Manufahi (, ) is one of the
municipalities of East Timor
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality ...
. It has a population of 53,691 (2015 census) and an area of 1,323 km
2.
The capital of the municipality is
Same.
Etymology
The present name of the municipality, ''Manufahi'', is derived from ''Maun Fahe'', the Tetum language expression for 'divided brothers'. The name originated in a legend that tells of a fight between two related tribes, or a group of siblings. Eventually, the protagonists agreed to subject themselves to a single ruler.
During the
Portuguese colonial era, the then district bore the name of its main town, Same. The present name was adopted on the basis of the divided brothers legend.
However, it was misspelled, and the Tetum language meaning of the misspelled name is 'pig chicken'.
Efforts are being made to correct the name. However, there is also a legend that in the ''
suco'' of a rooster once flew down from a mountain, landed on the back of a pig, and then travelled with the pig to many places before returning home.
Geography
Manufahi extends from the central highlands of East Timor to its south coast, on the
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia.
The sea contains a number of reefs, ...
.
It is bordered by
Manatuto
Manatuto is a city in Manatuto Municipality, East Timor.
Manatuto Vila has 3,692 inhabitants (Census 2015) and is capital of the subdistrict and district Manatuto. It is on the north coast of Timor, (about as the crow flies) east of Dili, ...
to the east,
Ainaro
Ainaro is a town in East Timor, the capital of the Ainaro suco, the Ainaro administrative post and the Ainaro Municipality, and is located in the southwest part of the country. The town of Ainaro is located 78 km south of Dili, the nat ...
to the west, and
Aileu to the north.
History
During its time as a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
colony, the municipality was called Same, after the capital city. It was the epicentre of the
Great Rebellion of 1910–12. During the Indonesian occupation the then subdistrict of
Hato-Udo
Hato-Udo (''Hatu Udo, Hotudo''), officially Hato-Udo Administrative Post (, ), is an administrative post (and was formerly a subdistrict) in Ainaro municipality, East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the ...
was split off from the then district of Manufahi and joined to
Ainaro
Ainaro is a town in East Timor, the capital of the Ainaro suco, the Ainaro administrative post and the Ainaro Municipality, and is located in the southwest part of the country. The town of Ainaro is located 78 km south of Dili, the nat ...
, and the then subdistrict of Turiscai, previously in Ainaro, was moved to Manufahi.
Administrative posts
Manufahi's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:
*
Alas
*
Fatuberlio
*
Same
*
Turiscai
Turiscai is a village in the Turiscai administrative post, Manufahi municipality of East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It c ...
Demographics
Besides the national official languages of
Tetum
, nativename=Tetun
, states= Indonesia East Timor
, speakers=, mostly in Indonesia
, date=2010–2011
, ref=e18
, speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor
, familycolor=Austronesian
, fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
, fam3= Central–East ...
and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, the
Malayo-Polynesian language Mambai Mambai may refer to:
* Mambai people, a people group also known as Mambae, Manbae or Maubere from Timor-Leste
* Mambai language (Timor)
Mambai, also called Mambae or Manbae, is a language spoken by the Mambai people, the second largest ethn ...
is also spoken.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
* – official site (in Tetum with some content in English)
* – information page on
Ministry of State Administration site
{{Authority control
Municipalities of East Timor