29 September: Brunei

The Constitution of Brunei was signed on this date in 1959. Here are 10 things you might not know about Brunei:

1. Brunei is a Muslim country and produces oil - but it's not in the middle east - it's in Asia, completely surrounded, apart from its coastline, by the state of Sarawak in Malaysia.
2. The capital and largest city is Bandar Seri Begawan.
3. The capital city has a district called Kampong Ayer which stretches for 8km/5 miles along the Brunei River. It was a village founded a thousand years ago. Houses there are built on stilts and it is the largest settlement of that kind in the world with a population of around 30,000. It has been referred to as "The Venice of the East".
4. According to legend, Brunei was founded by Awang Alak Betatar, who became Sultan Muhammad Shah. When he first discovered the place, he is believed to have exclaimed "Baru nah" (loosely translated as "that's it!" or "there"). It was renamed "Barunai", meaning "Ocean" in the 14th century. The word "Borneo", as in the island which forms part of the nation, is of the same origin. Now its official name is the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace.
5. Brunei is the smallest non - island country outside Europe.
6. It is a Malay Muslim monarchy dating back to 1405. The current sultan is Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah and he is the 29th ruler. His full name is too long to tweet at 215 characters long.
7. He's also very rich. His home is the largest residential palace in the world, the Istana Nurul Iman. It's more than half a kilometre long and one-quarter of a kilometre wide, and has 1788 rooms - 338 more than the Vatican. This includes 257 bathrooms. He has a lot of cars - one source stated he had over five thousand cars, including 20 Lamborghinis, 160 Porsches, 130 Rolls Royces (including one coated with 24k Gold), 360 Ferraris, 170 Jaguars, 180 BMWs, 360 Bentleys, and 530 Mercedes-Benzes. He also owns a jumbo jet which he pilots himself. On his 50th birthday, he decided to treat himself - by building an enormous stadium and paying Michael Jackson $17 million to perform there.
8. The Belalong Tree Frog (Rhacophorus belalongensis) can only be found in Brunei.
9. Malay is the official language. Other languages spoken are Bahasa Malay, English and Chinese.
10. Bruneians don’t point using their index fingers; this is considered impolite. They point with their thumbs.