A village ( or ) is the third and lowest

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

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 th ...

. It is headed by a

village head A village head, village headman or village chief is the community leader of a village or a small town. Usage Brunei In Brunei, village head is called or in the Malay language. It is an administrative post which leads the community of a ...

(). Several villages are grouped together to form a

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The cl ...

. A village is generally the traditional rural settlement, in particular in the sense of a

kampong A kampong (''kampung'' in Malay and Indonesian) is the term for a village in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and a "port" in Cambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especially of the indigenous people, and has also been used ...

or Malay traditional village, but it may also be an urbanised settlement within or near the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

or a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

, or part of the public housing estates. The population varies from hundreds to a few thousands.

Administration

Villages are administered under the district office of the district where they belong. A village is headed by a

(). It is an

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

position, whereby the populace nominates candidates to the district office and votes among the approved nominees. The nominee may be of an age between 30 and 55 years old. The elected person shall be in office for up to ten years. A village may also have a Village Consultative Council (), the local equivalent of

community association A community association is a nongovernmental association of participating members of a community, such as a neighborhood, village, condominium, cooperative, or group of homeowners or property owners in a delineated geographic area. Participatio ...

. A key outcome of the council is One Village One Product (, abbreviated as "1K1P"), which promotes local goods produced in the village.

Characteristics

A typical Bruneian village may have basic socio-economic infrastructures which are similar to other villages elsewhere but may also be unique to Brunei or countries which have predominantly Islamic Malay culture. For communal purposes, there may be a or , the local equivalent of a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole c ...

. A Bruneian village typically has a primary school. Because the majority of Brunei's population is Muslims, many villages have

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s, particularly serving the need of

Jumu'ah In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...

or congregational Friday prayers, as well as a religious primary school for its resident Muslim pupils. There are also at least a grocery store present in many villages, as well as a few other miscellaneous shops such as eateries, tailors, and barbers or salons.

Variation

A village may have population ranging from hundreds to less than ten thousand people. Also, not all of the socio-economic amenities are present in every village. Some villages do not have primary and/or religious primary school – prospective resident pupils go to the schools in nearby villages. Some village subdivisions are simply designated public housing areas but having the population size comparable to a village. Other villages, especially in the more urban areas, may be large enough to function socio-economically as towns but without any municipal body. Several villages may also be part of municipal areas of Bandar Seri Begawan and other district towns, thus the populaces may also be subjected under the jurisdiction of respective municipal departments.

Kampong Ayer

Even though Kampong Ayer has the term ''' in its name, it is not officially a village subdivision. In fact, Kampong Ayer is made up of several villages constituting a few subdistricts.

References

{{Articles on third-level administrative divisions of countries Subdivisions of Brunei Brunei 3 Villages, Brunei Brunei geography-related lists Borneo