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Manatuto (, ) is one of the
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
(formerly districts) of
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wes ...
, located in the central part of the country. It has a population of 45,541 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,783.3 km². The capital of the municipality is also named
Manatuto Manatuto is a city in Manatuto Municipality, East Timor. Manatuto Vila has 3,692 inhabitants (Census 2015) and is capital of the subdistrict and district Manatuto. It is on the north coast of Timor, (about as the crow flies) east of Dili, t ...
. It is the least populated
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the g ...
of East Timor.


Etymology

The word ''Manatuto'' has been said to be a Portuguese approximation of the local Tetum and Galoli language word ''Manatutu'', which means 'pecking birds'. According to another source, the word is a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsLiurai Liurai is a ruler's title on Timor. The word is Tetun and literally means "surpassing the earth". It is originally associated with Wehali, a ritually central kingdom situated at the south coast of Central Timor (now included in Indonesia). The s ...
, who were brothers.


Geography

The borders of the municipality of Manatuto are identical to those of the council of
Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...
with the same name. The municipality borders the municipalities of Baucau and
Viqueque Viqueque (, ) is a city in the south-east of East Timor, 183 km from Dili, the national capital. Viqueque is the capital of Viqueque Municipality Viqueque (, ) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Tim ...
to the east and Manufahi, Aileu, and
Dili Dili ( Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
to the west. It reaches both the south and north coasts of the island, and is only one of two municipalities to do so (the other is Lautém in the far east), and has the most geographical diversity. To the north is the Strait of Wetar, to the south is the
Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs ...
.


Administrative posts

The municipality's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are: * Barique-Natarbora (pop. 4,900) *
Laclo Laclo, officially Laclo Administrative Post (, ), is an administrative post (and was formerly a subdistrict) in Manatuto municipality, East Timor. Its seat or administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administrat ...
(pop. 6,400) * Laclubar (pop. 10,100) * Laleia (pop. 3,200) *
Manatuto Manatuto is a city in Manatuto Municipality, East Timor. Manatuto Vila has 3,692 inhabitants (Census 2015) and is capital of the subdistrict and district Manatuto. It is on the north coast of Timor, (about as the crow flies) east of Dili, t ...
(pop. 11,500) * Soibada (pop. 2,950) The administrative posts are divided into 29 sucos ("villages") in total.


Demographics

In addition to the official languages of East Timor (
Tetum , nativename=Tetun , states= Indonesia East Timor , speakers=, mostly in Indonesia , date=2010–2011 , ref=e18 , speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor , familycolor=Austronesian , fam2= Malayo-Polynesian , fam3= Central–Eas ...
and Portuguese), a large part of the population of the municipality speaks the
Malayo-Polynesian language The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...
Galoli, which is designated as a "national language" by the constitution.


Notable people

The municipality is known as the birthplace of
Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...
, later to become the nation's first president. He was born in the village of Laleia (19 km East of Manatuto town).


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * *


External links

* – official site (in Tetum with some content in English) * – information page on Ministry of State Administration site {{Authority control Municipalities of East Timor