Bandar Seri Begawan, formerly known as Brunei Town, is the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Brunei.

History

Human settlement in Brunei can be traced back as far as the 6th and 7th centuries with the Malay trading center and fishing port located near the current site of this city. The first settlement on the banks of the Brunei River can be traced back to the 8th century where there had been settlements similar to those in Kampong Ayer, located near the present site of the Brunei Museum with the modern city on the opposite shore. During the Bruneian Empire period from 15th–17th century, the Sultanate ruled many parts of Borneo including the southern part of the Philippines and its capital of Manila, with the water settlement near the city area became the third center of the administration after been moved twice from Kota Batu and Kampong Ayer. When the Sultanate rule declined through the eighteenth century due to the arrival of western powers such as the Spanish, Dutch and the British, this settlement population was totally decreased from its peak of 20,000 inhabitants. From 1888 until its independence in 1984, Brunei was a British protectorate and land development began in 1906 when the British resident encouraged the Sultanate citizens to moved on reclaimed land on the western bank of the inlet. In 1899, the first oil well was drilled at Ayer Bekunchi near Kampung Kasat, Bandar Seri Begawan. Although the oil well was drilled as deep as 259 meters (850 feet), no oil was found in the well. Oil exploration in Brunei later shifted to Seria and Belait District in 1924. Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam II established a new palace on the west bank in 1909 after being persuaded by the British, along with the arriving of Chinese traders to boost the economy. Mosque and government buildings were also built along the western shores in 1920. In the same year, the new settlement was declared as a new capital of Brunei and became a municipal area. Brunei Town under the Allied attack in 1945; the attack was intended to flush out the Japanese.

Brunei Town in 1950, with the starting of the redevelopment. However, the city prosperity was almost ended when the city was captured by the Japanese in 1941, before being recaptured by the Allied forces in 1945. During the war, most infrastructure was destroyed by the Japanese and Allied bombing. The British began reconstructing most of its possessions in Borneo at the end of 1945 with the restoration of the law and order and the reopening of schools. In 1950, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, upon his ascension to the throne, negotiated with the British for an increase in corporate taxes, growing from 10% to 30% in 1953. A M$1.2 million (US$0.39 million) allotment to Brunei for war damages during the Japanese occupation increased from M$1 million in 1946 to M$100 million (US$32.6 million) in 1952. A five-year development plan with a total budget of M$100 million was also implemented in 1953, with infrastructure receiving the largest percentage (80%) and the rest going toward social programmers. Together with the expansion of the oil and gas industry, commercialization began to transform Brunei's capital and a large number of public buildings were constructed, along with the development of a central business district in the 1970s and 1980s. On 1 August 2007, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah gave consent for the expansion of the city from 12.87 km2 (4.97 sq mi) to 100.36 km2 (38.75 sq mi).

Climate

Brunei features an equatorial climate that is a tropical rainforest climate more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and with no or rare cyclones. The climate is hot and wet. The city sees heavy precipitation throughout the course of the year with the Northeast Monsoon blows from December to March, while the Southeast Monsoon around June to October.

Visitor information

• Tourist Information Centre (in the old customs building on the waterfront). Don't get your hopes up—they're friendly but not especially knowledgeable. They do have useful maps of the city, at least.