Brunei Town in English. In 1967, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Hassanal Bolkiah, Omar was then made the defense minister and on 5 October 1970, the city was renamed to honor him. The word Begawan was also used for Bruneian monarchs who have abdicated, besides that, Seri Begawan was known as blessed one in Sanskrit. Seri comes from the honorific Sanskrit word श्री Sri, and Bandar comes from Persian via Indian languages, in Malay, the word bandar means town or a city. Human settlement in Brunei can be traced back as far as 6th and 7th century with Malay trading centre, in 1899, first oil well was drilled at Ayer Bekunchi near Kampung Kasat, Bandar Seri Begawan. Although the oil well was drilled as deep as 259 metres, oil exploration in Brunei later shifted to Seria and Belait District in 1924. Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam II established a new palace on the west bank in 1909 after been persuaded by the British, Mosque and government buildings was also built along the western shores in 1920. In the same year, the new settlement was declared as a new capital of Brunei, However, the city prosperity was almost ended when the city was captured by the Japanese in 1941, before been recaptured by the Allied forces in 1945. During the war, most infrastructure was destroyed by Japanese and Allied bombing, the British began reconstructing most of its possessions in Borneo at the end of 1945 with the restoration of the law and order and the reopening of schools. In 1950, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, upon his ascension to the throne, negotiated with the British for an increase in corporate taxes, growing from 10% to 30% in 1953. A M$1.2 million allotment to Brunei for war damages during the Japanese occupation increased from M$1 million in 1946 to M$100 million in 1952. A five-year development plan with a budget of M$100 million was also implemented in 1953, with infrastructure receiving the largest percentage. On 1 August 2007, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah gave consent for the expansion of the city from 12.87 km2 to 100.36 km2, Istana Nurul Iman is the seat of the Brunei government and is the largest residential palace in the world according to Guinness World Records. There are two prime minister offices in the city, one is located inside Istana Nurul Iman and another one is located at Jalan Kumbang Pasang. The city is administered by the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Department, the city obtained city status in 1920. With an area of 100.36 square kilometres, the city is located in the most populous district of Brunei namely Brunei-Muara District
12.
Tutong District
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Tutong is a district in Brunei and its capital is Pekan Tutong or Tutong Town. The district borders the South China Sea to the north, the Bruneian district of Brunei and Muara and the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the east and it has a population of 35,200, and covers 1,303 km². The Sungai Tutong river flows through Tutong, the government schools are mainly administered under the Ministry of Education. There are 30 primary schools,5 secondary schools and one sixth form college in the district and these schools offer secondary education that leads to Brunei-Cambridge GCE O Level. The sole sixth form college of the district is the Tutong Sixth Form Centre, all of the private schools above offer kindergarten and primary education. Tutong has the largest lake in Brunei, Tasek Merimbun, which is surrounding the Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, other places of interest in Tutong, Sungai Basong Recreation Park Seri Kenangan Beach
13.
Tropics
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The tropics are a region of the Earth surrounding the equator. The tropics are also referred to as the zone and the torrid zone. The tropics include all the areas on the Earth where the Sun is at a point directly overhead at least once during the solar year. The tropics are distinguished from the climatic and biomatic regions of Earth, which are the middle latitudes. Tropical is sometimes used in a sense for a tropical climate to mean warm to hot and moist year-round. Many tropical areas have a dry and wet season, the wet season, rainy season or green season, is the time of year, ranging from one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region falls. Areas with wet seasons are disseminated across portions of the tropics and subtropics, under the Köppen climate classification, for tropical climates, a wet season month is defined as a month where average precipitation is 60 millimetres or more. Tropical rainforests technically do not have dry or wet seasons, since their rainfall is distributed through the year. When the wet season occurs during the season, or summer, precipitation falls mainly during the late afternoon. The wet season is a time when air quality improves, freshwater quality improves and vegetation grows significantly, floods cause rivers to overflow their banks, and some animals to retreat to higher ground. Soil nutrients diminish and erosion increases, the incidence of malaria increases in areas where the rainy season coincides with high temperatures. Animals have adaptation and survival strategies for the wetter regime, unfortunately, the previous dry season leads to food shortages into the wet season, as the crops have yet to mature. Regions within the tropics may well not have a tropical climate, there are alpine tundra and snow-capped peaks, including Mauna Kea, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Andes as far south as the northernmost parts of Chile and Argentina. Under the Köppen climate classification, much of the area within the tropics is classed not as tropical but as dry including the Sahara Desert. Tropical plants and animals are those native to the tropics. Tropical ecosystems may consist of rainforests, dry forests, spiny forests, desert. There are often significant areas of biodiversity, and species present, particularly in rainforests. In biogeography, the tropics are divided into Paleotropics and Neotropics, together, they are sometimes referred to as the Pantropic
14.
Belait District
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Belait is the largest as well as the western-most district in Brunei. The word Belait is taken from the name of the inhabitants of Belait. The district is administered from the town of Kuala Belait, its capital, Belait is governed by an appointed District Officer. The current District Officer of Belait is Awang Haji Harris Bin Othman, other major towns include Seria town and Sungai Liang. The district borders the South China Sea to the north, the Bruneian district of Tutong to the east, the district covers 2,727 km2/1,052 mi², which is about half the area of the entire nation. The landscape of the district varies from the swamps and lowland forests near the coast to the montane rainforest in the interior parts of the district. The Belait River flows through Belait and it is the longest river in Brunei, the Belait River, together with its tributaries drains the district – the Belait district roughly corresponds to the drainage basin of the Belait River. The district is subdivided into 8 Mukims. These are often named after the most important town or village contained within and these are, Bukit Sawat Kuala Balai Kuala Belait Labi Liang Melilas Seria Sukang Each Mukim is composed of a number of villages or kampongs. The district has a population of around 70,000 people most of live in Kuala Belait. The native inhabitants of the district are the Belait People and together with the other Bumiputera races form a majority in the district, a minority of this population is ethnic Chinese, particularly those speaking Cantonese, Taishan, and Hakka. Ibans, Penans and other people make up the rest of the population. Also present are a community of expatriates mostly working with or associated with the oil. Although it is the second most populous district, it has the lowest average population density of all four due to its large area. The population distribution is uneven, the areas around the coast are more settled than the mountainous interior rainforests. The largest urban areas in terms of population are the administrative capital of Kuala Belait. The district is connected by the Seria/Lumut bypass to the Muara-Tutong highway to the east and by the Rasau Bridge to Sungai Tujoh, roads near the coast, particularly in the urban areas of Kuala Belait, Seria and Sungai Liang are mostly surfaced and in good condition. Roads towards the interior – Labi, Melilas and Sukang – are partially surfaced, the Japanese built a wooden set of rail lines from Badas to the coast during the Second World War
15.
