Belait District (; Jawi: دأيره بلأيت), or simply Belait (), is the largest as well as the westernmost

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

. It has an area of and the population of 69,062 as of 2016. The administrative town is

Kuala Belait Kuala Belait (KB; Jawi: ) is the administrative town of Belait District, Brunei. The population of the town proper was 4,259 in 2016. Kuala Belait is officially a municipal area (), as well as a village under the mukim of the same name. The t ...

, located at the mouth of the

Belait River The Belait River ( ms, Sungai Belait) is a river in Belait District, Brunei. It is the longest of the four main rivers in the country. History During World War II from 1941 onwards, the whole of Brunei was under Japanese occupation until 19 ...

. The district is commonly associated with the oil and gas industry of the country, mainly concentrated near the town of

Seria Seria () is a town in Belait District, Brunei, about west from the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The total population was 3,625 in 2016. It was where oil was first struck in Brunei in 1929 and has since become a centre for the countr ...

Name

Belait District is named after the

Belait people The Belait people are a Bruneian ethnic group native to Belait District. They traditionally speak the Belait language. They are predominantly Muslim. They are officially one of the seven ethnic groups which make up the Bruneian Malay race. Or ...

, the main native inhabitants which traditionally settled near the mouth of the

Geography

The district borders the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

to the north, the Bruneian district of Tutong to the east and the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n state of Sarawak to the south and west. The district covers , which is about half the area of the entire nation. The landscape of the district varies from the peat swamps and lowland forests near the coast to the montane rainforest in the interior parts of the district. The Belait Swamp Forest has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area. The

flows through Belait and it is the longest river in

. The Belait River, together with its tributaries drains the district – the Belait district roughly corresponds to the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the Belait River.

Administration

The district is administered by the Belait District Office (), a government department under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The district is subdivided into 8 mukims, namely: *

Mukim Bukit Sawat Mukim Bukit Sawat is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. It had a population of 794 in 2016. Geography The mukim is located in the east of Belait District, bordering Mukim Telisai, Mukim Ukong and Mukim Rambai of Tutong District to the nor ...

* Mukim Kuala Balai *

Mukim Kuala Belait Mukim Kuala Belait is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 31,308 in 2016. The mukim encompasses Kuala Belait, the administrative town of the district. Geography The mukim is the located in the westernmost part of the distr ...

* Mukim Labi *

Mukim Liang Mukim Liang is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 14,301 in 2016. Geography The mukim is located in the north of the district, bordering the South China Sea to the north, Mukim Telisai in Tutong District to the north-east ...

Mukim Melilas Mukim Melilas is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 29 in 2016, the least populous mukim in all of Brunei. Geography The mukim is located in the interior and southernmost part of the district as well as the country. It bor ...

* Mukim Seria *

Mukim Sukang Mukim Sukang is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 169 in 2016. Geography The mukim is located in the interior part of Belait District. It borders Mukim Bukit Sawat to the north, Mukim Rambai of Tutong District to the no ...

According to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, the district is to be represented in the Legislative Council, the state legislature, by up to 3 members. As of 2017, two members have been appointed to represent the district in the legislature.

Demographics

Belait District is the second most populous district in Brunei. According to the 2016 census update, the population was 69,062 and made up about 16.6% of the country's total population. were males and were females. The racial make-up were as follow: were Malays, were Chinese, and were those other than the aforementioned races. In terms of residency status, were citizens, were permanent residents and were temporary residents. In terms of professed religions, were

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, were

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, were Buddhists, and professed other than the aforementioned religions or irreligious. The age groups were as follow: were 14 years old and below, were 15 to 24 years old, were 25 to 64 years old, and were 65 years old and above. The population is predominantly urban, whereby lived in

urban areas An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

in contrast to in

rural areas In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

. The census also recorded 13,513 households living in 13,130 dwellings in the district. In 2020, the district's population was estimated to have increased to 74,800. The

were traditionally the predominant native inhabitants. Other native ethnic groups include the Ibans and

Penan The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such pe ...

s. The Chinese are the main ethnic minority. There is also a large community of

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s ( Caucasians,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

ns,

Filipinos Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...

