| Manufahi | |||||
| Settlement Type: | Municipality of East Timor | ||||
| Image Blank Emblem: | Manufahi municipio.png | ||||
| Blank Emblem Type: | Official map | ||||
| Blank Emblem Size: | 250px | ||||
| Blank Emblem Alt: | Official map | ||||
| Map Alt: | Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality | ||||
| Image Map1: |
| ||||
| Map Alt1: | Map of the Municipality | ||||
| Coordinates: | -9°N 172°W | ||||
| Subdivision Type: | Country | ||||
| Parts Style: | para | ||||
| Seat Type: | Capital | ||||
| Seat: | Same | ||||
| Unit Pref: | Metric | ||||
| Area Rank: | 6th | ||||
| Population Rank: | 11th | ||||
| Population Density Km2: | auto | ||||
| Population Density Rank: | 11th | ||||
| Demographics1 Title2: | Rank | ||||
| Demographics1 Info2: | 11th | ||||
| Iso Code: | TL-MF | ||||
| Blank Name Sec2: | HDI (2017) | ||||
| Blank Info Sec2: | 0.618[1] · 3rd | ||||
Manufahi is one of the municipalities of East Timor. It has a population of 53,691 (2015 census) and an area of 1,323 km2.[2] The capital of the municipality is Same.[3]
The present name of the municipality, Manufahi, is derived from Maun Fahe, the Tetum language expression for 'divided brothers'. The name originated in a legend that tells of a fight between two related tribes, or a group of siblings. Eventually, the protagonists agreed to subject themselves to a single ruler.[4] [5]
During the Portuguese colonial era, the then district bore the name of its main town, Same. The present name was adopted on the basis of the divided brothers legend.[4] [5] However, it was misspelled, and the Tetum language meaning of the misspelled name is 'pig chicken'.[4]
Efforts are being made to correct the name. However, there is also a legend that in the suco of a rooster once flew down from a mountain, landed on the back of a pig, and then travelled with the pig to many places before returning home.[4]
Manufahi extends from the central highlands of East Timor to its south coast, on the Timor Sea.[5] It is bordered by Manatuto to the east, Ainaro to the west, and Aileu to the north.
During its time as a Portuguese colony, the municipality was called Same, after the capital city. It was the epicentre of the Great Rebellion of 1910–12. During the Indonesian occupation the then subdistrict of Hato-Udo was split off from the then district of Manufahi and joined to Ainaro, and the then subdistrict of Turiscai, previously in Ainaro, was moved to Manufahi.
Manufahi's administrative posts (formerly sub-districts) are:
Besides the national official languages of Tetum and Portuguese, the Malayo-Polynesian language Mambai is also spoken.