Temburong District
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Temburong is the easternmost district in Brunei. It is an exclave, as it is separated from the rest of Brunei by Malaysia, the main town located in the district is Pekan Bangar. The district borders Brunei Bay to the north and Sarawak, Malaysia to the east, south and it has a population of 9,300 and covers 1,166 km2. The Sungai Temburong river flows through the district, and the Sungai Pandaruan river forms the western section of the border with Malaysia, the national park has a scientific research centre facility, the Kuala Belalong Rainforest Field Studies Centre, which is only accessible by boat. It is called the Belalong Rainforest Experience, and is funded by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, an Outward Bound centre can also be found within the national park. Temburong has 67 km of roads connecting Bangar to interior villages, in addition a further 54 km of roads connect villages in the interior. A new 30 km roadway connecting the Muara and Temburong districts of Brunei is slated to be completed in 2019,14 km of this roadway would be crossing the Brunei Bay. Pristine forest still covers most of the district and this leads to the intensive development of the eco-tourism industry in Temburong district. The promotion event is a kick-start of the Heart of Borneo project at Brunei vicinity, SM Sultan Hassan is the districts only secondary school and is located in Bandar. In addition, there are 14 primary schools spread across the district, in 1987 the $10 million Pengiran Isteri Hajah Mariam Hospital opened, providing 50 beds and a variety of medical services. A number of clinics also exist. The district has a presence at Bangar Camp. There are two stations, one in Bangar and a smaller one in Puni. Popular sports in Temburong include football, top-spinning, netball and sepak takraw, R. Hédl, M. Svátek, M. Dancak, Rodzay A. W. A new technique for inventory of permanent plots in tropical forests, a case study from lowland dipterocarp forest in Kuala Belalong, Brunei Darussalam, In Blumea 54,2009, p 124–130
16.
Norfolk
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Norfolk /ˈnɔːrfək/ is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the west and north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, of the countys population, 40% live in four major built up areas, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford. The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in the east of the county, the area is not a National Park although it is marketed as such. It has similar status to a park, and is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in times, with camps along the higher land in the west. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county, situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in -ton and -ham. Endings such as -by and -thorpe are also common, indicating Danish place names, in the 9th century the region came under attack. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have high, by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture, the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian, the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich which was an addition to the railway network. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation, during the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolks low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding
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United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
18.
Delaware
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Delaware is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic and/or Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, to the northeast by New Jersey, the state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and Virginias first colonial governor. Delaware occupies the portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and is the second smallest, the sixth least populous. Delaware is divided into three counties, the lowest number of counties of any state, from north to south, the three counties are New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. While the southern two counties have historically been agricultural, New Castle County has been more industrialized. Before its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century, Delaware was inhabited by groups of Native Americans, including the Lenape in the north. It was initially colonized by Dutch traders at Zwaanendael, near the present town of Lewes, Delaware was one of the 13 colonies participating in the American Revolution. On December 7,1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, the Delaware Indians, a name used by Europeans for Lenape people indigenous to the Delaware Valley, also derive their name from the same source. The surname de La Warr comes from Sussex and is of Anglo-Norman origin and it came probably from a Norman lieu-dit La Guerre. This toponymic could derive from the Latin word ager, from the Breton gwern or from the Late Latin varectum, the toponyms Gara, Gare, Gaire also appear in old texts cited by Lucien Musset, where the word gara means gore. It could also be linked with a patronymic from the Old Norse verr, Delaware is 96 miles long and ranges from 9 miles to 35 miles across, totaling 1,954 square miles, making it the second-smallest state in the United States after Rhode Island. Delaware is bounded to the north by Pennsylvania, to the east by the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean, small portions of Delaware are also situated on the eastern side of the Delaware River sharing land boundaries with New Jersey. The state of Delaware, together with the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland, the definition of the northern boundary of the state is unusual. Most of the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania was originally defined by an arc extending 12 miles from the cupola of the courthouse in the city of New Castle and this boundary is often referred to as the Twelve-Mile Circle. This is the only nominally circular state boundary in the United States, to the west, a portion of the arc extends past the easternmost edge of Maryland. The remaining western border runs slightly east of due south from its intersection with the arc, the Wedge of land between the northwest part of the arc and the Maryland border was claimed by both Delaware and Pennsylvania until 1921, when Delawares claim was confirmed. Delaware is on a plain, with the lowest mean elevation of any state in the nation. Its highest elevation, located at Ebright Azimuth, near Concord High School, the northernmost part of the state is part of the Piedmont Plateau with hills and rolling surfaces
19.
Malaysia
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Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, land, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra
20.
