The city's suburb incorporates nearby Kampong Ayer (water village), in which houses were built on stilts. It stretches about  along the Brunei River. Founded 1,000 years ago, the village is considered the largest stilt settlement in the world, with approximately 30,000 residents and 2,000 houses. The term "Venice of the East" was coined by Antonio Pigafetta in honour of the water village that he encountered at Kota Batu (just east of city's central business district). Pigafetta was on Ferdinand Magellan's last voyages when he visited Brunei in 1521.