Language: Tetum, Portuguese
Currency: US dollar (USD)
Calling Code: +670
East Timor, whose official name is the Democratic
Republic of East Timor (in Portuguese: Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste, in Tetun: Republika Demokratika Timor Lorosa'e) is a
Southeast Asian country. Island of Timor, the nearby islands of
Atauro and Jaco and the exclave of Oecusse (Oecussi-Ambeno),
surrounded by territory of the Indonesian region of West Timor. In
total the country has a territory of 14 874 km2 and a population of more
than 1 million one hundred thousand inhabitants.
The territory of the current East Timor was colonized by Portugal in
the sixteenth century and became known as Portuguese Timor. The
colony declared its independence in 1975, but a few days later it
was invaded and occupied by troops from neighboring Indonesia, a
country that turned the territory into its 27th province. In 1999,
after an act of self-determination in East Timor, sponsored by the
UN, Indonesia abandoned the former Portuguese colony and East Timor
became on May 20, 2002 the first sovereign state that was born in
the XXI century. After its independence, the nation became a member
of the United Nations and of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking
Countries. In addition, East Timor is one of only two Asian
countries whose main religion is Catholicism (the other is the
Philippines).
East Timor has a middle-income economy. In 2014 GDP per capita was $
5,479 according to World Bank data. Nearly 40% of its inhabitants
live below the poverty line, that is, they subsist on less than $
1.25 per day, 6 and about half of the population is illiterate, and
East Timor still suffers the consequences of the struggle against
the Indonesian occupation that lasted for decades, leaving damage to
the country's infrastructure as well as the death of around one
hundred thousand people. Although the country now has an average
human development index (previously low), it is expected that the
percentage growth of its economy will be among the highest in the
world in the coming years, East Timor is the only country in Asia
whose language is official the Portuguese.
Atauro Island is located on the extinct Wetar segment of the volcanic Inner Banda Arc in East Timor.
The toponym "Timor" comes from timur ("east" in
Indonesian), which in Portuguese was written as "Timor" (port. Timor),
which leads to the formation of a tautological toponym meaning "eastern
east": in Portuguese Timor-Leste ( Leste means "east"), in the language
of Tetum - Timór Lorosa'e (Lorosa'e - "east", literally "rising sun").
In Indonesian, the country is called Timor Timur, which uses the
Portuguese name for the island followed by the word "eastern" because
adjectives in Indonesian are placed after the noun.
The official
name of the country in Portuguese is República Democrática de
Timor-Leste and in Tetum is Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste.
The first natives of the island lived in the Jerimalai
Cave about 60-50 thousand years ago. From 38 thousand years BC. up to 17
thousand years BC Jerimalai Cave was uninhabited, which is most likely
due to the lowering of the sea level.
Presumably 4 thousand years
ago, Timor was inhabited by representatives of the Australoid race, who
spoke the ancient Papuan languages. Later, Austronesian Mongoloid
tribes, who came from the islands of modern Indonesia, began to settle
in Timor. The Tetums were the last of these settlers, probably in the
16th century. The Tetums had a significant impact on the development of
all the then inhabitants of the island - taking the example of the
Tetums, they began to move from primitive gathering to agriculture, in
particular, to growing rice.
At this time (in the XIV-XVI
centuries) Timor was visited by Javanese, Malay and Chinese traders who
bartered sandalwood from local residents, which was in great demand in
the countries of Southeast and South Asia.
The Portuguese were
the first Europeans to arrive in the area in the 16th century and
establish several settlements on the island of Timor while the
surrounding islands were colonized by the Dutch.
The first
Portuguese who were traders arrived in Timor between 1509 and 1511 in
the area of the modern city of Pante Macassar. Only in 1556 did the
first Catholic missionaries appear, and by the 17th century Lifau had
become the center of their activity. In 1702, Timor was officially
declared a colony of Portugal. Dili, founded in 1520, became the capital
of East Timor in 1769.
In 1859, Timor was divided between the
Netherlands and Portugal under the Treaty of Lisbon, but the final
border between the possessions of these two countries on Timor was
determined only in 1914.
During the Second World War, the island
was occupied by Japan (from 1942 to 1945). After the war, Portuguese
power was restored. East Timor remained a Portuguese colony until 1974.
