Baucau (, ) is the second-largest city in

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, after

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

, the capital, which lies to its west. Baucau has about 16,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Baucau municipality, located in the eastern part of the country. In the times of Portuguese Timor, Baucau was little more than an overgrown village, and for part of those times was called ''Vila Salazar'', after the Portuguese dictator

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese statesman, academic, and economist who served as Portugal's President of the Council of Ministers of Portugal, President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1 ...

Geography

The administrative post of Baucau is divided into 11 villages ( ''sucos''). * Suco Bahú * Suco Bucoli * Suco Buibau * Suco Buruma * Suco Caibada Uaimua * Suco Samalari * Suco Seiçal * Suco Tirilolo * Suco Triloka * Suco Gariuai * Suco Uailili

Infrastructure

Much of the infrastructure of the city and the surrounding area was damaged or destroyed by pro-Indonesian militia during the

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

that followed the

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

for

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

in 1999. Nevertheless, in the old part of Baucau there survive a few relics from the Portuguese colonial era, such as large colonial houses, churches, and public buildings. One of these is the Pousada de Baucau, a large pink hotel whose restaurant has views of the ocean. The shops, restaurants, and street market stalls (predominantly fruit and vegetable sellers) conduct business, although

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

, particularly among the young, is very high. There are a few successful experiments that have converted old war-oriented businesses into light engineering, new businesses such as East Timor Roofing that has generated employment and training opportunities,East Timor Roofing website
and a number of small businesses are beginning in the areas of hygiene and health, food production and processing, transport, small retail, and tourism. The convent next to the Pousada de Baucau has a small retail outlet selling locally produced hand crafts. The Instituto Católico para a Formação de Professores (ICFP) – the Catholic Teachers College – is owned by the diocese and is responsible for training future and untrained teachers for Timor-Leste. With more than 300 graduates teaching throughout the country, and more than 400 teachers with upgraded qualifications, ICFP is dedicated to rebuilding the country through education of future generations. Baucau also has a hospital, a nursing school and a swimming pool owned by the Pousada de Baucau.

Climate

Religion

Baucau is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baucau, one of the three bishoprics in East Timor. It was founded on 30 November 1996, when the bishopric in

split. Its bishop is Basilio do Nascimento.

Transportation

Six kilometers from the city lies the Cakung Airport (code

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

: BCH), a.k.a. LANUD for the local people. It has what is currently the country's longest airport runway, as Dili's Lobato International Airport can only serve small aircraft like the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

. It served as the country's principal airport before the Indonesian invasion in 1975, when it was taken over by the Indonesian military. File:Mercado_Baucau_2014.jpg, Municipal market building in Baucau File:Strand von Uatabo, Baucau.jpg, The beach in Baucau File:Baucau Kirche klein.jpg, Church of Baucau File:View_over_ricefields_towards_Seical,_with_Mt_Matebian_in_background_13_Apr_2013.jpg, Fields of Baucau area File:Baucau, East Timor (314821747).jpg, Colonial building File:Baucau Administration klein.jpg, Administration building File:Baucau Fischer klein.jpg, Fisher on the beach File:Baucau Höhle klein.jpg, Upper part of Baucau city File:Baucau klein.jpg, Huts in the lower part File:Piscina_de_Baucau.jpg, Public pool in Baucau File:Baucau klein3.jpg, Street from city center to the beach File:Baucau Wandbild klein.jpg, Wall painting File:Baucau Wandbild klein2.jpg, Wall painting

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Timor-Leste Baucau Municipality