文莱是一个古老的国家，有几千年的历史。文莱王室及其人民有很古老的历史背景，受邻国影响实行苏丹制，以伊斯兰教作为国教。随着１５世纪国力日益强盛，文莱在本地区成为颇具主导地位的伊斯兰国家和伊斯兰教宣传中心，加上相当强的军事力量和在通往“香料群岛”贸易通道中的战略地位，文莱在贸易往来中不可避免地要和欧洲入侵者打交道。从1906年沦为英国殖民地至1959年获得自治，除了在1942年春至1946年被日本殖民统治外，文莱的政治、经济、外交、国防受到英国全方位控制。英国在殖民统治期间，在文莱建立了相应的政治、经济和文化制度，客观上开启和推动了文莱的现代化进程。1984年1月1日，文莱苏丹在首都斯里巴加湾市向全国宣读了独立宣言，不承认自己曾经是英国的殖民地，而是认为自己是一个一向拥有主权的国家。
Brunei is an ancient country with thousands of years of history. Brunei's royal family and its people have a very old historical background, influenced by neighboring countries to implement the sultanate system, with Islam as the state religion. With the growing power of the 15th century, Brunei became a dominant Islamic state and a center of Islamic propaganda in the region, and with considerable military power and strategic position in the trade route to the Spice Islands, Brunei inevitably had to deal with European invaders in its trade dealings. From its british colony in 1906 to its autonomy in 1959, brunei's politics, economy, foreign affairs and defense were under british control, except for the Japanese colonial rule from the spring of 1942 to 1946. During the colonial period, Britain established a corresponding political, economic and cultural system in Brunei, which objectively opened and promoted the modernization process of Brunei. On 1 January 1984, the Sultan of Brunei read the Declaration of Independence to the nation in the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, not recognizing himself as a former British colony, but as a country that had always been sovereign.