Indonesian occupation of East Timor
The process of decolonization
in Portuguese Timor began in 1974, following the fall of the
authoritarian regime in Portugal. In 1975, a radical Maoist regime was
established in the territories controlled by the FRETILIN party,
maintaining friendly relations with the Khmer Rouge and similar
movements; From July 23 to August 6, 1976, a delegation of the
Democratic Republic of East Timor paid an official friendly visit to
Kampuchea.
On November 28, 1975, the FRETILIN party proclaimed
the independence of East Timor. However, the next day, the APODETI and
UDT parties announced the annexation of East Timor to Indonesia, and 9
days later, parts of the Indonesian army invaded the country. On July
17, 1976, East Timor was declared the 27th province of Indonesia, with
APODETI chairman Arnaldo dos Reis Araujo appointed as the first
governor.
The invasion and subsequent repression were carried out
with the support of the United States, which supplied weapons and
trained Indonesian special forces units Komando Pasukan Khusus[en]
(Kopassus). Australia supported the actions of the Indonesian
authorities and interfered with the activities of the Timorese
liberation movement abroad.
In 1999, under pressure from the UN,
a referendum on self-determination was held in East Timor. As a result,
78.5% of the population voted for independence. This led to a new
outbreak of violence, which required the introduction of an
international peacekeeping contingent. On May 20, 2002, the former
Portuguese colony was officially declared an independent state.
Diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation were established on May
20, 2002. The Russian Foreign Ministry officially uses the name "East
Timor", but the UN officially adopted the Portuguese name of the state
in Russian - Timor-Leste.
2006 East Timorese crisis
The
clashes that began on March 16, 2006 between former members of the East
Timorese army, who were dismissed for participating in a strike due to
what were perceived as excessively cruel demands of army discipline, and
the police, which escalated into mass clashes, led to the collapse of
the government, the police, chaos and rampant crime. East Timor's
capital, Dili, was taken over by youth gangs, looters and warring
factions, as well as by defecting police officers who looted and burned
the houses of local residents, beating their owners. The rebels also put
forward political demands - the resignation of Prime Minister Mari
Alkatiri. It was possible to partially normalize the situation and stop
the bloodshed only after the entry of a peacekeeping contingent from
Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Portugal and other countries in May
2006. Riots and clashes in East Timor were also noted in March and May
2007. The victims of the conflict in East Timor from March to June 2006
amounted to at least 30 people killed, the total number of refugees
exceeded 27 thousand people.
The country is dominated by mountains, from which
small mountain rivers flow into the Banda and Timor seas. There are
earthquakes and tsunamis.
The climate in East Timor is
subequatorial monsoonal with moderate rainfall. Wet monsoon leads to
landslides and floods. Sandalwood forests grow in mountainous and
foothill areas. The lowlands are dominated by tall grass savannahs with
coconut palms and eucalyptus trees.
Small plateaus 500-700 m high
are common in the east of the country. Low-lying accumulative plains
stretch along the southern coast. The position of East Timor within the
Alpine-Himalayan mobile belt determines the high seismicity and
susceptibility of the island to tsunamis. The coast, shelf and
especially the bottom of the Timor Sea are rich in oil and gas.
The population is 1,291,358.
Annual increase - 2%
(fertility - 3.2 births per woman).
Urban population - 27%.
Literacy - 58% (2002 estimate).
Ethnic composition - Austronesian
peoples (Tetum - 45%, Mambai - 15%, Tokode - 12%, etc.), Papuan peoples
(Bunak - 11%, Makasai - 3%, etc.), Chinese - 1%.
Religious
structure of the population (2005 estimate):
Catholics - 96.9%,
Protestants - 2.2%,
Hindus, Buddhists, animists - 0.6%,
Muslims -
0.3%.
East Timor has two official languages: Tetum and
Portuguese, and two more "working" languages: Indonesian and English.
"Working languages", according to article 159 of the Constitution of the
Democratic Republic of East Timor, are used in the work of official
bodies "when deemed necessary". The status of "working languages" is
defined by the constitution as temporary, without specifying a date for
the expiration of the transition period.
State-political
structure
Republic. The current constitution was adopted on March 20,
2002. It is based on the model of the Portuguese constitution. The head
of state is the president, elected by the population for a 5-year term
(a second consecutive term is possible). The president can veto laws,
dissolve parliament, and call elections. There is universal suffrage
(given from the age of 17). Parliamentary elections were held on 30
August 2001.
Legislative powers are exercised by the National
Parliament, which consists of 88 members. Deputies are elected for 5
years by popular vote.
