Brunei : Brunei Geography Profile

This tiny oil-rich Islamic Sultanate lying on the northwest coast of Borneo is known chiefly for the astounding wealth of its Sultan, its tax-free, subsidised society, and the fact that (statistically at least) its people enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes on earth.

Virtually free education and medicinal costs, subsidised rice, amazingly low cost water and electricity, low car tariffs, no gain tax and no VAT are just some of it that makes life so much easier here.

Brunei Darussalam, a Malay Muslim monarchy, lies on the northwest coast of Borneo island where it faces the South China Sea.

With a land area of 5,765 square kilometres, it shares a common border with Sarawak, an east Malaysian national, which divides Brunei Darussalam into two; the eastern part is the Temburong District while the western portion consists of Brunei-Muara, Tutong and Belait districts.

The 570-sq-km Brunei-Muara District, where the capital Bandar Seri Begawan is located, is the smallest but the majority significant and populous of the four districts.

The 1166-sq-km Tutong District, the third major, is home to indigenous groups like Tutong, Kedayan, Dusun and Iban.

The Belait District, the centre of the oil and gas industries, is about 100 km from the capital.

Hilly lowlands, swampy plains and alluvial valleys dominate the Brunei-Muara, Tutong and Belait districts in the larger western portion of the Sultanate.

Mountainous terrain abounds in the eastern district of Temburong, which has a land area of 1,288 sq. km.

Facts For The Traveller Visas: Citizens of 14 nations (inclunding Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden) can remain 14 days without a visa; British, Malaysian, German and Singaporean citizens can remain 30 days without a visa. US citizens can remain up to 90 days without a visa.

The Capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, In The Brunei-Muara District

Bandar Seri Begawan, the Capital City, the only town of any size, seems too large for its 60,000 inhabitants. It is a neat, clean, modern city with wide roads and overstated public buildings.

It is a busy business area and consists of a lot of government departments, which has seen even additional development in recent times.

Several areas such as Lambak, Kampong Pengkalan Gadong or Tungku Link, Kg Mata-Mata Gadong, Jalan Muara, Jalan Tutong, Serusop, Berakas (particularly the Airport Mall) have opened new business areas that are filled with new buildings, offices and shop lots.

While these areas are developing, the existing commercial hotspots of Gadong and Kiulap have further expanded with the emergence of brand new shop houses offering products and services of all kinds.

`The Mall' at Gadong - Brunei's initial, major and most sophisticated shopping complex with additional than 150 shops, a hotel and Cineplex's allocated inside - has just been opened.

Elsewhere, existing landmarks such as the famous Jerudong Park Playground - a national-of-the-art theme park, the newly expanded and refurbished Brunei Darussalam International Airport, the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium Complex and the International Convention Centre continue to garner attention.

Kampong Ayer, the country's historical attraction and the world's major water village that is home to additional than 30,000 people, remains a favourite place of interest along with the rest of Brunei's jewels such as the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, the Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque - arguably the majority magnificent mosque in Brunei, the Royal Regalia Museum, the Brunei History Centre, the Royal Ceremonial Hall or Lapau, the Dewan Majlis or Parliament Home and Istana Nurul Iman - the world's major residential palace in the world.

Tutong

The 1,166-sq. km Tutong District, the third major of Brunei's four districts, is home to indigenous groups like the Tutong Malays, Kedayans, Dusuns and Ibans. Tutong is almost midway between BSB and Kuala Belait.

Temburong

Temburong has a land area of 1,288-sq. km. It is mostly covered with dense, unexploited forestland with mountainous terrain in the eastern part of the district. The major town is Bangar.

Belait

The Belait District, the centre of the oil and gas industries, is about 100 km from the capital. Seria and Kuala Belait, situated about 65 km from the capital, are the major towns.

Physical Features

The land surface is developed on a bedrock of a tertiary age, comprising sandstones, shale and clay.

The terrain in the western part is hilly lowland, which rises in the hinterland to about three hundred metres. To the east, the wide coastal plain reaches up to 1,841 metres above sea level on Mount Pagon in the Temburong District.

Main Rivers

Four major river systems irrigate the four districts of Temburong, Belait, Tutong and Brunei-Muara. Temburong, the smallest of the rivers, drains nearly the whole district.

The 2,700-sq.km Belait Basin has the major area. The river narrows at the town of Kuala Belait. The upper catchment is mostly jungle and is sparsely populated.

Some areas here have been cleared for agriculture. The lower catchment has an extensive area of peat swamp forests. Sandbars at the river mouth restrict shipping and water flow to the South China Sea.