) mostly working with or associated with the oil and gas industry. The district statistically has the lowest population density due to its large area. The population is mostly found in the minor area along the coast, in the vicinity of the district towns

and

. Majority of the area is unpopulated or very sparsely populated.

Education

In 2019, there were 37 schools in Belait District under the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, out of which 24 were government and 13 were private. The number of teachers were recorded at 1,371, in which taught in government schools and in private schools. The number of students were recorded at 13,514, whereby were enrolled in government schools and in private schools. For the formal Islamic religious education which is under the Ministry of Religious Affairs, there were 19 religious schools ( of the country's total), employing 214 teachers and enrolling 4,847 students.

Transportation

Road

As of 2019, the district's road network consisted of , out of which were

paved Pavement may refer to: * Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways ** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway ...

. The district is connected by the Seria/Lumut bypass to the Muara-Tutong highway to the east and by the Rasau Bridge to Sungai Tujoh and

Miri ) , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = Division , subdivision_name2 ...

in the west. Roads near the coast, particularly in the urban areas of Kuala Belait, Seria and Sungai Liang are mostly surfaced and in good condition. Roads towards the interior – Labi, Melilas and Sukang – are partially surfaced, but may sustain damage from floods and landslides during the rainy season.

Rail

The Japanese built a wooden set of rail lines from Badas to the coast during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. This is no longer in use and has fallen into disrepair.

Ports and ferries

The

Kuala Belait Port The Kuala Belait Port ( ms, Pelabuhan Kuala Belait), also known as Kuala Belait Wharf, is a port operated by both the Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) and Maritime and Port Authority Brunei Darussalam (MPABD). The port can only accommodate low-dr ...

is one of the three ports in Brunei. It is located on the Belait river and caters to small crafts. A ferry service crosses the mouth of the Belait River linking Kuala Belait to Kampung Sungai Teraban. (This service has been ceased since 2005).

Air

There is one Anduki airfield, a suburb of Seria. This is used mainly by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

to transport company personnel to the offshore rigs and platforms. The interior villages of Sukang are visited by a regular flying medical service. There are no commercial flights into and out of the district.

Economy

The Belait District, and Seria town in particular, is the heart of the oil and gas industry in Brunei. It has a large

community, including many

Dutch people The Dutch ( Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Aru ...

. This is because

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

has a major presence in the region. There are two onshore oil and gas fields in the district – the large

Seria Oil Field Seria oil field also known as Seria Field is the largest oil field in northwest Borneo, discovered in 1929. The oil is accumulated in Upper Miocene sandstone, trapped in Seria Anticline that straddles the present day coastline. This field has prod ...

discovered in 1929 which is still producing hydrocarbons even today, and the smaller

Rasau Rasau is an area in Brunei. The area contains one of the two oil fields of Brunei, the Rasau Field,South-West Ampa,

Fairley Fairley is a Scottish surname. Notable people with the name include: * Barker Fairley (1887–1986), British-Canadian painter and writer * Brian Fairley (b. 1959), former Scottish football manager * Darlene Fairley (b. 1943), Washington State Senat ...

, Fairley Baram and

Egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

fields. The

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

produced is processed onshore in and around Seria, and the majority of it is exported. Some of the oil is refined at the

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

in Seria for local consumption.

Natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

from the fields is sent to the Brunei Liquefied Natural Gas Plant ( BLNG) in Lumut, where it is cooled and liquefied. This is exported via tankers to mainly Japan and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. In the eastern part of the district, Liang is currently experiencing a major development with the establishment of SPARK, which is a site developed to be a world-class petrochemical hub. The first major investment at SPARK is the USD450 million Methanol plant developed by the Brunei Methanol Company, a joint venture between Petroleum Brunei and two leading Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation and

Itochu Corporation is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It is one of the largest Japanese '' sogo shosha'' (general trading companies). Among Japanese trading companies, it is distinguished by not being descen ...

. The plant was scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2010.

References

External links

*
Belait District Office website
{{Authority control Districts of Brunei