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Lautém Municipality facts for kids

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This page is about the municipality. For the city, see Lautém (city). For the administrative post, see Lautém Administrative Post.
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Lautém
Municipality of East Timor
Valu Beach, Tutuala
Valu Beach, Tutuala
Official map
Official map
Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality
   Lautém in     East Timor
OpenStreetMap
Country  East Timor
Capital Lospalos
Administrative posts
  • Iliomar
  • Lautém
  • Lospalos
  • Luro
  • Tutuala
Area
 • Total 1,816.7 km2 (701.4 sq mi)
Area rank 3rd
Population
 (2015 census)
 • Total 65,240
 • Rank 7th
 • Density 35.911/km2 (93.010/sq mi)
 • Density rank 12th
Households (2015 census)
 • Total 12,050
 • Rank 7th
Time zone UTC+09:00 (TLT)
ISO 3166 code TL-LA
HDI (2017) 0.607
medium · 7th

Lautém (Portuguese: Município Lautém, Tetum: Munisípiu Lautein) is one of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor, at the eastern end of the country. It has a population of 64,135 (census 2010) and an area of 1,813 km2. Its capital is Lospalos, which lies 248 km east of the national capital, Dili.

Etymology

The word Lautém is a Portuguese approximation of the local Fataluku language word Lauteinu. That word, in turn, is a portmanteau of the Fataluku words lau ('cloth') und tein ('sacred'), ie 'sacred cloth'. The mythical ancestors of today's municipal population were known as Lauteinu or Lauteira.

Geography

To the west the municipality borders the municipalities of Baucau and Viqueque. To the north lies the Banda Sea, and to the south the Timor Sea. The municipality also includes the easternmost point of the island, Cape Cutcha in the administrative post of Tutuala, and the small island Jaco.

The borders of the municipality of Lautém are identical to those of the council of the same name in Portuguese Timor. At that time, many of the localities had Portuguese names, such as Vila Nova de Malaca (today Lautém), Nova Nazaré (Com), Nova Sagres (Tutuala) and Nova Âncora (Laivai).

Lautém has beautiful sand beaches and a wild, mountainous, and raw rugged unspoilt landscape. Many of the endemic birds of East Timor live here. Near the city of Lautém there are cave drawings. Numerous stone sarcophagi and animistic shrines are found throughout the district.

Lautém municipality is known for its birding (birds of East Timor). Its municipal flag has the head of a yellow-crested cockatoo.

2015 Lautém beschriftet
Administrative posts and sucos of Lautém
Lautem cities rivers
Cities and rivers in Lautém

Administrative posts

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

  • Iliomar
  • Lautém
  • Lospalos
  • Luro
  • Tutuala

Demographics

In addition to the official languages of Portuguese and Tetum, in the municipality there are 30,000 speakers of the Papuan language Fataluku, mainly in the east of the district, many of whom do not speak a second language.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Distrito de Lautem para niños

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