River · Brunei
Belait
Belait is the longest river in Brunei, a small country on the island of Borneo. It flows out of forested hills, curves through swampy lowland and reaches the South China Sea at Kuala Belait.
Picture credit: Yu Chu Chin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Yu Chu Chin (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Belait?
The river starts here: Forested hills in the interior of Brunei.
It ends in the South China Sea at Kuala Belait.
Countries on the river: Brunei.
The story behind it
The Belait runs through some of the thickest rainforest in Borneo. Its brown water carries leaves and branches past tall trees, peat swamps and tangled roots. Proboscis monkeys with their long noses sit in the branches above the banks, hornbills fly across the river with heavy wingbeats, and crocodiles float almost invisibly in the shallows. Upstream there are no roads at all, so people travel to villages like Sukang and Melilas in long narrow boats. Near the sea the town of Kuala Belait grew large after oil was found in the area, and ships and fishing boats crowd the mouth. When the tide rises, salty seawater pushes far up the river. Heavy tropical rain can make the level climb quickly, flooding gardens and the wooden walkways between houses.
Questions children ask
How long is the Belait?
The Belait is around 206 kilometres long. For a country as small as Brunei that is a great distance, and no other river there is longer.
Which countries does the Belait flow through?
The whole river lies in Brunei, on the north coast of Borneo. Its upper valley is wild rainforest, while the lower part runs through the Belait district.
Where does the Belait reach the sea?
It flows into the South China Sea beside the town of Kuala Belait. The name of that town actually means mouth of the Belait.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: