Tasek Merimbun

Where is Tasek Merimbun?

Countries on its shores: Brunei.

Largest lake of: Brunei.

Middle of the lake: 4.59° N, 114.68° E

The story behind it

Tasek Merimbun lies about 27 km from the town of Tutong. It is Brunei's largest natural lake, although it covers only about 2.2 km². The lake is shaped like the letter S, and its water is very dark. The colour comes from tannins, natural substances that seep out of leaves that fall into the water and rot. There are two small islands in the lake, and a wooden walkway leads to one of them. On the islands, people have found old treasures: brass and bronze objects, Chinese and European pottery and burial jars of the Dusun people. The land around the lake is a protected park of 7 800 hectares. In 1984 it became the very first ASEAN Heritage Park, a special protected area of the South-East Asian countries. About 200 kinds of birds live here, including hornbills and rare storks, as well as sun bears, slow lorises and tarsiers.

Find it on the globe

Tasek Merimbun is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.