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-we ...

, in

Suai Subdistrict Suai, officially Suai Administrative Post (, ), is an administrative post (and was formerly a subdistrict) in Cova Lima municipality, East Timor. Its seat or administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administrati ...

. 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 ...

, the national capital. Suai is the capital of the Cova Lima District, 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 Inqu ...

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 km² 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 me ...

, 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