Nautical mile
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A nautical mile is a unit of measurement defined as exactly 1852 meters. Historically, it was defined as one minute of latitude, which is equivalent to one sixtieth of a degree of latitude. Today it is an SI derived unit, being rounded to a number of meters. The derived unit of speed is the knot, defined as one mile per hour. The geographical mile is the length of one minute of longitude along the Equator, there is no internationally agreed symbol. M is used as the abbreviation for the mile by the International Hydrographic Organization and by the International Bureau of Weights. NM is used by the International Civil Aviation Organization, nm is used by the U. S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nmi is used by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the word mile is from the Latin word for a thousand paces, mīlia. In 1617 the Dutch scientist Snell assessed the circumference of the Earth at 24,630 Roman miles, around that time British mathematician Edmund Gunter improved navigational tools including a new quadrant to determine latitude at sea. He reasoned that the lines of latitude could be used as the basis for a unit of measurement for distance, as one degree is 1/360 of a circle, one minute of arc is 1/21600 of a circle. These sexagesimal units originated in Babylonian astronomy, Gunter used Snells circumference to define a nautical mile as 6,080 feet, the length of one minute of arc at 48 degrees latitude.3 metres. Other countries measure the minute of arc at 45 degrees latitude, in 1929, the international nautical mile was defined by the First International Extraordinary Hydrographic Conference in Monaco as 1,852 meters. Imperial units and United States customary units used a definition of the nautical mile based on the Clarke Spheroid, the United States nautical mile was defined as 6,080.20 feet based in the Mendenhall Order foot of 1893. It was abandoned in favour of the nautical mile in 1954.181 meters. It was abandoned in 1970 and, legally, references to the unit are now converted to 1,853 meters. Conversion of units Orders of magnitude
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Mile
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The mile is an English unit of length of linear measure equal to 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yards, and standardised as exactly 1,609.344 metres by international agreement in 1959. The Romans divided their mile into 5,000 feet but the importance of furlongs in pre-modern England meant that the statute mile was made equivalent to 8 furlongs or 5,280 feet in 1593. This form of the mile then spread to the British-colonized nations who continue to employ the mile, the US Geological Survey now employs the metre for official purposes but legacy data from its 1927 geodetic datum has meant that a separate US survey mile continues to see some use. Derived units such as miles per hour and miles per gallon, however, continue to be abbreviated as mph, mpg. The modern English word mile derives from Middle English myl and Old English mīl, the present international mile is usually what is understood by the unqualified term mile. When this distance needs to be distinguished from the nautical mile, in British English, the statute mile may refer to the present international miles or to any other form of English mile since the 1593 Act of Parliament which set it as a distance of 1,760 yards. Under American law, however, the statute mile refers to the US survey mile, the mile has been variously abbreviated—with and without a trailing period—as m, M, ml, and mi. The American National Institute of Standards and Technology now uses and recommends mi in order to avoid confusion with the SI metre and millilitre. Derived units such as miles per hour and miles per gallon, however, continue to be abbreviated in the United States, United Kingdom, the BBC style holds that There is no acceptable abbreviation for ‘miles’ and so it should be spelt out when used in describing areas. The Roman mile consisted of a thousand paces as measured by every other step—as in the distance of the left foot hitting the ground 1,000 times. The ancient Romans, marching their armies through uncharted territory, would push a carved stick in the ground after each 1000 paces. Well-fed and harshly driven Roman legionaries in good weather thus created longer miles, the distance was indirectly standardised by Agrippas establishment of a standard Roman foot in 29 BC, and the definition of a pace as 5 feet. An Imperial Roman mile thus denoted 5,000 Roman feet, surveyors and specialized equipment such as the decempeda and dioptra then spread its use. In modern times, Agrippas Imperial Roman mile was empirically estimated to have been about 1,481 metres in length, in Hellenic areas of the Empire, the Roman mile was used beside the native Greek units as equivalent to 8 stadia of 600 Greek feet. The mílion continued to be used as a Byzantine unit and was used as the name of the zero mile marker for the Byzantine Empire. The Roman mile also spread throughout Europe, with its local variations giving rise to the different units below, also arising from the Roman mile is the milestone. All roads radiated out from the Roman Forum throughout the Empire –50,000 miles of stone-paved roads, at every mile was placed a shaped stone, on which was carved a Roman numeral, indicating the number of miles from the center of Rome – the Forum. Hence, one knew how far one was from Rome
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Kilometre
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The kilometre or kilometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres. K is occasionally used in some English-speaking countries as an alternative for the kilometre in colloquial writing. A slang term for the kilometre in the US military is klick, there are two common pronunciations for the word. It is generally preferred by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, many scientists and other users, particularly in countries where the metric system is not widely used, use the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable. The latter pronunciation follows the pattern used for the names of measuring instruments. The problem with this reasoning, however, is that the meter in those usages refers to a measuring device. The contrast is more obvious in countries using the British rather than American spelling of the word metre. When Australia introduced the system in 1975, the first pronunciation was declared official by the governments Metric Conversion Board. However, the Australian prime minister at the time, Gough Whitlam, by the 8 May 1790 decree, the Constituent assembly ordered the French Academy of Sciences to develop a new measurement system. In August 1793, the French National Convention decreed the metre as the length measurement system in the French Republic. The first name of the kilometre was Millaire, although the metre was formally defined in 1799, the myriametre was preferred to the kilometre for everyday use. The term myriamètre appeared a number of times in the text of Develeys book Physique dEmile, ou, Principes de la de la nature. French maps published in 1835 had scales showing myriametres and lieues de Poste, the Dutch, on the other hand, adopted the kilometre in 1817 but gave it the local name of the mijl. It was only in 1867 that the term became the only official unit of measure in the Netherlands to represent 1000 metres. In the US, the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 prohibits the use of highway funds to convert existing signs or purchase new signs with metric units. Although the State DOTs had the option of using metric measurements or dual units, all of them abandoned metric measurements, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices since 2000 is published in both metric and American Customary Units. Some sporting disciplines feature 1000 m races in major events, but in other disciplines, even though records are catalogued
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Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
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Biodiversity
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Biodiversity, a contraction of biological diversity, generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. One of the most widely used definitions defines it in terms of the variability within species and it is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation within an area, biome, terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the tropics and these tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 per cent of earths surface, and contain about 90 percent of the worlds species. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, there are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, the number and variety of plants, animals and other organisms that exist is known as biodiversity. It is a component of nature and it ensures the survival of human species by providing food, fuel, shelter, medicines. The richness of biodiversity depends on the conditions and area of the region. All species of plants taken together are known as flora and about 300,000 species of plants are known to date, all species of animals taken together are known as fauna which includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, etc. Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions, more than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. More recently, in May 2016, scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described, the total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037 and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC. In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living on Earth. The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, there are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of a substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland. More recently, in 2015, remains of life were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, If life arose relatively quickly on Earth, then it could be common in the universe
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Law of the Sea
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It is the public law counterpart to admiralty law, which concerns private maritime intercourse. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, concluded in 1982, disputes are resolved at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, a court in Hamburg. In 2017, ITLOS celebrated 20 years of existence, during time it had settled some 25 cases. The judge are derived from a variety of nations. The result, A1982 oceanic constitution, called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, between New York, USA and Geneva, Switzerland, ambassadors from 165+ countries sat down to trade and barter for their nations rights. The conference created the standard for a 12-mile territorial sea around a land, within these limits, states are free to enforce any of their own laws or regulations or use any resources. Furthermore, each signatory coastal state is granted an Exclusive Economic Zone, in which state has exclusive rights to fisheries, mineral rights. Military ships do NOT have the right to pass through another nations EEZ unless permission is granted and this can cause difficulties for Russia, whose Baltic fleet and Black Sea fleet do not have unobstructed access to the great oceans. By contrast, the USA has free access to the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans, because the EEZ is so extensive, ITLOS may need to determine the ocean boundaries between states, as they did in 2012 between Bangladesh and Burma. As the Arctic Ocean becomes increasingly important for navigation and resources, the USA may find it necessary to submit to UNCLOS to clarify the Alaska/Canada border. The Law of the Sea should be distinguished from Maritime Law, in maritime law disputes, normally at least one party is a private litigant, such an individual or a corporation. Custom of the Sea Nansen Institute
26.
