Baucau Municipality

The word Baucau is derived from the word "Akau", which means "pig" in the local Waimoa language. During the Portuguese colonial era, the name of the district was transformed, first into Macau and finally into Baucau. An alternative name for the Baucau community is Wailia-Wailewa, meaning the "great water spring of Wai Lia". In 1936, the Portuguese colonial authorities renamed what was then the district of Baucau as "São Domingos". However, that name, like other imperial-sounding names adopted in the colony at about that time, did not catch on, and a few years after World War II it was quietly abandoned. ==Geography==

The borders of the District of Baucau during the colonial era were the same as they are now. The north edge of the municipality is to the Wetar Strait; it also borders the municipalities of Lautém to the east, Viqueque to the south, and Manatuto to the west. Baucau also has a wide coastline with sandy beaches, ideal for swimming and other watersports. In the administrative post of Venilale are tunnels that the Japanese built during their occupation during the Second World War. Also in this administrative post is an ongoing project to reconstruct and renovate the Escola do Reino de Venilale (School of the Kingdom of Venilale).