Kampong Ayer

Kampong Ayer, or the Water Village (Malay: Kampung Air) is an area of Brunei's capital city Bandar Seri Begawan that is situated over Brunei Bay. 39,000 people live in the Water Village. This represents roughly ten percent of the nation's total population. All of the Water Village buildings are constructed on stilts above the Brunei River.

People have lived in Kampong Ayer for over 1300 years. Antonio Pigafetta dubbed it the "Venice of the East" when the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan visited in 1521. Antonio Pigafetta described the village in 1521: "that city is entirely built in salt water, except the houses of the king and certain chiefs. It contains twenty-five thousand hearths. The houses are all constructed of wood and built up from the ground on tall pillars. When the tide is high women go in boats through the settlement selling articles necessary to maintain life". The district is a culturally important part of Brunei that preserves the nation's river dwelling origins. According to geography professor Abdul Aziz of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, this is the largest and most famous water settlement of Southeast Asia. "It was historically the very core of Brunei and one of the most important centres of trade in Borneo."

It is possible that the village moved over time, for over more than a thousand years, following the location of the Brunei capital. Olivier van Noort described his visit in December 1600 - January 1601 and said that Brunei palaces: "could be called beautiful houses, albeit they are made of wood, and built on such light piles that where there is a storm or some other untoward event these houses can be removed from one side of the river to the other ...". Initially the capital was closer to the mouth of the Brunei River at Kota Batu and moved further inland to its current location during the civil war between Abdul Hakkul Mubin and Muhyiddin Brunei sultans in 17th century.

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