Muara Town or Pekan Muara is located inMukim Serasa[2]and is located on the easternmost tip of West Brunei. It lends its name to the district which it is in, theBrunei-Muaradistrict. To the North is theSouth China Sea, to the south theBrunei Bayand across the bay,Pulau Muara Besar. To the east, across a man-made channel is the remains ofTanjung Pelumpong(Cape Pelumpong), now an island. To the west is the rest of theBrunei-Muaradistrict.Serasalies to the south-west of Muara.

For the purpose of this article, Muara includes the area from Kampong Sabun to the channel atTanjung Pelumpongnorth ofSerasa.

[edit]History
Before the 1900s, the village of Muara was inhabited by a small group ofMalayfishermen.[3]

The development of the Serai Pimping area for coal extraction in 1883 for steamships, and later settlement of the area asBrooketonbyCharles Brooke, theWhite RajahofSarawakin 1889 saw rapid development of the area. Brooketon was named after the White Rajahs of Sarawak gradually lent its name to the area which was then controlled by the government of Sarawak.

The development of theBrooketon Collierycoal mine also lead to transport and infrastructure development at Muara. A wooden railway was built to transport the coal to the safe deep-water anchorage at Muara, and wharves and jetties were built to allow steamships and barges to berth[3]. By 1911, more than 1,447 people lived in Muara and some 30 shops had opened in the town[3]. Brooketon was also where the first postage stamp in Brunei was used[4].

Politically too, even though he only had economic rights, Brooke became the de facto ruler of the area. The mine employed hundreds of miners and that required him to introduce a police force, post office and roads transforming Muara into anextraterritorialsettlement an extension of Sarawak. It was not until 1921 that Muara was "returned" to Brunei[3]. The mine closed in 1924 because of heavy financial losses caused by continuously decreasing coal prices in the worldeconomic recession[5].

TheJapaneseoccupied Brunei duringSecond World Warand attempted unsuccessfully to reopen the coal mine[3]. Brooketon was the landing location of theAustralianforces as part of theBorneo Campaign (1945)at the end of theSecond World Warwhich liberated Brunei from Japanese occupation[6].

Under the rule of His Majesty the lateSultan Omar Ali Saifuddin, the area was developed into a deepwater port to assist in the development of the country. Since 1973, Muara Port has undergone extensive improvements. These include extensions to the wharf bringing the total length to 948 meters including 250 meters dedicated container wharf and 87 meters aggregate wharf. The overall storage space in the form of covered storage is 16,950 square meters, long storage warehouses 16,630 square meters and open storage space 5 hectares. Facilities for the dedicated container wharf covers an area of 92,034 square meters including 8,034 square meters covered areas[7].

[edit]Kampongs (Villages)
Pekan Muara can generally be further divided into the following areas:

•Town Centre
•Kampong Masjid Lama to the south of the Town Centre
•Kampong Sabun to the west and north-west, including the military barracks
•Kampong Tanjung Batu
•Kampong Pelumpong, and the area towards Tanjung Pelumpong
•Muara Beach
•Muara Port
These are the areas covered in this article. Other villages inMukim Serasa(not covered in this article) include:

•Kampong Serasais immediately adjacent to Pekan Muara to the south-west.
•Kampong Perpindahan Serasato the south of Kampong Serasa
•Kampong Meragangis located between the Muara-Tutong Highway and Jalan Muara
•Kampong Kapokis located along Jalan Muara west of Kampong Serasa
•Kampong Pengalayanis located along Jalan Muara south-west of Kampong Kapok
•Kampong Salaris located along Jalan Muara south-west of Kampong Pengalayan
•Kampong Bukit Kabun