History of Brunei
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The Sultanate of Brunei ruled during the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Its territory allegedly covered the part of Borneo and the southern Philippines. European influence gradually brought an end to regional power. Later, there was a war with Spain, in which Brunei was victorious. Brunei was a British protectorate from 1888 to 1984, the history of Brunei before the arrival of Magellans ships is based mostly on speculation and the interpretation of Chinese sources and local legends. Historians believe that there was a forerunner to the present day Brunei Sultanate, one possible predecessor state was called Vijayapura, which possibly existed in northwest Borneo in the 7th century. It was probably a subject state of the powerful Srivijaya empire based in Sumatra, another possible predecessor state was called Po-ni. By the 10th century Po-ni had contacts with first the Song dynasty, by the 14th century Po-ni also fell under the influence of the Javanese Majapahit Empire. The book of Nagarakretagama, canto 14, written by Prapanca in 1365 mentioned Berune as a state of Majahpahit. The greater part of the historical record for early Brunei until the arrival of Pigafetta is based on legends. This signified the strong influence of the Ming Dynasty, and accounts for the combination of Ong Sum Pings influence in Brunei, in these 30 years, the two main powers combined quickly. The Chinese expanded their influence from the East of the Kinabatangan River to Northern Borneo and they built Chinese towns and villages, among which was present-day Kota Kinabalu. In 1402, after the death of Sultan Muhammad Shah, his son Abdul Majid Hasan ascended the throne, Ong Sum Ping and Pengiran Temenggong became regents. Bruneian history has seldom treated Hasan as the second Sultan, in 1406, after the death of Sultan Majid Hasan, there existed a two-year power vacuum. In these two years, Bruneian nobles started a struggle, in the end, Sultan Ahmad won out. Ahmad became the second Sultan in Bruneian History, Ong Sum Ping consolidated his power again. He didnt forget China after the immigration to Brunei, but continued to perpetuate Chinese cultural identity under the new Ming Dynasty, thus, he sent a representative with his armies to China. He landed on the region of Fujian, emperor Yong Le was pleased and asked for the official to organise a welcome party for Ong Sum Ping
27.
Bruneian Empire
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The Bruneian Empire or Empire of Brunei /bruːˈnaɪ/, also known as Sultanate of Brunei, was a Malay sultanate, centred in Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo island in Southeast Asia. The kingdom was founded in the early 7th century, started as a small seafaring trading kingdom ruled by a pagan or Hindu king known by the Chinese as Po-Li or Po-Ni. Understanding the history of the Bruneian Empire is quite difficult since it is mentioned in contemporary sources of its time. No local or indigenous sources exist to provide evidence for any of this, as a result, Chinese texts have been relied on to construct the history of early Brunei. Boni in Chinese sources most likely refers to Borneo as a whole, while Poli 婆利, the earliest diplomatic relations between Boni and China are recorded in the Taiping Huanyu Ji. In 1225, a Chinese official, Zhao Rugua, reported that Boni had 100 warships to protect its trade, in the 14th century, Brunei seems to be subjected to Java. The Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama, written by Prapanca in 1365, mentioned Barune as the state of Majapahit. In 1369, the Sulus attacked Po-ni, looting it of treasure, a fleet from Majapahit succeeded in driving away the Sulus, but Po-ni was left weaker after the attack. A Chinese report from 1371 described Po-ni as poor and totally controlled by Majapahit, after the death of its emperor, Hayam Wuruk, Majapahit entered the state of decline and was unable to control its overseas possessions. This opened the opportunity for Bruneian kings to expand their influence, Chinese Ming emperor Yongle, after ascending to throne in 1403, immediately dispatched envoys to various countries inviting them to pay tribute to Chinese court. Brunei immediately got involved in the tributary system with China. It controlled most of northern Borneo, and it became an important hub for the East, the Bruneian kings seems to cultivated alliance with regional seafaring peoples of Orang Laut and Bajau that formed their naval armada. The Dayaks, native tribes of interior Borneo however, were not under their control, the earliest recorded documentation by the West about Brunei was by an Italian known as Ludovico di Varthema. Ludovico was at the time on a route to the Maluku Islands when he landed in Borneo, the record of his documentation dates back to 1550. We arrived at the island of Bornei, which is distant from the Maluch about two hundred miles, and we found that it was larger than the aforesaid and much lower. The people are pagans and are men of goodwill and their colour is whiter than that of the other sort. in this island justice is well administered. During the rule of Bolkiah, the fifth Sultan, the empire controlled over coastal areas of northwest Borneo and reached Seludong, Ma-i, in the 16th century, the Brunei empires influence also extended as far as Kapuas River delta in West Kalimantan. The Malay Sultanate of Sambas in West Kalimantan and Sultanate of Sulu in Southern Philippines in particular has developed relations with the royal house of Brunei
28.
