Brunei in other languages: exonyms, Jawi and Rumi names, flag
Brunei is Brunei in Malay written in Latin letters and بروني in Jawi, the Arabic-based Malay script; the full name is Negara Brunei Darussalam. ISO 3166-1 codes it BN, BRN and 096. The name is listed here in 168 languages, the capital Bandar Seri Begawan in 51, and the four districts with their ISO 3166-2 codes.
Official languagesMalay (bahasa Melayu, بهاس ملايو)
Checked
- alpha-2
- BN
- alpha-3
- BRN
- numeric
- 096
Negara Brunei Darussalam
نݢارا بروني دارالسلامNegara Brunei Darussalam
- English
- BruneiState of Brunei Darussalam
- Capital
- Bandar Seri Begawanباندر سري بݢاونBandar Seri Begawan
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026; ISO short name Brunei Darussalam
Brunei in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Aragonese, Breton, Catalan, Kashubian, Welsh, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, Friulian, Galician, Manx, Upper Sorbian, Hungarian, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Lingala, Ladin, Malagasy, Nahuatl, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Northern Sami, Albanian, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Tetum, Turkish, Võro | eng / arg / bre / cat / csb / cym / dan / dsb / est / eus / fao / fin / fkv / fur / glg / glv / hsb / hun / ina / ind / ita / jav / jnf / lin / lld / mlg / nah / nld / nor / nov / oci / pol / por / roh / ron / rup / sme / sqi / stq / swa / swe / tet / tur / vor | Brunei | same as written |
| Czech, Croatian, Maltese, Slovak, Slovenian | ces / hrv / mlt / slk / slv | Brunej | same as written |
| Cornish, Walloon, Zazaki | cor / wln / zza | Bruney | same as written |
| Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak | crh / gag / kaa | Bruney / Бруней | Bruney |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Brunei | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi | frp / kin / run | Bruneyi | same as written |
| Asturian, Spanish | ast / spa | Brunéi | same as written |
| Igbo, Sicilian | ibo / scn | Brunai | same as written |
| Afrikaans | afr | Broenei | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Bruney / Брунеј | Bruney |
| Bambara | bam | Birineyi | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Brunej / Брунеј / برۆنەي | Brunej |
| Esperanto | epo | Brunejo | same as written |
| French | fra | Brunei, Brunéi | same as written |
| West Frisian | fry | Brûnei | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Brùnaidh, Brùnaigh, Brunai | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Brúiné | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Brouney | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Brúnei | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Brûney | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Bruneium | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Bruneja | same as written |
| Limburgish | lim | Broenai | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Brunėjus | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Brunejs | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Brunei / Бруней | Brunei |
| Malay | msa | Brunei / بروني | Brunei |
| Norman French | nrm | Bruneî | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Bruniy, Brunay | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Brunei / ब्रुनेइ | Brunei |
| Slovio | slo | Bruneia / Брунеиа | Bruneia |
| Samogitian | smg | Bruniejus | same as written |
| Samoan | smo | Purunei | same as written |
| Sardinian | srd | Brunèi | same as written |
| Silesian | szl | Brůnei | same as written |
| Tagalog | tgl | Brunay | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Bruneý / Бруней | Bruneý |
| Uzbek | uzb | Bruney / Бруней / برۇنېي | Bruney |
| Vietnamese | vie | Bru-nây | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Bruneyän | same as written |
| Wolof | wol | Brunaay | same as written |
| Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Chuvash, Kabardian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Ossetian, Rusyn, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abq / alt / ava / bul / chv / kbd / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mon / oss / rue / rus / sah / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Бруней | Brunej |
| Bashkir, Chechen | bak / che | Бруней / Bruney | Bruney |
| Abkhaz | abk | Брунеи | Brunei |
| Belarusian | bel | Бруней / Bruniej, Брунэй / Brunej | Bruniej, Brunej |
| Kazakh | kaz | Бруней / برۋنەي / Brwney | Brwney |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Бруней / برۇنەي / Bruney | Bruney |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Бруней / Brûnêy | Brûnêy |
| Macedonian | mkd | Брунеј | Brunej |
| Serbian | srp | Брунеј / Brunej | Brunej |
| Tatar | tat | Бруней / Bruney / برۇنېي | Bruney |
| Tajik | tgk | Бруней / برونی / Brunej | Brunej |
| Arabic | ara | بروني, بروناي, البروناي | Burūnay, Burūnāy, al-Burūnāy |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | برونئی / Bruney | Bruney |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | برونێی / Brunêy | Brunêy |
| Persian | fas | برونئی / Borunei | Borunei |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | برونائی | Brūnāʾī |
| Dari | prs | برونای | Brūnāy |
| Pashto | pus | بروناي | Brūnāy |
| Uyghur | uig | برۇنېي / Brunéy / Бруней | Brunéy |
| Urdu | urd | برونائی, برونائ | Brūnāʾī, Brūnāʾi |
| Dhivehi | div | ބުރޫނާއީ, ބުރުނައީ | Burūnāī, Burunaī |
| Hebrew | heb | ברוני / ברוניי | Brūney |
| Ladino | lad | ברוניי / Brunei | Brunei |
| Yiddish | yid | ברונײ | Bruney |
| Amharic | amh | ብሩነይ | not given |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Μπρουνέι | Mproynéi |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Μπρουνέϊ | Mproynéï |
| Armenian | hye | Բրունեյ, Բրունեի | Brouney, Brounei |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | ბრუნეი | Brunei |
| Laz | lzz | ბრუნეი / Brunei | Brunei |
| Hindi | hin | ब्रुनेई, ब्रूनइ | Bruneī, Brūnai |
| Nepali | nep | ब्रुनाई | Brunāī |
| Bengali | ben | ব্রুনাই, ব্রুনেই | Brunāi, Brunei |
| Gujarati | guj | બ્રુનેઈ | Bruneī |
| Odia | ori | ବ୍ରୁନେଇ | Brunei |
| Punjabi | pan | ਬਰੂਨਈ | Brūnaī |
| Sinhala | sin | බෲනයි | Br̥̄nayi |
| Kannada | kan | ಬ್ರುನೈ | Brunai |
| Malayalam | mal | ബ്രൂണൈ, ബ്രൂണയ് | Brūṇai, Brūṇay |
| Tamil | tam | புரூனேய், புரூனி | Purūṉēy, Purūṉi |
| Telugu | tel | బ్రూనై, బ్రునెయ్ | Brūnai, Bruney |
| Chinese | zho | 汶萊/文莱 | Wénlái |
| Japanese | jpn | ブルネイ | Burunei |
| Korean | kor | 브루나이 | Beurunai |
| Tibetan | bod | བྷི་རུ་ནི། | Bī.ru.ni |
| Burmese | mya | ဘရူနိုင်း | Bʰáẏunaĩ̀ |
| Thai | tha | บรูไน | Brūnai |
| Lao | lao | ປະລູໄນ | Palūnai |
| Khmer | khm | ប្រ៊ុយណេ, ប្រ៊ូណេ | Bruyṇe, Brūṇe |
Where a language writes the name in more than one script, every form is given, separated by a slash. The Amharic form is given without romanisation.
Brunei Darussalam in Rumi and Jawi
Malay in Brunei is written twice. The Latin alphabet, called Rumi, gives Negara Brunei Darussalam; Jawi, the Arabic-based alphabet, gives نݢارا بروني دارالسلام. The country name itself is short in both, Brunei and بروني, and the people and the adjective share it: a Bruneian is simply Brunei, بروني.
Jawi needs letters that Arabic lacks. The g of Negara is ݢ, a keheh with a dot above, and the ng at the end of Tutong is ڠ, an ain with three dots: توتوڠ. Both appear on almost every line of the district list further down, from باڠر (Bangar) to تمبوروڠ (Temburong).
Abroad the name hardly changes. More than forty languages, from Aragonese to Võro, keep Brunei letter for letter, and the Slavic languages that write in Latin add a j: Brunej in Czech, Croatian, Slovak and Slovenian. Lithuanian builds Brunėjus, Latvian Bruneja and Latin Bruneium, giving the name the noun endings of each grammar.
Scripts with no letter for the cluster br insert a vowel or swap the consonant. Arabic writes بروني (Burūnay) beside بروناي (Burūnāy), Tamil புரூனேய் (Purūṉēy) and Samoan Purunei; Lao has ປະລູໄນ (Palūnai). Chinese stands apart with 汶萊, simplified 文莱 (Wénlái): two characters whose reading only echoes the sound of the name.
