A Tiny Country with a Lot of Oil

A Tiny Country with a Lot of Oil

Do you know where the country of Brunei is? It’s on the island of Borneo, bordering the South China Sea in the Pacific Ocean. Brunei is a small country with a big name. Its official name is Brunei Darussalam. It’s a little smaller than the state of Delaware in the United States. Even though it is small, it produces over 160,000 barrels of crude oil every day. That’s a lot of oil, and that means there is a lot of money coming into the country. The government provides many necessary services to their citizens free of charge. It is important to remember, though, that doesn’t automatically mean everyone in Brunei is rich. And, even more important to remember than that, is that no amount of money or free stuff can make people truly happy deep down inside. More than 60% of the people who live in Brunei follow the nation’s official religion, Islam. Around 10% of the people believe in Jesus Christ, and they are not allowed to evangelize and share their faith with others. Ministers cannot officially visit the island and must find other creative ways to help the people there. How Small is Brunei? Not only is Brunei a little smaller than the state of Delaware, it’s also smaller than 172 of the countries in the world! Complete the chart: Using the information you can find here, fill in the first column of the chart below. Then, in the second column, round the numbers you wrote down to the nearest 100 square kilometers. Country

Area

Area, rounded to nearest 100

Australia Brunei Germany Greece Hong Kong Iraq Kyrgyzstan Maldives Qatar Russia

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Calculate it: 1. Which country is approximately 76 times larger than Brunei? 2. Which country is approximately 62 times larger than Brunei? 3. Brunei is approximately 5 times as large as which country? 4. Which country is approximately 1,335 times larger than Brunei? 5. Which country is approximately 34 times larger than Brunei? 6. Which country is approximately twice as large as Brunei? 7. Brunei is approximately 19 times larger than which country? 8. Which country is approximately 23 times larger than Brunei? 9. Which country is approximately 2,948 times larger than Brunei? Challenge: Most countries are divided into smaller regions such as states, territories, counties, etc… Make a chart that compares the area of Brunei to the area of each region of the country you live in. For example, if you lived in the United States, you would make a list of all 50 states plus territories and include their approximate area. Then you would compare each one to the area of Brunei.


Answer Key Complete the chart: Country Australia Brunei Germany Greece Hong Kong Iraq Kyrgyzstan Maldives Qatar Russia

Area 7,741,220 5,765 357,022 131,957 1,104 438,317 199,951 298 11,586 17,098,242

Area, rounded to nearest 100 7,741,200 5,800 357,000 132,000 1,100 438,300 200,000 300 11,600 17,098,200

Calculate it: 1. Iraq 2. Germany 3. Hong Kong 4. Australia 5. Kyrgyzstan 6. Qatar 7. Maldives 8. Greece 9. Russia
