The Berloi Waterfall ( pt, Cascata de Berloi, tet, Be Tuda Berloi) is a small

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Aileu Aileu is the main township in Aileu District, East Timor. It is located 47 km (29 mi) southwest of Dili, the national capital, and had a population of 2,788 in 2015. In Portuguese Timor, the city was known as Vila General Carmona, af ...

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-weste ...

. It forms part of a minor tributary of the

Comoro River The Comoro River ( pt, Ribeira de Comoro or , tet, Mota Komoro) is a river in East Timor. It flows north into Ombai Strait, reaching the coast in the north western suburbs of the capital, Dili. In its lower reaches, it is the main and largest o ...

Geography

The waterfall is located within the ''

suco The administrative posts (former subdistricts) of East Timor are subdivided into 442 ''sucos'' ("villages") and 2,336 ''aldeias'' ("communities").http://www.unmiset.org/legal/RDTL-Law/RDTL-Minist-Orders/Decree-Order-2003-6.pdf List of sucos by ...

'' of

Fatisi Fatisi is a ''suco'' in Laulara subdistrict, Aileu District, 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 ...

and the

Laulara administrative post Laulara, officially Laulara Administrative Post (, ), is an administrative post (and was formerly a subdistrict) in Aileu municipality, East Timor. Its seat or administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administra ...

in the Aileu municipality, a short distance from

Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...

, the capital city. The stream that passes over the waterfall is sometimes referred to as the Berloi River or the Berloi-Fatisi River, and is a minor tributary of the

. From the base of the waterfall, the stream flows initially in a southwesterly direction for a short distance. It then turns northwest to mark the border between the municipalities of Aileu and

Ermera Ermera (''Vila Ermera'') is a city in East Timor and a former capital of the East Timorese community, Ermera. ''Ermera'' in Mambai means "red water." It has a population of 8,907. Its geographical coordinates are , and it lies above sea l ...

for about , until it flows into the Comoro River about downstream of the village of .

History

On 19 August 1975, during the , a member of Unetim, the

Fretilin The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( pt, Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a centre-left political party in East Timor. They presently hold 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliame ...

youth wing, killed a man who was being detained by Fretilin at the detention centre in Unmenlau, in the then sub-district of

Laulara Laulara, officially Laulara Administrative Post (, ), is an administrative post (and was formerly a subdistrict) in Aileu municipality, East Timor. Its seat or administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administra ...

. His body was thrown into the stream near the waterfall. The following day, 20 August 1975, a group of eight men, who were being detained by Fretilin in Fatisi on suspicion of being spies for the

Timorese Democratic Union The Timorese Democratic Union ( pt, União Democrática Timorense, UDT) is a conservative political party in East Timor. It was the first party to be established in the country on May 11, 1974, following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. ...

( pt, União Democrática Timorense (UDT)), were taken outside. Five of them were killed at the stream, and the remaining three were killed near Fatisi.

Ecology

The waterfall is a

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, and has been a site for observation and recording, of both rare and abundant species of

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

References

{{authority control Aileu Municipality Waterfalls of East Timor

Geography

History

Ecology

See also

References