Brunei
Brunei passport ranking
The Bruneian passport is currently ranked 19th place on the Guide Passport Index. It provides visa-free access to 168 countries. Bruneian passport holders have visa-free and visas on arrival access to countries such as Japan, Ukraine, Jamaica, United Kingdom, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United States and the entire European Union allowing almost instant international travel. Bruneian passport holders do however require an visa to enter about 61 countries in the world.
Brunei Passport Ranking
The Brunei passport ranking relative to other global passports is calculated by adding up the number of countries that allow Brunei passport holders to enter without a visa (i.e. visa-free countries) and those that allow Brunei passport holders to enter by obtaining a visa on arrival (i.e. visa-on-arrival countries) or electronic travel authorization (eTA). There are currently a total of 126 Brunei passport visa-free countries, 32 Brunei visa-on-arrival countries, and 10 eTA destinations.
Altogether, Brunei passport holders can enter a total of 168 destinations—either without a visa, through a visa on arrival, or via an eTA. As a result, the Brunei passport ranks 19 in the world.
Separate from these Brunei visa-free countries and visa-on-arrival countries, there are 61 additional destinations in which Brunei passport holders either need a physical visa to enter or an eVisa (i.e. visa required countries).
About Brunei
The Sultanate of Brunei consists of four administrative districts. It is located in Southeastern Asia bordering the South China Sea and Malaysia. The four districts are Belait, Brunei dan Muara, Temburong, and Tutong. The district of Temburong is separated from all other districts and is only connected to the rest of the country via a bridge. Brunei has a total surface area of 5,765 square kilometers.
The overall population is 460,345 inhabitants. The capital of the country is Bandar Seri Begawan, which is also the most populous city with a population of 150,000 people. The largest and only airport is Brunei International Airport (BWN) with an approximate yearly passenger traffic of 1.8 million people. BWN is the only public airport in the country, hosting the national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines with worldwide connections.
Its culture is dominated by Islam with 78.8% of the population being Muslim and the official language being Malay. The legal system is a mix of the Islamic sharia law and the English common law. The government form is an absolute monarchy with the Sultan and Prime Minister Sir Hassanal Bolkiah as chief of state and head of government. Elections are only held at a village level to elect the head of the village.
The official currency of the country is the Brunei Dollar (BND) with a current exchange rate of 1.34 to the USD. The Brunei Dollar is fixed to the Singapore dollar at parity and is therefore interchangeable as currency. The country has an open economy, generating a GDP of approximately $18.46 billion. It has a high per capita income of $42,939. Almost all of the GDP is still originating from the petroleum and petrochemical sectors. The government focuses on the development of other sources of income such as the services sector to reduce the dependency on oil and gas.
The Sultanate of Brunei has a variety of tourist destinations. In general, tourism is governed by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism. Some of the major destinations include the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, the Brunei Museum, the Istana Nurul Iman Palace, the Jerudong Park, and the Ulu Temburong National Park. Tourists visit the country for its warm climate, beaches, and beautiful nature with big parts of the country’s nature being protected as national parks. The majority of the 280,000 yearly overnight tourists originate from the neighboring Southeast Asian countries but there is an increasing number of visitors from outside the region.
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