Aileu is the main township in
Aileu District
Aileu (, ) is a municipality, and was formerly a district, of East Timor. It has a population of 48,554 (Census 2015) and an area of 737 km². The municipality's capital is also named Aileu. Its administrative posts are Aileu, Laulara, ...
,
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-w ...
. It is located 47 km (29 mi) 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 i ...
, the national capital, and had a population of 2,788 in 2015.
In
Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies.
The first Europeans to arrive in th ...
, the city was known as Vila General Carmona, after the Portuguese dictator
António Óscar Carmona
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...
, but after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
it was renamed. ''Aileu'' means "bent tree" in
Mambai Mambai may refer to:
* Mambai people
The Mambai (Mambae, Manbae) people are the second largest ethnic group after the Tetum Dili people in East Timor. Originally, they were known as the Maubere by the Portuguese. ''Maubere'' or ''Mau Bere'' is ...
.
History
In 1903, a rebellion staged in Aileu against the colonial rulers failed. In January 1912, it served as a Portuguese base against the rebellion of
Manufahi.
Between 1942 and 1945, the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
ese
occupied Portuguese Timor. On August 31, 1942, the town was invaded by Colunas Negras, the Timorese allies of the Japanese invaders. Five Portuguese soldiers, as well as several civil servants and missionaries, were killed. A memorial in Aileu commemorates the massacre today.
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
n soldiers set up a relocation camp in Aileu for the East Timorese at the end of 1979. In early September, during the
1999 East Timorese crisis
The 1999 East Timorese crisis began with attacks by pro-Indonesia militia groups on civilians, and expanded to general violence throughout the country, centred in the capital Dili. The violence intensified after a majority of eligible East Timo ...
, residents of various
sucos in the area were expelled from their homes by the Aku Hidup dengan Integrasi militia of Indonesia. The
Seloi Craic
Seloi Craic (''Seloi Kraik'') is a '' suco'' in Aileu 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 compr ...
suco was destroyed on September 6, the houses burned down and livestock slaughtered.
At the end of 1999, there were temporary plans to make Aileu the new capital of an independent East Timor. These were rejected in favor of Dili.
Sister Cities
*
City of Moreland
The City of Merri-bek is a local government area in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 11 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. The Merri-bek local government area covers , and in June 2018, ...
, Australia
References
External links
{{District capitals of East Timor
Populated places in Aileu District