Ainaro
Encyclopedia
Ainaro is a town in East Timor
, the capital of the Ainaro District
, and is located in the southwest part of the country. The subdistrict has a population of approximately 12,000 people. It contains the small mountain town of Ainaro, the district capital, along with the villages of Soro, Maununo, Cassa, Suro Craic, Manutassi, and Mau-Ulo. The town of Ainaro is located 78 km south of Dili
, the national capital.
The town of Ainaro's main resources are its delicious organic
coffee
and aromatic sandalwood
trees. It is a diverse community, where Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims are neighbors.
n occupation from 1975 to 1999, Ainaro was home to a large contingent of Indonesian military (TNI)
-backed pro-Indonesia militia
s in the months leading up to the August 30, 1999 referendum
on independence
. As a result it suffered near-total devastation during the TNI orchestrated scorched earth operation with more than 95 percent of its buildings destroyed.
, United States
Ballarat
, Australia
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, the capital of the Ainaro District
Ainaro (district)
Ainaro is one of 13 administrative districts of East Timor, in the southwest part of the country. It has a population of 53,629 and an area of 797 km2...
, and is located in the southwest part of the country. The subdistrict has a population of approximately 12,000 people. It contains the small mountain town of Ainaro, the district capital, along with the villages of Soro, Maununo, Cassa, Suro Craic, Manutassi, and Mau-Ulo. The town of Ainaro is located 78 km south of Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
, the national capital.
The town of Ainaro's main resources are its delicious organic
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and aromatic sandalwood
Sandalwood
Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...
trees. It is a diverse community, where Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims are neighbors.
Destruction of Ainaro
During the IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n occupation from 1975 to 1999, Ainaro was home to a large contingent of Indonesian military (TNI)
Military of Indonesia
The Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force ....
-backed pro-Indonesia militia
Pro-Indonesia militia
Pro-Indonesia militias were East Timorese paramilitary militia groups that formed to show loyalty to the Indonesian government during the movement for East Timorese independence in the late 1990s...
s in the months leading up to the August 30, 1999 referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
. As a result it suffered near-total devastation during the TNI orchestrated scorched earth operation with more than 95 percent of its buildings destroyed.
Sister cities
MadisonMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...