The administrative divisions of Brunei Darussalam mainly consist of (

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, municip ...

s), ( sub-districts), and or (

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s). They are organised hierarchically in Brunei Darussalam, with being the largest first level, and the smallest third level. There are also a few

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

(or

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

) divisions:

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) is the capital and largest city of Brunei. It is officially a Municipalities of Brunei, municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei–Muara District, the s ...

, and a few district

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s. They are considered to be outside the conventional

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy ...

of the main

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

. All the administrative divisions are under direct governance of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, through the Ministry of Home Affairs. Generally, the administrative divisions serve for population

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

. The administrative areas have limited to no

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

, and is more pronounced towards the lowest administrative level. The major socio-political aspects, such as

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

are centralised and managed through separate government ministries or departments.

Districts

There are four districts in Brunei Darussalam (), namely: Brunei-Muara, Belait, Tutong, and Temburong. Brunei-Muara is the smallest district by area, but has the largest population. Belait is the largest district by area, and the centre for the production of oil and gas. A district is headed by a or District Officer, and assisted by an Assistant District Officer.

Mukims

The administrative level of ''

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

'' in Brunei Darussalam lies below (subordinate) the district. At present, there are thirty-eight

s in Brunei; with seventeen in Brunei-Muara, eight in Tutong, eight in Belait, and five in Temburong. A ''mukim'' is headed by a .

Villages

A village ( or ) is the smallest and lowest administrative level in Brunei Darussalam, and headed by a or village head. Its population varies from a few hundreds to units of thousands. Kampong Ayer is not considered a administrative division. It is simply a common term in referring to the whole of the cluster of settlements on the Brunei River. However, Kampong Ayer is a large area which consists of a few and a number of .

Municipalities

There are four 'major' areas of population in Brunei Darussalam, which are considered to be or

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, namely: *

, the country's capital; also the capital of Brunei-Muara District; * Kuala Belait, the administrative town for Belait District; * Seria, a town in Belait District, and; * Tutong, the administrative town for Tutong District. The municipalities are considered outside the conventional

of the main administrative division, as their spatial jurisdiction do not necessarily fit to any of the levels, as well as their sizes are not consistent; Bandar Seri Begawan comprises several mukims, but other towns comprise only a few villages. Also, the municipalities are governed under different departments from that which administer the districts and their sub-divisions, although still within the same ministry. The municipalities are headed by , or Town Board Chairman. While Bangar is the focal town of Temburong, it is yet to have a municipal status. Although the official name for Bangar is (literally translates as 'Bangar Town'), it is a village sub-division. Similarly, Muara () is a port town in Brunei-Muara District, but it is also administered as a village under the mukim of Serasa.

References

{{Authority control