Suai is a 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-west ...
, in
Suai Subdistrict. It has a population of 9,866 and is located to the southwest of
Dili, the national capital. Suai is the capital of the
Cova Lima District
Cova Lima (, ) is a municipality of East Timor, in the Southwest part of the country. It has a population of 59,455 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,230 km2. The capital of the municipality is Suai, which lies 136 km from Dili, the n ...
, which is in the southwest of the country. It is located just a few kilometers from 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 ...
, on the south side of the island.
Suai was the location of the
Suai Church Massacre in September 1999. It was one of a number of massacres perpetrated by a
pro-Indonesia militia in the time of the Indonesian withdrawal of East Timor.
Following the events of 1999, Suai entered into a friendship program with the
City of Port Phillip
The City of Port Phillip is a local government area of Victoria, Australia on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.7 kmĀ² and had a population of 113,200 in June 2018.
P ...
, a bayside municipality south of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia. Together they are working towards assisting the community of Suai recover.
Suai is served by
Suai Airport which was expanded in 2017.
References
External links
*
{{District capitals of East Timor
Populated places in East Timor
Cova Lima Municipality
Timor Sea