Temburong District

Temburong District is Brunei's geographic anomaly: an exclave separated from the rest of the sultanate by Sarawak (Malaysian territory), historically accessible only by boat through international waters. The 2020 opening of the Temburong Bridge—Southeast Asia's longest at 30km, built by China Road and Bridge Corporation—finally connected the district by land, reducing travel time from two hours to 20 minutes. Despite the infrastructure investment, Temburong remains lightly populated (10,000 residents, 2% of national population) and undeveloped, with 70% of its area protected as Ulu Temburong National Park, one of Borneo's best-preserved rainforest fragments. The district's isolation preserved ecosystems that logging destroyed elsewhere, creating eco-tourism potential that diversification planners eye as alternative to petroleum dependence. Unlike oil-rich Belait or urbanized Brunei-Muara, Temburong lacks extractive resources—its value lies in remaining undeveloped. With Brunei's GDP per capita at $33,470 but hydrocarbon dependence creating fiscal vulnerability, Temburong represents the road not taken: conservation rather than extraction. By 2026, the bridge may catalyze development that could compromise the ecological assets that make the district distinctive—or create sustainable tourism that supplements oil revenue.