Kampong Ayer

Kampung Ayer is a prominent traditional settlement in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. It comprises neighbourhoods of traditional houses, schools and mosques built on stilts above the Brunei River near the capital's city centre. It has an area of about 10 square kilometres; the total population was 10,250 in 2016. It has been historically nicknamed 'Venice of the East'. Kampung Ayer has been historically the principal settlement of Brunei; it was the de facto capital, in particular social and economic centre, of the Bruneian Empire for a few centuries, but also extending into the early period during British imperialism in Brunei.