Baucau Municipality

Toponymy

The word Baucau is derived from the word "Akau", which means "pig" in the local Waimoa language.

During the Portuguese colonial era, the name of the district was transformed, first into Macau and finally into Baucau. An alternative name for the Baucau community is Wailia-Wailewa, meaning the "great water spring of Wai Lia". In the Wai Lia area (part of the suco of ), a large spring is located under large trees; it is both an animist and a Christian holy place.

In 1936, the Portuguese colonial authorities renamed what was then the district of Baucau as "São Domingos". However, that name, like other imperial-sounding names adopted in the colony at about that time, did not catch on, and a few years after World War II it was quietly abandoned.

Geography

The borders of the District of Baucau during the colonial era were the same as they are now. The north edge of the municipality is to the Wetar Strait; it also borders the municipalities of Lautém to the east, Viqueque to the south, and Manatuto to the west.

Baucau also has a wide coastline with sandy beaches, ideal for swimming and other watersports.

In the administrative post of Venilale are tunnels that the Japanese built during their occupation during the Second World War. Also in this administrative post is an ongoing project to reconstruct and renovate the Escola do Reino de Venilale (School of the Kingdom of Venilale).

History

Politics

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Administrative posts

The municipality's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:

• Baguia
• Baucau
• Laga
• Matebian
• Quelicai
• Quelicai Antigo
• Vemasse
• Venilale (formerly known as Vila Viçosa).

Demographics

Besides the national official languages of Tetum and Portuguese, most of the inhabitants speak the Papuan language Makasae. While most of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics, a few Muslims also live there.

Economy

Baucau has the most highly developed agriculture in Timor-Leste. Besides the staples rice and corn, Baucau produces beans, peanuts, sweet potatoes, copra, candlenut and manioc. It also raises buffalo and goats. A shortage of transportation links and the unpredictability of energy availability stymie the development of emerging industries.

Culture

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Infrastructure

Baucau has the country's longest airport runway, in Cakung Airport, as currently, Dili's Nicolau Lobato International Airport can only serve small airliners like the Boeing 737. The airport is located six km from the city of Baucau. It served as the country's principal airport before the Indonesian invasion in 1975, when it was taken over by the Indonesian military. Bucoli, a village with symbolic role in the East Timorese resistance movement, is located in the subdistrict of Baucau.

Notable people

• Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
• Mário Viegas Carrascalão
• Aurélio Sérgio Cristóvão Guterres
• Olinda Guterres
• Vicente Guterres
• Maria Fernanda Lay
• Adaljiza Magno
• Mauk Moruk
• Taur Matan Ruak
• Aurora Ximenes
• Mariana Diaz Ximenez

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

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2. James Norman. (11 February 2017). "Environmental concerns for Timor-Leste cement project". The Saturday Paper.
3. "Perfil: 2. Toponímia".
4. (2014). "''Lulik'' encounters and cultural frictions in East Timor: Past and present". [[The Australian Journal of Anthropology]].
5. (27 May 1936). "Diploma Legislativo N°85". Govêrno Colonial.
6. (June 2006). "The placenames of East Timor". Placenames Australia: Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey.
7. (26 December 2019). "Top 10 Things To Do In Timor Leste".
8. (29 May 2022). "10 Facts About The Lesser-Known Timor-Leste".
9. (2004). "Escola do Reino de Venilale". GERTiL.
10. "Baucau District".
11. Lusa: [https://www.facebook.com/groups/132023013521454/permalink/6097106163679746 ''Timor-Leste vai ter três novos postos administrativos a partir de 2024'', 15 March 2023]
12. Joanna Podgórska. (10 April 2010). "Trzy katastrofy - trzy zamachy? Nr 3: Smoleńsk Siewiernyj, 10.04.2010". na:Temat.