Bandar Seri Begawan in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French | eng / fra | Bandar Seri Begawan | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Bandar Seri Begawan | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Bandar-Seri-Beqavan / Бандар-Сери-Бегаван | Bandar-Seri-Beqavan |
| Bosnian | bos | Bandar Seri Begawan / Бандар Сери Бегаван / باندار سەرٖى بەغاوان | Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Esperanto | epo | Bandar-Seri-Begavano | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Bandar Seri Begawan | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Bandar Serî Begawan | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Bandarseribegavana | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Bandar Seri Begavanas | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Bandar Seri Begawan / Бандар-Сери-Бегаван | Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Malay | msa | Bandar Seri Begawan / باندر سري بݢاون | Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Samogitian | smg | Bandar Seri Begavans | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Bandar-Seri-Begawan / Бандар-Сери-Бегаван | Bandar-Seri-Begawan |
| Uzbek | uzb | Bandar-Seri-Begavan / Бандар-Сери-Бегаван / بەندەر-سېرى-بېگەۋەن | Bandar-Seri-Begavan |
| Bashkir | bak | Бандар-Сери-Бегаван / Bandar-Seri-Begavan | Bandar-Seri-Begavan |
| Belarusian | bel | Бандар-Серы-Бегаван / Bandar-Siery-Biehavan, Бандар-Сэры-Бегаван / Bandar-Sery-Biehavan | Bandar-Siery-Biehavan, Bandar-Sery-Biehavan |
| Bulgarian | bul | Бандар Сери Бегаван | Bandar Seri Begavan |
| Kazakh | kaz | Бандар-Сери-Бегаван / باندار-سەري-بەگاۆان / Bandar-Serï-Begavan | Bandar-Serï-Begavan |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Бандар-Сери-Бегаван / باندار-سەرى-بەگاۋان / Bandar-Seri-Begavan | Bandar-Seri-Begavan |
| Mongolian | mon | Бандар Сери Бегаван | Bandar Seri Begavan |
| Russian | rus | Бандар-Сери-Бегаван | Bandar-Seri-Begavan |
| Serbian | srp | Бандар Сери Бегаван / Bandar Seri Begavan | Bandar Seri Begavan |
| Tatar | tat | Бандар-Сери-Бегаван / Bandar-Seri-Begavan / باندار-سېرى-بېگاۋان | Bandar-Seri-Begavan |
| Tajik | tgk | Бандари Сари Баҳован / بندر سر بهاون / Bandari Sari Bahovan | Bandari Sari Bahovan |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Бандар-Сері-Беґаван | Bandar-Seri-Begavan |
| Arabic | ara | بندر سري بيغوان, بندر سري بيغاوان, بندر سري بغوان, بندر سرى بيجاوان, بندر سرى بيجوان, بندر سرى بجوان | Bandar Sirī Bīġawān, Bandar Sirī Bīġāwān, Bandar Sirī Biġawān, Bandar Sirī Bīgāwān, Bandar Sirī Bīgawān, Bandar Sirī Bigawān |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | باندار سئری بئقاوان / Bandar-Seri-Beqavan | Bandar-Seri-Beqavan |
| Persian | fas | بندر سری بگاوان / Bandar Seri Begâvân | Bandar Seri Begâvân |
| Pashto | pus | بندر سري بګاوان | Bandar Sərī Bəgāwān |
| Uyghur | uig | باندار سېرى بېگاۋان / Bandar Séri Bégawan / Бандар-Сери-Бегаван | Bandar Séri Bégawan |
| Urdu | urd | بندر سری بگوان | Bandar Srī Bagvān |
| Hebrew | heb | בנדר־סרי־בגוואן, בנדר־סרי־בגאוואן | Bandar-Serī-Begavān, Bandar-Serī-Begāvān |
| Yiddish | yid | באַנדאַר סערי בעגאַװאַן | Bandar Seri Begavan |
| Amharic | amh | ባንዳር ሰሪ ቤጋዋን | Bandar Säri Begawan |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Μπαντάρ Σέρι Μπεγκαβάν | Mpantár Séri Mpegkaván |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Μπαντὰρ Σέρι Μπεγκαβάν | Mpantàr Séri Mpegkaván |
| Armenian | hye | Բանդար Սերի Բեգավան | Bandar Seri Begavan |
| Georgian | kat | ბანდარ-სერი-ბეგავანი | Bandar-Seri-Begavani |
| Hindi | hin | बन्दर श्री भगवान, बन्दर सेरी बेगवान | Bandar Šrī Bʰagvān, Bandar Serī Begvān |
| Bengali | ben | বন্দর সেরি বেগাওয়ান | Bôndôr Seri Begāoyān |
| Kannada | kan | ಬಂದಾರ್ ಸೆರಿ ಬಾಗೆವಾನ್ | Baṃdār Seri Bāgevān |
| Malayalam | mal | ബെന്ദാർ ശേറി ബഗ്വാൻ | Bendār Šēṟi Bagvān |
| Tamil | tam | பந்தர் சேரி பெகவான் | Pantar Cēri Pekavāṉ |
| Chinese | zho | 斯裡巴加灣市/斯里巴加湾市 | Sīlǐ Bājiāwān Shì |
| Japanese | jpn | バンダル・スリ・ブガワン | Bandaru-Suri-Bugawan |
| Korean | kor | 반다르세리베가완, 반다르스리브가완 | Bandareu Seri Begawan, Bandareu Seuri Beugawan |
| Thai | tha | บันดาร์เสรีเบกาวัน | Bândā[r] Sērī Bēkāwân |
| Khmer | khm | បាន់ដាសេរីបាកាវ៉ាន់ | Bandā Serī Bākāvan |
Arabic has six spellings in use, which differ in how they write the e and the g of Begawan.
