Many have grown rich in construction, retail and banking, industries that are flourishing in this oil-rich country.
Economists predicted the disaster would aggravate a deep economic recession in the oil-rich country of 23 million.
But the scandal will taint the Bolkiah name and could dilute the clan's absolute hold on the oil-rich country.
Economic development in the oil-rich country was led by the US oil majors.
Even some of Mr Bush's fellow Republicans, however, are questioning the size of his aid package for an oil-rich country.
And if he turned out to be Congo-Brazzaville's kingmaker, he would have great influence in an oil-rich country with a major port on the Atlantic coast.
On February 24th Mr Wolfowitz sought to toughen up the debt relief for the Republic of Congo, an oil-rich African country with a notoriously kleptocratic elite.
Basra may be part of the country's oil-rich south, but it wallows in its own sewage and trash.
The oil-rich gulf kingdom, a Sunni Muslim country with deep suspicion of Iran's Shiite Muslim rulers, is believed to also be adamantly opposed to any deal that would benefit Iran.
The kidnapping of foreigners and wealthy Nigerians is common in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, in the south of the country, and has become a lucrative trade for criminals.
BBC: Nigeria foreign workers abducted in Bauchi state - police
Observers say the US finds it hard to criticise a country which is seen as an ally in a volatile, oil-rich region.
Angola lies on the western coast of southern Africa, a country of 18 million people living in an oil- and diamond-rich area about twice the size of Texas.
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Bolivia's new president-elect, Evo Morales, has vowed to nationalize the country's rich oil and gas reserves.
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