{{Short description|Municipality of East Timor}} {{EngvarB|date=April 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{multiple issues| {{Expand German|Cova Lima|topic=geo|date=July 2011}} {{More citations needed|date=February 2017}} }} {{Infobox settlement | name = Cova Lima | settlement_type = Municipality of Timor-Leste | official_name = {{native name list |tag1=pt |name1=Município Cova Lima |tag2=tet |name2=Munisípiu Kovalima}} | image_skyline = Berglandschaft auf dem Weg nach Suai.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Mountain area in Cova Lima | image_flag = {{TL wikidata|image_flag}} | image_seal = Cova Lima.jpg | image_blank_emblem = Cova Lima municipio.png | blank_emblem_type = Official map | blank_emblem_size = 250px | blank_emblem_alt = Official map | image_map = 2015 East Timor Cova Lima locator map.png | map_alt = Map of East Timor highlighting the Municipality | map_caption = {{Legend inline|#b0121f|outline=silver}} '''Cova Lima''' in&nbsp; {{Legend inline|#fefeec|outline=silver}} '''Timor-Leste''' | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | map_alt1 = Map of the Municipality | map_caption1 = | coordinates = {{coord|9|19|S|125|15|E|region:TL_type:adm1st|display=inline,title}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Timor-Leste}} | parts_type = {{nowrap|Administrative posts}} | parts_style = para | p1 = {{ubl|Fatululic|Fatumean|Fohorem|Zumalai|Maucatar|Suai|Tilomar}} | established_title = <!-- Established --> | established_date = | seat_type = Capital | seat = Suai | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = <!--Governor--> | leader_name = | unit_pref = Metric<!-- or US or UK --> | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = {{TL wikidata|area}} | area_rank = 7th | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = {{TL wikidata|population_total}} | population_as_of = {{TL wikidata|population_as_of}} | population_rank = 9th | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_rank = 9th | demographics_type1 = {{TL wikidata|demographics_type1}} | demographics1_footnotes = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags --> | demographics1_title1 = {{TL wikidata|demographics1_title1}} | demographics1_info1 = {{TL wikidata|demographics1_info1}} | demographics1_title2 = Rank | demographics1_info2 = 8th | population_note = | timezone = {{TL wikidata|timezone}} | utc_offset = {{TL wikidata|utc_offset}} | iso_code = TL-CO | blank_name_sec2 = HDI (2017) | blank_info_sec2 = 0.618<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref><br />{{color|#358993|medium}} · 3rd | website = {{URL|1=https://covalima.gov.tl/|2=Cova Lima Municipality}} | footnotes = }}

'''Cova Lima''' ({{Langx|pt|Município Cova Lima}}, {{Langx|tet|Munisípiu Kovalima}}) is a municipality of Timor-Leste, in the Southwest part of the country. It has a population of 59,455 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,230&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/FOS-May-2014-WEB.pdf |title=Friends of Suai/Covalima |publisher=City of Port Phillip |date=May 2014 |accessdate=2017-02-22 |archive-date=25 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325115916/http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/FOS-May-2014-WEB.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The capital of the municipality is Suai, which lies 136&nbsp;km from Dili, the national capital.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/E29454_11__Friends_of_Suai_Strategic_Plan_2010-_2020.pdf |title=Friends of Suai: Strategic Plan: 2010 to 2020 |publisher=City of Port Phillip |accessdate=2017-02-22 |archive-date=1 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401183746/http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/E29454_11__Friends_of_Suai_Strategic_Plan_2010-_2020.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Toponymy== There are two different explanations for the municipality's name. First, it could be derived from the combination of ''koba'' (a basket used for ritual acts) and ''lima'', the Tetum word for 'five'. The combination is said to represent either the five mythical daughters of the Liurai (traditional title of a Timorese ruler) of Fohorem Nutetu,<!-- In {{ill|Dato Tolu|de}} (in the Fohorem Administrative Post) there are five stones in a betel nut grove representing the five daughters--><ref name="district profile">{{cite report |date=April 2002 |title=District Profile Covalima |url=http://www.estatal.gov.tl/Documents/District_Development_Plans_and_Profiles/Covalima/Covalima_District_Profile_eng.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014173145/http://www.estatal.gov.tl/Documents/District%20Development%20Plans%20and%20Profiles/Covalima/Covalima%20District%20Profile_eng.pdf |archive-date=14 October 2013 |publisher= |access-date=26 April 2022}}</ref>{{rp|5}}<ref name="co toponymy">{{cite web |title=Perfil: 2. Toponímia |trans-title=Profile: 2. Toponymy |url=https://covalima.gov.tl/ |website=Cova Lima Municipality |access-date=18 July 2022 |language=tet |archive-url= |archive-date= }}</ref> or the five kingdoms consisting of Fatumea, Dakolo, Lookeu, Sisi and Maudemi.<ref name="co toponymy"/><ref name="sms">{{cite web |title=The Real Political and Cultural Meaning and Short History of Koba Lima and Suai |url=https://www.suaimediaspace.org/history/koba-lima-suai/ |website=Suai Media Space |access-date=26 April 2022}}</ref>