Brunei Civil War
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The Brunei Civil War was a civil war fought in Brunei from 1660 to 1673. His defeat was jeered by Pengiran Muda Alam, in his rage, Bongsu killed Pengiran Muda Alam and escaped from the scene. In revenge, Abdul Mubin and his followers garroted Sultan Muhammad Ali, Abdul Mubin then made himself the fourteenth Sultan and took the title of Sultan Hakkul Abdul Mubin. He tried to appease the previous Sultans followers by appointing Muhammad Alis grandson, after a while, however, Muhammad Alis supporters took revenge by convincing Bendahara Muhyiddin to stand up against Abdul Mubin. Bendahara Muhyddin initially refused, but then agreed to do so. His supporters started making disturbances in the form of poking spears into palaces and homes, Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin then moved his palace to Pulau Chermin under the advice of Muhyiddin with the intent to wait the crisis out. After he left, however, Muhyiddin declared himself the fifteenth sultan, a battle between the two competing Sultans then ensued. Thus, the war of Brunei started. During the Civil War, Abdul Mubin fled to Kinarut, Malaysia where, he stayed there for ten years and they returned to Brunei after a final attack by Muhyiddins forces in which they failed to defeat Abdul Mubin. Muhyiddin was concerned that the war was dragging on too long. He reportedly promised the land of eastern Sabah as a reward for the Sulus assistance, Abdul Mubin was killed in the civil war. It is not clear to historians whether Muhyiddin asked for Sulu’s help in the civil war, the Sultan of Sulu at that time on his part, however, claimed that he was asked by Brunei to help and was promised eastern Sabah as a reward. As promised, the Sultan of Sulu received eastern Sabah as a gift from the Sultan of Brunei. Sabah Brunei Sultanate of Sulu History of Brunei History of Sabah Sultan of Brunei Cockfighting
29.
White Rajahs
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Other men sometimes referred to as White Rajahs include Englishman Alexander Hare in Borneo, Scot John Clunies Ross in the Cocos Islands, and Dane Mads Lange in Bali. The first ruler was Englishman James Brooke, as a reward for helping the Sultanate of Brunei fight piracy and insurgency among the indigenous peoples, he was granted the landmass of Sarawak in 1841 and received independent kingdom status. His nephew had been the heir to the throne and objected to the cession. He was later confirmed with the title of Rajah of the territory, the Kingdom of Sarawak developed and expanded during the rule of the first two White Rajahs, growing to occupy much of the north region of the island of Borneo. The Brooke administrations leased or annexed more land from Brunei, the White Rajahs were all related, James and Charles had short grammar school educations, Vyner, Bertram, and Anthony went to public schools and Cambridge University. All but Anthony died in England and are buried at Sheepstor parish church, Anthony Brooke had his ashes interred at Sheepstor as well as at the Brooke Family graveyard in Kuching, as per his last wish. The White Rajahs pursued a policy of paternalism, with the goal of protecting the native peoples from capitalist exploitation, while James Brooke laid much of the groundwork for the expansion of Sarawak, his nephew Charles, the second rajah, was the great builder. He constructed public buildings to serve welfare, such as a hospital and he worked to extend the borders of the state. Vyner Brooke instituted significant political reforms during his tenure and he ended the absolute rule of the Rajah in 1941, before the Japanese invasion of World War II, by granting new powers to the Council Negri. Bertram co-ruled with his brother, taking turns of 6 –8 months in charge of the country each year. Charles inherited under the Will in 1868, and confirmed the succession in his own will of 1913, on his accession in 1918, his son Vyner swore to uphold the Will as forming the constitution of the state. This unique testamentary trust became known as The Sarawak Sovereignty Trust, when James Brooke first arrived in Sarawak, it was governed as a vassal state of the Sultanate of Brunei, the system of government was based on the Bruneian model. Brooke reorganised the government according to the British model, eventually creating a civil service and it recruited European, chiefly British, officers to run district outstations. The Sarawak Service was continually reformed by Rajah James and his successors, Rajah James retained many of the customs and symbols of Malay monarchy, and combined them with his own style of absolute rule. The Rajah had the power to introduce laws and acted as judge in Kuching. The White Rajahs were determined to prevent the peoples of Sarawak from being exploited by Western business interests. They allowed the Borneo Company Limited to assist in managing the economy, the core of the early Sarawak economy was antimony, later followed by gold, which was mined in Bau by Chinese syndicates who imported numerous workers from China. After the local Chinese uprising in 1857, the operations were gradually taken over by the Borneo Company
30.
British Borneo
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British Borneo comprised the four northern parts of the island of Borneo, which are now Brunei, Labuan, Sabah, and Sarawak. During the British colonial rule until 1963, Sarawak, Labuan and Sabah known as, Kingdom of Sarawak – Crown Colony of Sarawak, Crown Colony of Labuan, in 1687 Father Ventimiglia, a Theatine, was commissioned by Pope Innocent XI to preach Christianity in Borneo. There are no memorials of this mission, which has left no traces in the island although the missionary declared that God had blessed his labours, Father Cuarteron was originally a sea-captain and had vowed, after escaping great peril, to devote himself to the evangelisation of Borneo. He landed at Labuan in 1857, in company with several missionaries who deserted him in 1860, although alone in the island of Labuan, Father Cuarteron courageously continued his labours. At length, seeing that isolation made him powerless, he went to Rome in 1879 to request that the Propaganda place the mission in charge of an institute, from Rome Father Cuarteron went to Spain, where he soon died. The island of Labuan has an area of 30 square miles and contains 6,800 inhabitants, the prefect Apostolic lives at Labuan. The stations served are Labuan and Kuching, the two most important towns, outside of these two places where the missionaries live ten stations are visited, Sibu, Kanowit, Igan, Oya, Mukah, Baram, Papar, Jesselton, Putatan, and Sandakan. According to the Missions-Atlas of P, the first prefect Apostolic appointed under the new administration was the Rev. Thomas Jackson. The society continued in charge of the mission, during the Second World War, the British realised they were unable to defend the colony from the powerful Imperial Japanese Navy. They destroyed the airfields, and especially the oil fields there, in 1943, the Chinese population of about 50,000 rebelled against Japan and seized some towns. They were overwhelmed with many executed, australia sent special operation forces, which trained and armed local militia units and aided the landing of an Australian division in June 1945. Japanese forces numbered about 31,000, and held out until October 1945 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles, ed. article name needed. WorldStatesmen- Malaysia historical context, not worked in here
31.
