Liquiçá

Liquiçá
Town
Liquiçá

Location in East Timor

Coordinates: 8°35′S 125°21′E / 8.583°S 125.350°E / -8.583; 125.350Coordinates: 8°35′S 125°21′E / 8.583°S 125.350°E / -8.583; 125.350
Country  East Timor
District Liquiçá District
Area
  Total 355.28 km2 (137.17 sq mi)
Elevation 87 m (285 ft)
Population (2015 census)
  Total 5,005
  Density 14/km2 (36/sq mi)
Climate Aw
Women and children's community centre in Liquiçá

Liquiçá (Tetum: Likisá) is a coastal city in East Timor, 32 km to the west of Dili, the national capital. Liquiçá is the capital of Liquiçá District. The city has a population of 5,005 inhabitants.

On 6 April 1999, in the campaign of intimidation and violence that preceded the referendum for East Timorese independence, about 200 persons were killed in the Liquiçá Church Massacre, when members of the Besi Merah Putih militia, supported by Indonesian soldiers and police, attacked the church. (The number of casualties is, not surprisingly, disputed by Indonesia).

During the leadup to the referendum on independence, most of the buildings in the city were destroyed. Only a few buildings from the Portuguese and Indonesian times remain.

Starting in 1999, it became the district headquarters for the International Police, assigned there by UNTAET, under the United Nations. It also was the home base of operations for the UNTAET Crime Scene Detachment.

Languages

Most of the inhabitants speak Tocodede.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.