Viqueque Municipality
Municipality of East Timor
title: "Viqueque Municipality" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["viqueque-municipality", "municipalities-of-timor-leste"] description: "Municipality of East Timor" topic_path: "general/viqueque-municipality" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viqueque_Municipality" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Municipality of East Timor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Viqueque |
| settlement_type | Municipality of Timor-Leste |
| official_name | {{native name list |
| tag1 | pt |
| tag2 | tet |
| image_skyline | Viqueque rice field.jpg |
| image_caption | Rice fields in Viqueque |
| image_blank_emblem | Viqueque municipio.png |
| blank_emblem_type | Official map |
| blank_emblem_size | 250px |
| blank_emblem_alt | Official map |
| image_map | 2015 East Timor Viqueque locator map.png |
| map_alt | Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality |
| map_caption | Viqueque in Timor-Leste |
| mapframe | yes |
| mapframe-zoom | 8 |
| map_alt1 | Map of the Municipality |
| image_flag | |
| image_seal | Administração Município Viqueque.jpg |
| coordinates | |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Timor-Leste |
| parts_type | Administrative posts |
| parts_style | para |
| p1 | |
| established_title | |
| seat_type | Capital |
| seat | Viqueque |
| leader_title | |
| unit_pref | Metric |
| area_total_km2 | |
| area_rank | 1st |
| population_total | |
| population_as_of | |
| population_rank | 5th |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| population_density_rank | 10th |
| demographics_type1 | |
| demographics1_footnotes | tags -- |
| demographics1_title1 | |
| demographics1_info1 | |
| demographics1_title2 | Rank |
| demographics1_info2 | 5th |
| timezone | |
| utc_offset | |
| iso_code | TL-VI |
| blank_name_sec2 | HDI (2017) |
| blank_info_sec2 | 0.602 |
| · 9th | |
| website | |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the [[Municipalities of East Timor ::
| name = Viqueque | settlement_type = Municipality of Timor-Leste | official_name = {{native name list |tag1=pt |name1=Município Viqueque |tag2=tet |name2=Munisípiu Vikeke}} | image_skyline = Viqueque rice field.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Rice fields in Viqueque | image_blank_emblem = Viqueque municipio.png | blank_emblem_type = Official map | blank_emblem_size = 250px | blank_emblem_alt = Official map | image_map = 2015 East Timor Viqueque locator map.png | map_alt = Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality | map_caption = Viqueque in Timor-Leste | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | map_alt1 = Map of the Municipality | map_caption1 = | image_flag = | image_seal = Administração Município Viqueque.jpg | coordinates = | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Timor-Leste | parts_type = Administrative posts | parts_style = para | p1 = | established_title = | established_date = | seat_type = Capital | seat = Viqueque | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_rank = 1st | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_rank = 5th | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_rank = 10th | demographics_type1 = | demographics1_footnotes = tags -- | demographics1_title1 = | demographics1_info1 = | demographics1_title2 = Rank | demographics1_info2 = 5th | population_note = | timezone = | utc_offset = | iso_code = TL-VI | blank_name_sec2 = HDI (2017) | blank_info_sec2 = 0.602 · 9th | website = | footnotes =
Viqueque (, ) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of Timor-Leste. It has a population of 77,402 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,877 km2. The capital of the municipality is also named Viqueque.
Toponymy
Viqueque is a Portuguese approximation of the local Tetun-Terik word Vikeke (or Wekeke), which has been translated as both 'eroding water' and 'water' (we) 'bracelet' (keke).
The background to the latter translation is that a warrior leader, Luka, is said once to have been on a campaign with his warriors against the Wehali people, who had entered Luka's lands via Suai, Same, and Manatuto. During the campaign, he and the warriors came upon a spring guarded by an old woman. After the woman had given the warriors the water they had asked for, they cut off her arm, on which she had been wearing a bracelet. They then took the arm and bracelet to their king, Nai Lu Leki, who hung the arm in a tree. He also kept the bracelet and declared it sacred, as We Keke.
According to another tradition, a queen of the kingdom of Luka gave a bracelet to Viqueque as an heirloom, and today the municipality is named after it.
Geography
Viqueque is on the south coast of Timor, on the Timor Sea. It borders the municipalities of Baucau to the north, Lautém to the east, and Manatuto to the west. The borders of the then district were the same in colonial times.
On the south coast, the people report both myths and possible occurrences of crocodiles.
::data[format=table] | [[File:2015 Viqueque beschriftet.png|thumb|Administrative posts of Viqueque]] | [[File:Viqueque cities rivers.png|thumb|Cities and rivers of Viqueque]] | |---|---| ::
History
According to a list prepared by , governor of the colony of Portuguese Timor from 1859 to 1863, Viqueque was one of 47 kingdoms in that colony at the time.
Administrative posts
The municipality's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:
- Lacluta
- Ossu
- Uato-Lari (which was known in Portuguese Timor as Leça, and, in Tetum, is spelled Watulari)
- Uatucarbau (spelled Watucarbau, in Tetum)
- Viqueque
The administrative posts are divided into 35 sucos ("villages") in total.
Demographics
Viqueque is a homeland of the Malayo-Polynesian language Tetum. In Timor-Leste it is co-official with Portuguese. In the east part of the municipality live speakers of the Papuan language Makasae.
References
Notes
Bibliography
References
- "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab".
- (2014). "VIQUEQUE EM NÚMEROS: ESTATÍSTICA MUNICÍPIO DE VIQUEQUE". Statistic Timor-Leste.
- (June 2006). "The placenames of East Timor". Placenames Australia: Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey.
- "The Real Political and Cultural Meaning and Short History of Koba Lima and Suai".
- "Profile: 2. Toponymy".
- (1 January 2017). "An East Timorese Domain: Luca from Central and Peripheral Perspectives". [[Brill Publishers]].
- "Timor Loro Sae: Um pouco de história".
- "Viqueque District".
- Allison Jess. (17 April 2015). "A unique relationship: North East Victoria and East Timor". ABC Goulburn Murray.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::