Countries: Brunei

Brunei?is a?country?in?Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of?Borneo.

The?island of Borneo is politically divided?among three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and?Indonesia?to the south.

The earliest record of Bruneian people can be traced back to the presence of Austro-Melanesians… the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands, dating to c. 40,000 BC in Niah Cave, Miri Division, Sarawak.

Areas comprising what is now Brunei participated in the?Maritime Jade Road, a trading network which existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BC to 1000 AD.

Stone pillars bearing inscriptions in the?Pallava script, found in?Kutai?(Borneo) along the?Mahakam River?in?East Kalimantan?and dating to around the second half of the 4th century, constitute some of the oldest evidence of?Hindu?influence in Southeast Asia.

The settlement known as Vijayapura was a vassal-state to the Buddhist?Srivijaya?empire and was thought to be located in Borneo's Northwest which flourished in the 7th century.

Srivijaya's main foreign interest was nurturing lucrative trade agreements with China which lasted from the Tang to the Song dynasty.

The leader of the country is the?Sultan?of Brunei.

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About the Author: Lawrence Jean-Louis is the founder of eBrand Me, a digital marketing agency offering marketing & consultative services to CPAs and tax professionals. She aspires to start a money management firm by 2030.