Japanese occupation of British Borneo
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Because of its oil resources, Borneo was a prime target for Japan, and a very poorly guarded one. Chronically short of resources, Japan needed an assured supply, particularly of oil. In 1941, the Americans and British had placed an embargo on exports of raw materials to Japan because of its aggression in China. Borneo was strategically important to Japan as it is located on the sea routes between Java, Sumatra, Malaya and Celebes. Control of these routes was vital to securing the territory, the Japanese invasion plan called for the British territories to be taken and held by the Imperial Japanese Army and the southern Dutch territory to be taken and held by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The IJA unit that invaded northern Borneo was the 35th Infantry Brigade, the Brigade was led by Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi and consisted of units previously stationed at Canton, southern China. Ten transport ships carried the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade HQ under the command of Major-General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, the Support Force—commanded by Rear-Admiral Takeo Kurita—consisted of the cruisers Kumano and Suzuya and the destroyers Fubuki and Sagiri. The Japanese forces intended to capture Miri and Seria, while the rest would capture Kuching, the convoy proceeded without being detected and, at dawn on 16 December 1941, two landing units secured Miri and Seria with little resistance from British forces. A few hours later, Lutong was captured, after securing the oilfields, on 22 December, the main Japanese forces moved westwards to Kuching. The Japanese airforce bombed Singkawang airfield to prevent a Dutch attack, after escorts drove off a lone Dutch submarine, the Japanese task force entered the mouth of the Santubong river on 23 December. The convoy arrived off Cape Sipang, and the troops in twenty transports, commanded by Colonel Akinosuke Oka, the 2nd Battalion of the 15th Punjab Regiment, which was stationed in Kuching, was the sole Allied infantry unit on the entire island. Although they resisted the Japanese attack on the airfield, they were outnumbered and retreated up the Santubong river. At about 16,40 on 25 December, Japanese troops successfully captured Kuching airfield, the Punjab Regiment retreated through the jungle to the Singkawang area. On 31 December 1941, a force under Lieutenant Colonel Watanabe moved northward to occupy the remainder of Brunei, Jesselton was defended by the North Borneo Armed Constabulary, with only 650 men. They hardly provided any resistance to slow down the Japanese invasion, on 3 January 1942, the Japanese army invaded Labuan Island. On 18 January 1942, using fishing boats, the Japanese landed at Sandakan. On the morning of the 19 January, Governor Charles Robert Smith surrendered British North Borneo and was interned with other staff, the occupation of British Borneo was thus completed. Southern and central Borneo were taken by the Japanese Navy, following its attacks from east and west, after ten weeks in the jungle-covered mountains, Allied troops surrendered on 1 April 1942
32.
Borneo campaign (1945)
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The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, attacked Imperial Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and air forces, centred on the U. S. 7th Fleet under Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, the Australian First Tactical Air Force, thirteenth Air Force also played important roles in the campaign. The plans for the Allied attacks were known collectively as Operation Oboe, Borneo in particular was considered at the time a strategic location for its natural resources, oil. The Borneo campaign was criticized in Australia at the time and in subsequent years, modern historians such as Max Hastings have said that attacking these forces, already cut off from Japan, was a waste of resources. Any rational strategic judgment would have them to their own devices screened by token allied forces until their nations defeat enforced their surrender. In the end only the operations against Tarakan, Balikpapan and British Borneo—at Labuan, the campaign opened with Oboe 1 by a landing on the small island of Tarakan, off the north east coast on 1 May 1945 using Australian built MKIII folboats. Small parties paddled in the Tarakan region to obtain useful information, on the 10th June 1945 Oboe 6 subsequently followed with simultaneous assaults on the island of Labuan and the coast of Brunei, in the north west of Borneo. A week later, the Australians followed up with attacks on Japanese positions around Weston on the part of Brunei Bay. The attention of the Allies then switched back to the central east coast, the last major amphibious assault of World War II was at Balikpapan on 1 July 1945. These operations ultimately constituted the last campaigns of Australian forces in the war against Japan. 1 May –21 June 1945, Battle of Tarakan 10 June –15 August 1945, Battle of North Borneo and Battle of Labuan 1–21 July 1945, Battle of Balikpapan Japanese occupation of British Borneo Dennis, the Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. Commando Kayak, The Australian Folboat in the Pacific Campaign, hirschbooks. net & ozatwar. com/hoehn. ISBN 978-3-033-01717-7 Last Battles, The Landings, WW2 Australia Borneo campaign at AWM London Borneo Campaign at WW2 Database
33.
British Military Administration (Borneo)
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The British Military Administration was the interim administrator of British Borneo between the end of World War II and the establishment of the Crown Colony of Sarawak and North Borneo in 1946. Specifically, the entity lasted from 12 September 1945 to 15 July 1946, Labuan also were placed under a temporary British military rule and the headquarters located there. The headquarters was mostly managed by the Australian Imperial Force, the area under this administration comprises today of Labuan, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. British Military Administration Japanese occupation of Malaya Japanese occupation of Singapore Lists of Archival Materials from Public Record Office, British military administration British Borneo, Monthly Reports
34.
