Southeast Asia is a region of peninsulas and islands. The only landlocked country is the rural and remote country of Laos, which borders China, Vietnam, and Thailand. The physical geography of Southeast Asia includes beaches, bays, inlets, and gulfs.

Mainland Southeast Asia is divided into the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, and the small city-state of Singapore at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula; Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, which occupy the eastern portion of the mainland, often are collectively called the Indochinese …

The mainland (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam) is actually an extension of the Asian continent. Island or maritime Southeast Asia includes Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, and the new nation of East Timor (formerly part of Indonesia).

The insular region of Southeast Asia includes the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Of the Southeast Asian countries, East Timor most recently gained its independence, as was mentioned in the previous lesson.

The land and sea area of Maritime Southeast Asia exceeds 2 million km2. These are more than 25,000 islands of the area that comprise many smaller archipelagoes. The seven largest islands are New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Java in Indonesia; and Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines.

Japan is an island country comprising a stratovolcanic archipelago over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) along East Asia’s Pacific coast. It consists of 6,852 islands. The 5 main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa.

Borneo is the third largest island on Earth and the largest in Asia. The island is located east of Sumatra, North of Java and west of Sulawesi in Asia. Borneo is not classified as a country as it is governed by three separate sovereign political powers. The countries are Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia.

Borneo is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, being home to an estimated 15,000 different plant species. Borneo is home to the Rafflesia Arnoldii flower; the largest flower in the world. Borneo is thought to be home to around 222 mammals – 44 of which are only found in Borneo.

The only state entirely on Borneo is the Sultanate of Brunei. Despite it covering only 1 percent of the island, it is a very wealthy state thanks to its natural resources. Not only is the country rich, but its monarch, The Sultan of Brunei is the second-wealthiest royal and the wealthiest king in the World.

Bahasa Malaysia

Covering an area of roughly 287,000 square miles, Borneo is the third-largest island in the world. It is divided into four political regions: Kalimantan belongs to Indonesia; Sabah and Sarawak are part of Malaysia; a small remaining region comprises the sultanate of Brunei.

The answer is that North Borneo is not a part of the national territory of the Philippines as defined and delimited in our Constitution. When the United Nations was organized in 1945, the claimants to North Borneo was not the Philippines but the heirs of the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram who died in 1936.

Despite the incidences that took place in the past few years, rest assured that it is safe to travel to Sabah. ESSCOM has verified the security in the east coast of Sabah are intact and under control with no subsequent cases of kidnapping, but travellers should still be cautious of their surroundings when visiting.

Malaysia has a GDP per capita of $29,100 as of 2017, while in Philippines, the GDP per capita is $8,400 as of 2017.

The Philippines derives its claim to Sabah from the Sultanate of Sulu, which once ruled the southernmost region of the Philippines. The sultanate asserts that the territory of North Borneo was a gift from the Sultan of Brunei, as a reward for Sulu’s aid in a war in the 1600s.

The eastern part of Sabah was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for the former helping a victory over Brunei enemies, but many sources stated it had not been ceded at all. On 16 September 1963, Sabah merged with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore (left in 1965) to form Malaysia.

Bruneian Empire

Islam is the official religion of Brunei Darussalam as stated in the Brunei Constitution, with His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan as the head of the Islamic faith in the country.

Brunei is famous in southeast Asia for its gorgeous mosques and Islamic architecture. In Bandar Seri Begawan, both the Omar Ali Saifuddien and Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosques are huge attractions. The first stands near the Brunei River and waterfront with an impressive artificial lagoon.

Brunei is approximately 5,765 sq km, while Philippines is approximately 300,000 sq km, making Philippines 5,104% larger than Brunei.

The culture of Brunei is strongly influenced by Malay cultures and the Islamic religion. The culture is also influenced by the demographic makeup of the country: more than two-thirds of the population are Malay, and the remainder consists of Chinese, Indians and indigenous groups such as Muruts, Dusuns and Kedayans.

The economy of Brunei, a small and wealthy country, is a mixture of foreign and domestic entrepreneurship, government regulation and welfare measures, and village traditions. It is almost entirely supported by exports of crude oil and natural gas, with revenues from the petroleum sector accounting for over half of GDP.

In a way Brunei is still considered a developing country not a 3rd world country and not yet considered a developed country. This is mainly because of its economy’s heavy reliance on oil and gas rather than manufacturing and agriculture that the normal transition of any normal country that’s not based on oil would be.