Atambua is the regency seat of Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The town stretches 8.5 km from north to south and 5 km from east to west, and is in the north of the western half of

Timor Island Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

. The town is located at an altitude of about 350 m above sea level with temperatures ranging between 23 and 35 degrees Celsius.

Administration

The town has no single level of government, but consists of three of the districts of Belu Regency, each district being composed of four urban subdistricts (''kelurahan'').

History

Atambua was founded by the Dutch in October 1916, having moved from Atapupu, a port village in Kakuluk Mesak. Atambua was briefly occupied by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

from 1942 to 1943. They planted many trees, which can be seen in ''Hutan Jati Nenuk''. After Independence, Indonesia's first president,

Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...

went to Atambua and planted more trees in the place now called ''Lapangan Umum''. The most notable tree planted there is the banyan tree. In September 1999, more than 250,000 refugees arrived here from

East Timor 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 their vote for independence and the following violence. As late as 2002, an estimated 60,000 refugees remained in camps.East Timor's refugees head home, BBC April 11, 2002
/ref> COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De haven van Atapoepoe TMnr 10010357

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De haven van Atapoepoe TMnr 10010357

Transportation

Air

There is an airport in Atambua, A. A. Bere Tallo Airport, about 5 kilometers from the town centre. The airport's runway is 1600m long.

Water

Atambua has two sea ports, Atapupu for cargo and oil, and Teluk Gurita for passengers (ferry port). There is a weekly Atambua-Kalabahi (Alor) ferry service.

Climate

Atambua has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(Aw) with moderate to little rainfall from April to October and heavy rainfall from November to March.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atambua Populated places in East Nusa Tenggara Regency seats of East Nusa Tenggara West Timor