According to a second explanation, the English language name of the municipality is said to be a Portuguese approximation of the combination ''kaua lima'' or portmanteau ''Kaualima'', each of which means 'five crows' in Tetum.<ref name="hull 2006-06">{{cite journal |last1=Hull |first1=Geoffrey |authorlink1=Geoffrey Hull |title=The placenames of East Timor |journal=Placenames Australia: Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey |date=June 2006 |pages=6–7, at 7 |url=http://www.anps.org.au/upload/June_2006.pdf |accessdate=25 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713140153/http://www.anps.org.au/upload/June_2006.pdf |archive-date=13 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="morris 1984">{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Cliff |title=Tetun - English Dictionary |series=Pacific Linguistics Series C - No. 83 |date=1984 |publisher=Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University |location=Canberra |isbn=0858833085 |pages=104, 131 |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146599/1/PL-C83.pdf}}</ref>

It has been asserted that the Portuguese name, perhaps intentionally, has a symbolically derogatory meaning, namely 'Five Graves' or 'Five Holes', as the Portuguese word ''cova'' means 'grave' or 'hole'. According to that assertion, the Portuguese name may also be a "... form of cultural and mind de-colonization ..." [<nowiki />sic&nbsp;- colonization<nowiki />] of the local name.<ref name="sms"/>

==Geography== {{stack|thumb|left|upright|Woman with pottery in Cova Lima}} Cova Lima borders the Timor Sea to the south, the municipalities of Bobonaro to the north, Ainaro to the east, and the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara to the west.

<!-- <gallery widths="165"> File:Sucos Cova Lima.png|Subdivisions of Cova Lima File:Cova Lima cities rivers.png|Cities and rivers of Cova Lima </gallery>

<gallery widths="165"> File:Cova Lima detail map.png|Borders of Cova Lima until 2003. File:Cova Lima subdistricts.png|Borders of Cova Lima since 2003. </gallery> -->

==Administrative posts== The administrative posts of Cova Lima are Fatululic, Fatumean, Fohorem, Zumalai, Maucatar, Suai, and Tilomar.<ref>{{HD of East Timor|title=Cova Lima District|page=67}}</ref>

== References == ===Notes=== {{reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last1=Barrkman|first1=Joanna |title=The Textiles of Covalima, Timor-Leste |date=2014 |publisher=Governo de Timor-Leste |location=Dili |isbn=9789898726261 |url=https://issuu.com/incidentaldoc/docs/covalima_textiles_english_copy |accessdate=26 October 2018}} * {{cite journal |last1=Kehi |first1=Balthasar |last2=Palmer |first2=Lisa |title=Hamatak halirin: The cosmological and socio-ecological roles of water in Koba Lima, Timor |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |date=2012 |volume=168 |issue=4 |pages=445–471 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23339342 |jstor=23339342 |jstor-access=free |access-date=30 January 2025 |issn=0006-2294}} * {{cite report |date=2015 |title=Munisipio Covalima: Planu Estartejiku Desenvolvimentu Munisipal |trans-title=Cova Lima Municipality: Municipal Strategic Development Plan| url=https://issuu.com/desentralizasaun/docs/pedm_covalima |language=tet |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |publisher=Ministry of State Administration (East Timor) / Administration of Cova Lima Municipality |access-date=18 July 2022}} * {{cite report |date=2012 |title=Perfil Distritu Covalima |trans-title=Cova Lima District Profile |url=https://descentralizasaun.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/05_covalima.pdf |language=tet |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303162101/https://descentralizasaun.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/05_covalima.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2014 |publisher= |access-date=18 July 2022}} {{refend}}

== External links == {{commons category-inline|Cova Lima|Cova Lima (Municipality)}} * {{URL|1=https://covalima.gov.tl/en|2=Cova Lima Municipality}} – official site (in Tetum with some content in English) * {{URL|1=https://estatal.gov.tl/pt/municipio-de-covalima/|2=Cova Lima Municipality}} – information page on Ministry of State Administration site {{in lang|pt|tet}}

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Category:Cova Lima Municipality Category:Municipalities of Timor-Leste