East Timor (An Over View)

East Timor is located in southeastern Asia. East Timor is bordered by the Savu Sea and the Timor Sea. Timor comes from the Malay word for "East"; the island of Timor is part of the Malay Archipelago and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands

The Capital City: Dili, also spelled Díli, Dilli or Dilly, is the capital of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands.


Diving in Timor Leste is simply fantastic, a great reason more and more people choose to travel to East Timor. Great visibility in the dry season and warm tropical water the whole year round are guaranteed here. Explore an unbelievable variety of pristine, live coral and aquatic species while drifting through the underwater canyon between the mainland and Ata’uro.



History of East Timor:


1520 Timor was first colonized by the Portuguese.


1613 The Dutch, who claimed many of the surrounding islands, took control of the western portion of the island in.


1860 Portugal and the Netherlands fought over the island until a treaty divided Timor, granting Portugal the eastern half of the island as well as the western enclave of Oecussi.


1942-1945: Australia and Japan fought each other on the island during World War II; nearly 50,000 East Timorese died during the subsequent Japanese occupation.


1949: The Netherlands gave up its colonies in the Dutch East Indies, including West Timor, and the nation of Indonesia was born.


1949-1975: East Timor remained under Portuguese control, when the Portuguese abruptly pulled out after 455 years of colonization. The sudden Portuguese withdrawal left the island vulnerable.


July 16, 1976: Nine days after the Democratic Republic of East Timor was declared an independent nation.


July 25, 1976: Indonesia invaded and annexed it. Although no country except Australia officially recognized the annexation, Indonesia's invasion was sanctioned by the United States and other western countries, who had cultivated Indonesia as a trading partner and cold-war ally. An unsuccessful campaign of pacification followed over the next two decades, during which an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives.


30 August 1999: With UN supervised majority of the people of Timor-Leste voted for independence from Indonesia.


September 1999: Anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and supported by the Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale, scorched-earth campaign of retribution. The militias killed approximately 1,400 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into western Timor as refugees. The majority of the country's infrastructure, including homes, irrigation systems, water supply systems, and schools, and nearly 100% of the country's electrical grid were destroyed.


http://www.timor-leste.gov.tl/AboutTimorleste/history.htm

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By Regulation 2000/7 of 24 January 2000, the United States dollar (US$) became the new legal tender in East Timor. This means that all official transactions must be carried out in US$. For example, payments of your electricity bill will have to be made in US$. However, if you want to, you can use other currencies present in East Timor - the Indonesian rupiah, Australian dollar, Portuguese escudo and Thai baht - for every day business.

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Connecticut


Land boundaries: total: 228 km border countries: Indonesia 228 km


Coastline: 706 km


Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm


Climate: tropical; hot, humid; distinct rainy and dry seasons


Terrain: mountainous


Government type: republic






Ethnic groups: Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian), Papuan, small Chinese minority

Religions: Roman Catholic 98%, Muslim 1%, Protestant 1% (2005)

Languages: Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English note: there are about 16 indigenous languages; Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people

Exports - commodities: coffee, sandalwood, marble; note - potential for oil and vanilla exports



Flag description: red, with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) superimposed on a slightly longer yellow arrowhead that extends to the center of the flag; a white star is in the center of the black triangle



Resource: CIA fact books