The four districts of Brunei with ISO 3166-2 codes
Brunei is divided into four districts, daerah in Malay and دائره in Jawi. Each one is shown in Rumi and Jawi, with the name ISO 3166-2 lists and the town that serves as its centre.
| ISO 3166-2 | Malay (Rumi) | Malay (Jawi) | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Districts daerah4 | |||||
| BN-BE | Daerah Belait | دائره بلايتDaerah Belait | Belait | Kuala BelaitKuala Belait (كوالا بلايت) | |
| BN-BM | Daerah Brunei dan Muara | دائره بروني مواراDaerah Brunei-Muara | Brunei-Muara | Bandar Seri BegawanBandar Seri Begawan (باندر سري بݢاون) | 2019 ISO name changed from Brunei-Muara to Brunei dan Muara |
| BN-TE | Daerah Temburong | دائره تمبوروڠDaerah Temburong | Temburong | BangarBangar (باڠر) | |
| BN-TU | Daerah Tutong | دائره توتوڠDaerah Tutong | Tutong | TutongTutong (توتوڠ) | |
Codes and current names: ISO 3166-2:BN on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026. The only change since 1998 is the spelling of BN-BM (22 November 2019). The Jawi forms and the centres come from the Malay names of the districts; the Jawi spelling of Brunei-Muara predates the ISO change.
Bandar Seri Begawan and the four districts
The capital is Bandar Seri Begawan in Rumi and باندر سري بݢاون in Jawi. Most languages copy it in its own script, often with hyphens: Russian Бандар-Сери-Бегаван, Kazakh Бандар-Сери-Бегаван and Georgian ბანდარ-სერი-ბეგავანი. Latvian joins it into one word, Bandarseribegavana, and Esperanto makes Bandar-Seri-Begavano.
Some languages reshape the name. Hindi lists two forms, बन्दर श्री भगवान (Bandar Šrī Bʰagvān) and बन्दर सेरी बेगवान (Bandar Serī Begvān), and Chinese writes 斯里巴加湾市 (Sīlǐ Bājiāwān Shì), adding 市, city, while leaving out Bandar.
The district list is short and has hardly moved. Brunei-Muara contains the capital, Belait is run from Kuala Belait, Tutong from the town of the same name and Temburong from Bangar. ISO has listed the same four codes since 1998 and changed a single spelling, Brunei-Muara to Brunei dan Muara, in 2019. Tutong names both a district and its centre, so it appears twice in the table.
Questions about the names and districts of Brunei
What is the official name of Brunei?
Negara Brunei Darussalam in Malay, نݢارا بروني دارالسلام in Jawi; in English the State of Brunei Darussalam. ISO 3166-1 uses the short form Brunei Darussalam.
What are the ISO codes of Brunei?
BN (alpha-2), BRN (alpha-3) and 096 (numeric).
How is Brunei written in Georgian?
ბრუნეი (Brunei). Mingrelian uses the same spelling, and Laz writes it in both Georgian and Latin letters.
How many districts does Brunei have?
Four: Belait, Brunei dan Muara, Temburong and Tutong, coded BN-BE, BN-BM, BN-TE and BN-TU.
What does Brunei look like in Chinese?
汶萊 in traditional and 文莱 in simplified characters, both read Wénlái.