Main political parties (based on the
results of the elections in June 2007):
Revolutionary Front for
Independence (FRETILIN) - left, 21 deputies
National Congress for
Perestroika - centre-left, 18 deputies
Social Democrats (two parties
in coalition) - centre-left, 11 deputies
Democratic Party -
centre-left, 8 deputies
3 more parties are represented in the
parliament (2-3 deputies each), 7 more parties did not enter the
parliament.
The territory of East Timor is divided into 13
administrative regions:
Lauten
baucau
Vikeke
Manatutu
Dili
Aileu
Manufahi
Liquica
Ermera
Ainaru
Bobonaro
Cova Lima
Ocusi-Ambeno
The districts are further divided into
90 subdistricts, 700 sukos and 7225 villages (hamlets).
The
border between East Timor and Indonesia was officially defined by
Portugal and the Netherlands by treaties in 1859 and 1913. The border
was finally established in The Hague in 1916. Following the
re-declaration of East Timor's independence in 2002, the parties
proceeded to delimit the border, which has not yet been completed.
Differences remain over three sections of the border between Indonesia
and East Timor. There is a free movement of people and goods between
East Timor's semi-enclave Oecussi and mainland East Timor.
It is
a member of the international organization of African, Caribbean and
Pacific countries.
East Timor is an underdeveloped agrarian state. The
country's economy was destroyed during the civil war of 1976-1999. Its
basis was agriculture, which was dominated by irrigated agriculture.
Half the population was unemployed. With independence, offshore oil and
gas production, which is carried out with the help of Australian
companies, came to the fore. The country's economy after independence is
developing quite successfully.
On the territory of the country
there are deposits of gold, platinum, marble and manganese.
Residents grow coffee, coconut, rice, corn, cassava, soybeans, sweet
potatoes, mangoes, bananas, vanilla, tobacco, and cotton. The country
has established the production of copra, soap and cosmetic products, as
well as pearl fishing - one of the ways of income for the inhabitants of
the country. East Timor has developed woodworking, leather, textile and
food industries. Handicrafts: basket weaving, ivory and sandalwood
carving, pottery making.
Benefits: Oil and gas deposits in the
Timor Sea. Several oil fields have been found in the Timor Sea. The
reserves of only one of them - Bayou Undan - are estimated at 3 billion
dollars. The traditional basis of agriculture is coffee and tropical
fruits.
Disadvantages: in 1999, during the riots, the
infrastructure was badly destroyed. The industrial sector is poorly
developed. Underdeveloped infrastructure, low literacy of the
population.
The economy is based on oil and gas, marble,
agriculture (coffee and tropical fruits) and sandalwood exports. In
2011, GDP per capita was 8.7 thousand dollars (118th place in the
world). After independence in 2004, East Timor was one of the least
developed countries in the world, the second poorest country in Asia
after Afghanistan. In the first years of independence, oil and gas
fields began to be developed in the country and the country's GDP
increased 24 times from 2004 to 2011 from 400 million to 9.7 billion
dollars. The state budget of the country has grown from $40 million in
2004 to $1.3 billion in 2011. The country has turned (according to IMF
experts) into the world's most dependent state on the world oil price.
In 2011, GDP growth was 10%, in 2012 the economic growth rate was about
the same. The country's infrastructure, despite high oil and gas
revenues, is poorly developed. The level of urbanization reaches only
27%; in 2010, 87.7% of urban and only 18.9% of rural households used
electricity (the national average is 36.7%).
Agriculture (26.5%
of GDP, 64% of employed in the economy) - coffee, cocoa, cinnamon, rice,
corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cabbage, mangoes, bananas,
vanilla.
Industry (17.8% of GDP, 10% of those employed in the
economy) - oil and gas production, soap, clothing, handicrafts.
Exports ($108 million, 2017) - oil (61% of the value), coffee (24%),
clothing, agricultural raw materials. Imports ($651 million, 2017) -
mainly petroleum products and fuels (16%), machinery and equipment
(26%), agricultural products, including rice (up to 4.8%), meat, tobacco
and alcoholic beverages .
The national currency of the country
since January 2000 is the US dollar. In addition, since 2003, their own
Timorese centavo coins have been used, corresponding at the rate to the
American cent. Coins are issued in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50,100
and 200 centavos.
mass media
The state-owned television and
radio company RTTL includes TVTL (Televisão de Timor Leste - East Timor
Television) and radio station RTL (Radio Timor Leste - East Timor
Radio).