Viqueque Municipality

Viqueque (Portuguese: Município Viqueque, Tetum: Munisípiu Vikeke) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor. It has a population of 77,402 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,877 km².[2] The capital of the municipality is also named Viqueque.

This article is about the municipality. For the city, see Viqueque. For the administrative post, see Viqueque Administrative Post.
Viqueque
Municipality of East Timor
Rice fields in Viqueque
Rice fields in Viqueque
Official seal of Viqueque
Seal
Official map
Official map
Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality
   Viqueque in     East Timor
OpenStreetMap
Coordinates: 8°47′S 126°22′E
Country East Timor
CapitalViqueque
Administrative posts
Area
 • Total1,872.7 km2 (723.1 sq mi)
 • Rank1st
Population
 (2015 census)
 • Total73,033
 • Rank5th
 • Density39/km2 (100/sq mi)
  • Rank10th
Households (2015 census)
 • Total15,297
 • Rank5th
Time zoneUTC+09:00 (TLT)
ISO 3166 codeTL-VI
HDI (2017)0.602[1]
medium · 9th
WebsiteViqueque Municipality

Etymology

The word Viqueque is a Portuguese approximation of the local Tetun-Terik word Vikeke (or Wekeke), which has been translated as both 'eroding water'[3] and 'water' (we) 'bracelet' (keke).[4]

The background to the latter translation is that a warrior leader, Luka, is said once to have been on a campaign with his warriors against the Wehali people, who had entered Luka's lands via Suai, Same, and Manatuto. During the campaign, he and the warriors came upon a spring guarded by an old woman. After the woman had given the warriors the water they had asked for, they cut off her arm, on which she had been wearing a bracelet. They then took the arm and bracelet to their king, Nai Lu Leki, who hung the arm in a tree. He also kept the bracelet and declared it sacred, as We Keke.[5]

According to another tradition, a queen of the kingdom of Luka gave a bracelet to Viqueque as an heirloom, and today the municipality is named after it.[6]

Geography

Viqueque is on the south coast of Timor, on the Timor Sea. It borders the municipalities of Baucau to the north, Lautém to the east, and Manatuto to the west. The borders of the then district were the same in colonial times.

On the south coast, the people report both myths and possible occurrences of crocodiles.

Administrative posts of Viqueque
Cities and rivers of Viqueque

Administrative posts

The municipality's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:[7]

The administrative posts are divided into 35 sucos ("villages") in total.

Demographics

Viqueque is a homeland of the Malayo-Polynesian language Tetum. In East Timor it is co-official with Portuguese. In the east part of the municipality live speakers of the Papuan language Makasae.

References

Notes
  1. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. "VIQUEQUE EM NÚMEROS: ESTATÍSTICA MUNICÍPIO DE VIQUEQUE" (PDF). Statistic Timor-Leste. 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  3. Hull, Geoffrey (June 2006). "The placenames of East Timor" (PDF). Placenames Australia: Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey: 6–7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  4. "The Real Political and Cultural Meaning and Short History of Koba Lima and Suai". Suai Media Space. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  5. "Profile: 2. Toponymy". Viqueque Municipality. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  6. Barnes, Susana; Hägerdal, Hans; Palmer, Lisa (1 January 2017). "An East Timorese Domain: Luca from Central and Peripheral Perspectives". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. Brill Publishers. 173 (2–3): 325–355. doi:10.1163/22134379-17302020. ISSN 2213-4379. S2CID 164878269.
  7. Gunn, Geoffrey C (2011). Historical Dictionary of East Timor. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 174. ISBN 9780810867543.
  8. Allison Jess (17 April 2015). "A unique relationship: North East Victoria and East Timor". ABC Goulburn Murray. Retrieved 22 February 2017.

Bibliography

Media related to Viqueque (Municipality) at Wikimedia Commons

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