The Tutong River covers the 1,300-sq.km Tutong Basin. Sandpits and sandbars make a complex estuary system at the Tutong River. Subject to fairly high tidal influence, its lower catchment area is a flood plain.

Jungles with patches of agriculture cover its upper catchment. Near the upper part of Tutong River is Tasek Merimbun, Brunei's major lake. Dense mangroves and nipah palms, a rich breeding ground of coastal fisheries, cover the lower parts of rivers near the estuaries.

Pristine tropical jungles and precious freshwater sources are at the upper reaches of the Brunei River. A high proportion of urban development borders the Brunei River.

The Brunei River runs into the Brunei Bay beyond which is the Port of 'luara. The upper reaches of the river arc a major freshwater source particularly for the western part of the country.

Located by the principal rivers are all the district centres, inclunding Bandar Scri Begawan, the capital, which is some distance inland, like Bangar in Temburong. Near respective estuaries arc Tutong and Kuala Belait.

Climate

Brunei Darussalam has a tropical equatorial climate with high rainfall and warm temperatures all year round. Monsoon winds influence the climatic variations.

The Northeast monsoon blows from December to March. The Southeast monsoon occurs from June to October. Two inter-monsoon periods prevail from April to May and November to December.

The annual rainfall is generally high. The two rainy seasons are from September to January, with December as the wettest; and May to June.

Virtually the drought period is from February to April. Due to unstable climatic influences, well-defined seasons have not been outlined.

The drought months of March and April arc the warmest. Humidity is high throughout the year due to high temperature and rainfall. Air temperature is relatively uniform throughout the year.

Brunei is not due in the path of tropical storms, cyclones and typhoons that pass through the South China Sea. From presently on, it is heavily affected by tides.

Mangroves

Primary tropical jungles cover about 75 % of Brunei Darussalam. About three % of the total land area, or 18,814 hectares, arc relatively unexploited and part the best-preserved mangroves in the region.

Mangroves, natural hatcheries of marine life, arc as well habitats for plant and animal life, which have been adapted to the mangrove environment.

Of Brunei mangrove flora identified, 88 species are flower plants while 33 arc ferns. There arc a variety of insects, crabs, snails, shrimps, prawns, fish, otters, turtles, lizards, bats, flying foxes, bird species, particularly king-fishers, monkeys (inclunding the rare proboscis monkey) and crocodiles in the less accessible swamps.

Mangroves and swamps arc as well temporary homes for birds migrating each northern winter from China and Siberia to Brunei. Gazetted as protected and forest reserve areas arc a large part of the mangroves.

Some parts arc allocated for aquaculture, such as fish, shrimp or prawn rearing. Continuous research and effort with the right expertise are needed to manage and preserve this natural investment from neglect and next overexploitation.

Coastal Areas

Brunei's 161 kilometres of coastline zone contains the country's most productive ecosystem and most precious onshore and offshore hydrocarbon deposits.

Non-oil coastal resources are largely unexploited. Largely sandy with patches of mangrove swamps and mud rivers near river estuaries and sheltered bays is the Brunei coastline facing the open sea.

Complex are the surface and deep-water currents along the coast due to oceanic tides, wind and water density interaction. Waves along the coast are usually between one to three metres high.

Less saline and relatively warm at 29.5 degrees Celsius are the coastal waters, enriched by land nutrients carried by river waters to support marine life, making coastal waters rich fishing grounds. Some 500 species of fish and 12 shrimp and prawn species have been identified.

The mangrove-fringed Brunei, Temburong and Limbang River estuaries have high organic content and contribute to the richness of Brunei coastal fisheries. Shrimp is abundant and peak catches arc made from February to April next the Northeast monsoon rainy season.

Five hundred species of fish and insects have been reported in Brunei waters inclunding 12 species of shrimp. Additional than 85 % of Brunei's people live in the coastal areas.

The Brunei-Muara District is the majority populated. Efforts arc being undertaken to minimise pollution and damages to the environment and ecosystem as the country accelerates in industrialisation and urbanisation.

Islands Within the Brunei border arc 33 islands with a total area of 7,939 hectares or 1.4 % of the total land area. Offshore arc two islands while others are in the inner Brunei Bay and in the country's major rivers.

Mostly jungle covered, their sandy beaches face the open sea and mangroves in areas face inland.

Largely uninhabited, the islands are an undisturbed environment and breeding grounds for endangered species. Turtle nesting has been found on some islands with sandy beaches.

A lot of islands have a large people of the proboscis monkeys, an endangered breed found only in Borneo.

The islands as well arc a natural habitat for birds, flying foxes (large fruit bats), and other animals.