Baucau ( pt, Baucau, tet, Baukau) is the second-largest city in

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-we ...

, after Dili, the capital, which lies to its west. Baucau has about 16,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Baucau municipality, located in the eastern part of the country. In the times of Portuguese Timor, Baucau was little more than an overgrown village, and for part of those times was called ''Vila Salazar'', after the Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar.

Geography

The administrative post of Baucau is divided into 11 villages ( ''sucos'') * Suco Bahú * Suco

Bucoli Bucoli is a suco (municipality) in Baucau Subdistrict, Baucau District, East Timor and also a settlement in the Bucoli Suco. As of 2010 there were 2179 inhabitants and 372 households in Bucoli Suco. 85% in Bucoli speak the Waima'a language as ...

* Suco Buibau * Suco Buruma * Suco Caibada Uaimua * Suco Samalari * Suco Seiçal * Suco Tirilolo * Suco Triloka * Suco Gariuai * Suco Uailili

Infrastructure

Much of the infrastructure of the city and the surrounding area was damaged or destroyed by pro-Indonesian militia during the

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

that followed the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

for

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

in 1999. Nevertheless, in the old part of Baucau there survive a few relics from the Portuguese colonial era, such as large colonial houses, churches, and public buildings. One of these is the

Pousada de Baucau Pousadas de Portugal () is a chain of luxury, traditional or historical hotels in Portugal. Formerly run by the Portuguese State, they are now run by the Pestana Group, which in September 2003 won a public bid for the sale of 37.6% of parent compa ...

, a large pink hotel whose restaurant has views of the ocean. The shops, restaurants, and street market stalls (predominantly fruit and vegetable sellers) conduct business, although

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...

, particularly among the young, is very high. There are a few successful experiments that have converted old war-oriented businesses into light engineering, new businesses such as East Timor Roofing that has generated employment and training opportunities,http://www.easttimorroofing.com/index.htm and a number of small businesses are beginning in the areas of hygiene and health, food production and processing, transport, small retail, and tourism. The convent next to the Pousada de Baucau has a small retail outlet selling locally produced hand crafts. The Instituto Catholico para a Formacao de Professores (ICFP) - the Catholic Teachers College - is owned by the Diocese and is responsible for training future and untrained teachers for Timor-Leste. With more than 300 graduates teaching throughout the country, and more than 400 teachers with upgraded qualifications, ICFP is dedicated to rebuilding the country through education of future generations. Baucau also has a hospital, a nursing school and a swimming pool owned by the Pousada de Baucau.

Climate

Religion

Baucau is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baucau, one of the three Bishoprics in East Timor. It was founded on 30 November 1996, when the bishopric in Dili split. Its bishop is Basilio do Nascimento.

Transportation

Six kilometers from the city lies the

Cakung Airport Baucau Airport ( pt, Aeroporto de Baucau, , ), formerly Cakung Airport, is an unattended and mostly unused airport near Baucau, East Timor. It is the largest airport in East Timor, and has a much longer runway than Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lob ...

(code IATA: BCH), a.k.a. LANUD for the local people. It has what is currently the country's longest airport runway, as Dili's Lobato International Airport can only serve small aircraft like the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two ...

. It served as the country's principal airport before the Indonesian invasion in 1975, when it was taken over by the Indonesian military. File:Mercado_Baucau_2014.jpg, Municipal market building in Baucau File:Strand von Uatabo, Baucau.jpg, The beach in Baucau File:Baucau Kirche klein.jpg, Church of Baucau File:View_over_ricefields_towards_Seical,_with_Mt_Matebian_in_background_13_Apr_2013.jpg, Fields of Baucau area File:Baucau, East Timor (314821747).jpg, Colonial building File:Baucau Administration klein.jpg, Administration building File:Baucau Fischer klein.jpg, Fisher on the beach File:Baucau Höhle klein.jpg, Upper part of Baucau city File:Baucau klein.jpg, Huts in the lower part File:Piscina_de_Baucau.jpg, Public pool in Baucau File:Baucau klein3.jpg, Street from city center to the beach File:Baucau Wandbild klein.jpg, Wall painting File:Baucau Wandbild klein2.jpg, Wall painting

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in East Timor Baucau Municipality