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Viqueque | |
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 Rice fields in Viqueque | |
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 Interactive map of Viqueque | |
| Coordinates:8°47′S126°22′E / 8.783°S 126.367°E /-8.783; 126.367 | |
| Country |  Timor-Leste |
| Capital | Viqueque |
| Administrative posts | |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,872.7 km2 (723.1 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 1st |
| Population (2015 census) | |
• Total | 73,033 |
| • Rank | 5th |
| • Density | 38.999/km2 (101.01/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 10th |
| Households (2015 census) | |
| • Total | 15,297 |
| • Rank | 5th |
| Time zone | UTC+09:00 (TLT) |
| ISO 3166 code | TL-VI |
| HDI (2017) | 0.602[1] medium ·9th |
| Website | Viqueque Municipality |
Viqueque (Portuguese:Município Viqueque,Tetum:Munisípiu Vikeke) is the largest of themunicipalities (formerly districts) ofTimor-Leste. It has a population of 77,402 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,877 km2.[2] The capital of the municipality is also namedViqueque.
Viqueque is a Portuguese approximation of the localTetun-Terik wordVikeke (orWekeke), which has been translated as both 'eroding water'[3] and 'water' (we) 'bracelet' (keke).[4]
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 aspring 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, asWe Keke.[5]
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.[6]
Viqueque is on the south coast ofTimor, on theTimor Sea. It borders the municipalities ofBaucau to the north,Lautém to the east, andManatuto 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.
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According to a list prepared byAfonso de Castro [de],governor of the colony of Portuguese Timor from 1859 to 1863, Viqueque was one of 47 kingdoms in that colony at the time.[7]
The municipality's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:[8]
The administrative posts are divided into 35 sucos ("villages") in total.
Viqueque is a homeland of theMalayo-Polynesian languageTetum. In Timor-Leste it is co-official withPortuguese. In the east part of the municipality live speakers of thePapuan languageMakasae.
Media related toViqueque (Municipality) at Wikimedia Commons
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