Brunei revolt
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The Brunei revolt was a December 1962 insurrection in the British protectorate of Brunei by opponents of its monarchy and its proposed inclusion in the Federation of Malaysia. The insurgents were members of the TNKU, a militia supplied by Indonesia, the TKNU began co-ordinated attacks on the oil town of Seria and on police stations and government facilities around the protectorate. The revolt began to break down within hours, having failed to achieve key objectives such as the capture of Brunei town, the revolt influenced the Sultans 1963 decision not to join Malaysia. It is seen as one of the first stages of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, the northern part of the island of Borneo was composed of three British territories, the colonies of Sarawak and North Borneo and the protectorate of the Sultanate of Brunei. Oil was discovered in 1929 near Seria and the Shell Petroleum Company concession provided the Sultanate with a huge income, the capital, called Brunei Town in those days, was on a river some 10 miles from the coast. In 1959, the Sultan, Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin III, established a legislature with half its members nominated, elections were held in September 1962 and all of the contested seats were won by the Brunei People’s Party. Between 1959 and 1962, the United Kingdom, Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, however, the Philippines and particularly Indonesia opposed any move towards unification of North Borneo and Sarawak with the new federation. This support was given strength by evidence of widespread anti-Federation sentiment in Sarawak, in fact, political forces in Sarawak had long anticipated their own national independence as promised by the last White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Vyner Brooke, in 1941. The North Kalimantan proposal was seen as an alternative by local opposition against the Malaysian Federation plan. However, before the Brunei People’s Party electoral success, a wing had emerged, the North Kalimantan National Army. Its sympathies lay with Indonesia which was seen as having better ‘liberationist’ credentials than Malaya, Azahari had lived in Indonesia and was in touch with Indonesian intelligence agents. He had recruited several officers who had trained in clandestine warfare in Indonesia. By late 1962, they could muster about 4000 men, a few modern weapons, hints of brewing trouble came in early November 1962 when the Resident for the 5th Division of Sarawak, Richard Morris, who was based in Limbang received information. Special Branch police from Kuching visited Limbang but only found some illegal uniforms with TNKU badges, later in November, Morris heard that an insurrection was planned for Brunei, but not before 19 December. Claude Fenner, the Inspector General of the Malayan Police flew to Sarawak to investigate, however, the Chief of Staff in the British Far East Headquarters in Singapore did review and update the contingency plan, PALE ALE, for Brunei. On 6 December, Morris heard the rebellion would start on the 8th, on 7th, similar information reached John Fisher, the resident of the 4th Division of Sarawak, based in Miri some 20 miles west of Brunei. As a result, police were put on alert through Brunei, North Borneo and Sarawak. Contrary to popular belief, no evidence has ever been unearthed to support claims that the Indonesian President
35.
History of Southeast Asia
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The term Southeast Asia has been in use since World War II. Earliest Homo sapiens presence in Mainland Southeast Asia can be traced back to 50,000 years ago, as early as 10,000 years ago, Hoabinhian settlers have developed a tradition and culture of distinct artefact and tool production. During the Neolithic Austroasiatic peoples populated Indochina via land routes and sea-borne Austronesian immigrants preferably settled in insular Southeast Asia, the earliest agricultural societies that cultivate millet and wet-rice emerge around 1,700 BCE in the lowlands and riverine floodplains of Indochina. Around the same time the first Agrarian Kingdoms emerged where territory was abundant and favourable, such as Funan at the lower Mekong, smaller and insular principalities increasingly engaged in and contributed to the rapidly expanding sea trade. The history of Southeast Asia has been influenced by its wide topographical diversity. Maritime Southeast Asia is apart from exceptions like Borneo and Sumatra a patchwork of recurring land-sea patterns on widely dispersed islands, a discontinuity, that admitted moderately sized thalassocratic states indifferent to territorial ambitions where growth and prosperity was associated with sea trade. Mainland Southeast Asia with a continuous, but rugged and difficult terrain provided the basis for the early Khmer, the era of European colonialism, early Modernity and the Cold War era revealed the reality of limited political significance for the various Southeast Asian polities. Post-World War II national survival and progress required a modern state, there are numerous ancient Asian designations for Southeast Asia, none of which refer to a strictly defined geographical area. Names include Suvarnabhumi or Sovannah Phoum and Suvarnadvipa in Indian tradition, the term Southeast Asia has been coined to designate the area of operation for Anglo-American forces in the Pacific Theater of World War II from 1941 to 1945. Anatomically modern human migration into Southeast Asia before 50,000 years ago has been confirmed by the combined fossil record of the region. Java Man and Homo floresiensis attest for a regional presence and isolation. Modern human presence in the Niah cave on East Malaysia dates back to 40,000 years BP, human remains are from approximately 24,000 years ago. Research emphasises considerable variations in quality and nature of the artifacts, influenced by environmental conditions and proximity. Remarkable is nonetheless that the Hoabinhian culture accounts for the first verified ritual burials, genetics as a research tool has been established only recently but results tend to contradict conventional theories. Though millet and rice cultivation was introduced around 2000 BCE, hunting and gathering remained an important aspect of food provision, in particular in forested, many tribal communities of the aboriginal Australo-Melanesian settlers continued the lifestyle of mixed sustenance until the modern era. Between around 1,700 and 1,000 BC people settled in the Southeast Asian lowlands as wet-rice, immigration from China alongside the introduction of farming occurred and DNA testing calls for revision of Neolithic migrations. Earliest known copper and bronze production in Southeast Asia has been found at the site of Ban Chiang in North-east Thailand, by about 500 BCE large and delicately decorated bronze drums of remarkable quality, that weighed more than 70 kg were produced in the laborious lost-wax casting process. This industry of highly sophisticated metal processing has been developed locally bare of Chinese or Indian influence, historians relate these achievements to the presence of well organised, centralised and hierarchical communities and a large population
36.
Emblem of Brunei
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The national emblem of Brunei is featured prominently on the flag of Brunei. There are five components to the national emblem, the flag, the royal parasol, the wings, the hands. Below the crescent is a banner, both are inscribed with lettering in Arabic, On the crescent, Bruneis national motto. On the banner, the name, Brunei Darussalam, literally “Brunei. All elements on the crest are red, on some versions they have black outlines, others have colourless outlines. The small swallowtail flag and parasol, regalia of the monarchy, have been the royal insignia since the creation of the emblem. The wings symbolise protection of justice, tranquility, prosperity and peace, below these is the crescent, a symbol of Islam, the state religion of Brunei. On the sides, the hands indicate the governments duty is to preserve and promotes the welfare of the citizens. After the Constitution was enacted in 1959 the Sultan of Brunei adopted a different emblem from the emblem of state, at his coronation in 1968, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah used a crown with an original design due it is based on the brocade turbans used by previous sultans. It is made of metal, decorated with pendilia and a sarpech consisting of a crescent-and-ten-pointed star. About 1999 a highly elaborate achievement was adopted and it maintained the inscribed crescent, since that time vert, and the winged umbrella as core elements but the Sultans crown was added over them. This set is surrounded by a garland of ears paddy or and is displayed the name of God in chief, on the yellow standard of the Sultan, the emblem is all red
37.
