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Manatuto Municipality facts for kids

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Manatuto
Cliffs at Manatuto
Cliffs at Manatuto
Official map
Official map
Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality
   Manatuto in     East Timor
OpenStreetMap
Country  East Timor
Capital Manatuto
Administrative posts
  • Barique-Natarbora
  • Laclo
  • Laclubar
  • Laleia
  • Manatuto
  • Soibada
Area
 • Total 1,783.3 km2 (688.5 sq mi)
Area rank 2nd
Population
 (2015 census)
 • Total 46,619
 • Rank 13th
 • Density 26.1420/km2 (67.7074/sq mi)
 • Density rank 13th
Households (2015 census)
 • Total 7,467
 • Rank 12th
Time zone UTC+09:00 (TLT)
ISO 3166 code TL-MT
HDI (2017) 0.614
medium · 5th

Manatuto (Portuguese: Município Manatuto, Tetum: Munisípiu Manatutu) is one of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor, 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. It is the least populated municipality 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 of the Tetum words Mana and tutu, which mean 'old woman' and 'peak' or 'summit', respectively. The legend goes that two groups of people were each living on the summit of a hill, one of them named Sau Raha (now Soraha) and the other Sau Lor (now Saulidun). The two groups were engaged separately in their own daily activities, but each was accompanied by one of two Liurai, who were brothers.

Geography

The borders of the municipality of Manatuto are identical to those of the council of Portuguese Timor with the same name.

The municipality borders the municipalities of Baucau and Viqueque to the east and Manufahi, Aileu, and Dili 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.

Sucos Manatuto
Administrative posts of Manatuto
Manatuto subdistricts
Cities of Manatuto

Administrative posts

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

  • Barique-Natarbora (pop. 4,900)
  • Laclo (pop. 6,400)
  • Laclubar (pop. 10,100)
  • Laleia (pop. 3,200)
  • Manatuto (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 and Portuguese), a large part of the population of the municipality speaks the Malayo-Polynesian language Galoli, which is designated as a "national language" by the constitution.

Notable people

The municipality is known as the birthplace of Xanana Gusmão, later to become the nation's first president. He was born in the village of Laleia (19 km East of Manatuto town).

See also

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

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