Cova Lima Municipality
Cova Lima is a municipality of Timor-Leste, in the Southwest part of the country. It has a population of 59,455 and an area of 1,230 km2. The capital of the municipality is Suai, which lies 136 km from Dili, the national capital.
Toponymy
There are two different explanations for the municipality's name. First, it could be derived from the combination of koba and lima, the Tetum word for 'five'. The combination is said to represent either the five mythical daughters of the Liurai of Fohorem Nutetu, or the five kingdoms consisting of Fatumea, Dakolo, Lookeu, Sisi and Maudemi.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.
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..." of the local name.