Fatubessi (Fatu Besi, Fatoe Bessi) is one of thirteen

municipalities 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' ...

(''sucos'') under the sub-district administration of Hatulia,

Ermera District Ermera (, ) is one of the municipalities of East Timor, municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor, located in the west-central part of the country. It has a population of 117,064 (Census 2010) and an area of 756.5 km2. Etymolog ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

. There is a road east from Fatubessi to the town of

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

. The area of Fatubessi is occupied by the former

coffee plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

of the SAPT company, a Portuguese colony exploratory company in Ermera District. Fatubessi is the home of the "Hybrid of Timor" rust-resistant coffee tree, a natural hybrid of Arabica and

Robusta ROBUSTA (Radiation on Bipolar for University Satellite Test Application) is a nano-satellite scientific experiment developed by the University of Montpellier students as part of a Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) call for student proje ...

, whose seed was sent out into the world in 1953, begetting many other coffee trees. The village also has a statue of former Portuguese Governor

José Celestino da Silva General José Celestino da Silva, (6 January 1849 – 10 February 1911) was a Portuguese Army officer and colonial administrator. Between 1894 and 1908, he was governor of the colony of Portuguese Timor. Early life and career Celestino da S ...

, who started the coffee plantations in Timor, and one of the Catholic statue of Mother Mary Peregrine. Fatubessi Municipality has six sub-villages (''aldeia''): São Francisco, Peregrinacao (Peregrina), Matanoba (Matanova), Sabsoi (Safesoy), Lebumeo, and Assulau Hautete (Asulau).Jornal da Républica mit dem Diploma Ministerial n.° 199/09
(PDF; 323 kB) During the Timor independence movement, it was chosen to be the administrative center for the six villages in order to simplify access and services for the future municipality.

Notable people

Domingos Maubere Domingos da Silva Soares (12 May 1952 – 16 May 2025), popularly known as Padre Maubere or Amu Du, was an Timor-Leste, East Timorese Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest, activist, and independence leader. B ...

(1952–2025), Catholic priest and activist, raised in Fatubessi from infancy

Notes and references

External links

* Sucos of Timor-Leste {{EastTimor-geo-stub