Borneo
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Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest island in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, the island is politically divided among three countries, Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory, in the north, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak make up about 26% of the island. Additionally, the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan is situated on an island just off the coast of Borneo. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, antipodal to an area of Amazon rainforest, Borneo is itself home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world, and to Bornean orangutans. The island is known by names, internationally it is known as Borneo, after Brunei. The name Brunei possibly was derived from the Sanskrit word váruṇa, meaning either ocean or the mythological Varuna. Indonesian natives called it Kalimantan, which was derived from the Sanskrit word Kalamanthana, prior to that the island was also known by other names. In 977 Chinese records began to use the term Po-ni to refer to Borneo or Brunei, in 1225 it was also mentioned by the Chinese official Chau Ju-Kua. The Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama, written by Majapahit court poet Mpu Prapanca in 1365, mentioned the island as Nusa Tanjungnagara, to the west of Borneo are the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. To the south and east are islands of Indonesia, Java and Sulawesi, to the northeast are the Philippine Islands. With an area of 743,330 square kilometres, it is the third-largest island in the world and its highest point is Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, with an elevation of 4,095 m. The largest river system is the Kapuas in West Kalimantan, with a length of 1,143 km, other major rivers include the Mahakam in East Kalimantan, the Barito in South Kalimantan, and Rajang in Sarawak. Clearwater Cave, for example, has one of the worlds longest underground rivers, deer Cave is home to over three million bats, with guano accumulated to over 100 metres deep. The South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand now submerge the former low-lying areas of the peninsula, the Borneo rainforest is 140 million years old, making it one of the oldest rainforests in the world. There are about 15,000 species of flowering plants with 3,000 species of trees,221 species of mammals and 420 species of resident birds in Borneo. There are about 440 freshwater fish species in Borneo and it is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals. The Borneo rainforest is one of the few remaining habitats for the endangered Bornean orangutan
38.
Politics of Brunei
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The politics of Brunei take place in a framework of an absolute monarchy, where by the Sultan of Brunei is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government, Brunei has a Legislative Council with 36 appointed members, that only has consultative tasks. The Sultans role is enshrined in the philosophy known as Melayu Islam Beraja. The country has been under martial law since a rebellion occurred in the early 1960s and was put down by British troops from Singapore. The Sultan is the head of state and head of government in Brunei and he exercises absolute powers and full executive authority under the framework of the 1959 Constitution. The Sultan is advised by and presides over five councils, which he appoints, the five councils are the Privy Council, Council of Succession, Religious Council, Council of Ministers and the Legislative Council. According to the Constitution, the Privy Council advises the Sultan in matters concerning the exercise of authority of mercy, the council also advises the Sultan on the conferring of Malay customary ranks, titles and honours. It also performs functions such as proclaiming a succession of regency, members of the Privy Council include members of the royal family and senior government officials. The Council of Succession determines succession to the throne should that need arise, the order of succession is determined by the Constitution. The Religious Council, known in full as the Brunei Islamic Religious Council advises the Sultan on all matters pertaining to Islam, the body in charge of Islamic administration policy. Policies determined by the council are executed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a Council of Ministers, or cabinet, which currently consists of nine members, perform the day-to-day administrative functions of government. Under the 1959 constitution there was an elected Legislative Council, but only one election has ever been held, soon after that election, the assembly was dissolved following the declaration of a state of emergency, which saw the banning of the Brunei Peoples Party. In 1970 the Council was changed to a body by decree of the Sultan. In 2004 the Sultan announced that for the parliament,15 of the 20 seats would be elected. However, no date for the election has been set, the Legislative Council currently consists of 20 appointed members, and has only consultative powers. The first is the system inherited from the British, similar to the found in India, Malaysia. It is based on the English common law, but with codification of a significant part of it, the common law legal system covers most of the laws in Brunei. The structure of the law courts in Brunei starts with the magistracy
39.
Administrative divisions of Brunei
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The administrative divisions of Brunei mainly consist of daerah, mukim and kampong. They are organised hierarchically, with daerah being the first level, there are also a few municipal divisions which comprises of Bandar Seri Begawan and a few district towns. They are considered to be outside of the hierarchy of the administrative division. All the administrative divisions are under direct governance of the government through the Ministry of Home Affairs, generally, the administrative divisions serve for population census. The administrative areas have limited to no autonomy, and is more pronounced towards the lowest administrative level, the major socio-political aspects such as education and law are centralised and managed through separate government ministries or departments. There are four districts in Brunei, Brunei-Muara, Belait, Tutong and Temburong, Brunei-Muara is the smallest district but has the most population. Belait is the largest district and the centre for the production of oil, a district is headed by a Pegawai Daerah or District Officer and assisted by an Assistant District Officer. The administrative level of mukim lies below the district, at present, there are 38 mukims, with 17 in Brunei-Muara,8 in Tutong,8 in Belait and 5 in Temburong District. A mukim is headed by a penghulu, a kampong is the lowest administrative level in Brunei and headed by a ketua kampong or village headman. Its population varies from a few hundreds to units of thousands, Kampong Ayer is not considered a kampong administrative division. It is simply a term in referring to the whole of the cluster of settlements on the Brunei River. However, Kampong Ayer is an area which consists of a few mukim. Also, the municipalities are governed under different section from that which handles the districts and their subdivisions, the municipalities are headed by Pengerusi Lembaga Bandaran or Town Board Chairman. While Bangar is the town of Temburong, it is yet to have a municipal status. Bangar, under the name Pekan Bangar, is at the level of kampong, similarly, Muara, a settlement at the northern edge of Brunei-Muara District, is a kampong-level area, although its official name is Pekan Muara which literally translates as Muara Town
