Split in two and squeezed between the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the South China Sea on the vast island of Borneo, the tiny Islamic sultanate of Brunei Darussalam is unlike any other Southeast Asian nation.
Ruled by a family—who are directly descended from the prophet Muhammad—since the 14th century, Brunei was once a hub of trade between Asia and the rest of the world. Humbled by European imperialists for a century, Brunei became a British protectorate in 1888. But the discovery of oil in 1929 and subsequent strikes transformed Brunei into one of the richest countries in the world for its size.