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-weste ...

, in Suai Subdistrict. It has a population of 9,866 and is located to the southwest of

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 national capital. Suai is the capital of the

Cova Lima District Cova Lima (, ) is a municipalities of East Timor, 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, East Timo ...

, 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 The Suai Church massacre occurred on 6 September 1999, in Suai, Cova Lima District in southwestern East Timor, two days after the results of the independence referendum were announced. Massacre According to the International Commission of Inqui ...

in September 1999. It was one of a number of massacres perpetrated by a

pro-Indonesia militia During the East Timor independence referendum in 1999, pro-Indonesia militias refers to paramilitary militias in East Timor that were loyal to the Indonesian government. They operated during the final years of the Indonesian occupation of East Ti ...

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 km² and had a population of 113,200 in June 2018. Po ...

, 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Together they are working towards assisting the community of Suai recover. Suai is served by

Suai Airport Suai Airport , officially Commander in Chief of FALINTIL, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, International Airport ( pt, Aeroporto Internacional Comandante-Chefe das FALINTIL, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, ), and also known as Covalima Airport, is an airport ...

which was expanded in 2017.

References

External links

* {{District capitals of East Timor Populated places in East Timor Cova Lima Municipality Timor Sea