Viqueque Municipality

Viqueque (Portuguese: Município Viqueque, Tetum: Munisípiu Vikeke) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of Timor-Leste. 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 Timor-Leste
Município Viqueque (Portuguese) Munisípiu Vikeke (Tetum)
Rice fields in Viqueque
Seal Official map
Viqueque in     Timor-Leste
OpenStreetMap
Coordinates: 8°47′S 126°22′E
Country	Timor-Leste
Capital	Viqueque
Administrative posts	Lacluta Ossu Uato-Lari Uatucarbau Viqueque
Area
• Total	1,872.7 km2 (723.1 sq mi)
• Rank	1st
Population  (2015 census)
• Total	73,033
• Rank	5th
• Density	39/km2 (100/sq mi)
• Rank	10th
Households (2015 census)
• Total	15,297
• Rank	5th
Time zone	UTC+09:00 (TLT)
ISO 3166 code	TL-VI
HDI (2017)	0.602[1] medium · 9th
Website	Viqueque 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

History

According to a list prepared by Afonso de Castro [de], governor of the colony of Portuguese Timor from 1859 to 1863, Viqueque was one of 47 kingdoms in that colony at the time.^[7]

Administrative posts

The municipality's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:^[8]

• Lacluta^[9]
• Ossu
• Uato-Lari (which was known in Portuguese Timor as Leça, and, in Tetum, is spelled Watulari)
• Uatucarbau (spelled Watucarbau, in Tetum)
• Viqueque

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.