Map of Timor-Leste | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: The Portuguese began to trade with the island of Timor in the early 16th century and colonized it in mid-century. Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty in which Portugal ceded the western portion of the island. Imperial Japan occupied Portuguese Timor from 1942 to 1945 but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese defeat in World War II. East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975 and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later. It was incorporated into Indonesia in July 1976 as the province of Timor Timur (East Timor). An unsuccessful campaign of pacification followed over the next two decades during which an estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives. On 30 August 1999 in a UN-supervised popular referendum an overwhelming majority of the people of Timor-Leste voted for independence from Indonesia. However in the next three weeks anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and supported by the Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale scorched-earth campaign of retribution. The militias killed approximately 1400 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into western Timor as refugees. Most 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. On 20 September 1999 Australian-led peacekeeping troops deployed to the country and brought the violence to an end. On 20 May 2002 Timor-Leste was internationally recognized as an independent state. In 2006 internal tensions threatened the new nation's security when a military strike led to violence and a breakdown of law and order. At Dili's request an Australian-led International Stabilization Force (ISF) deployed to Timor-Leste and the UN Security Council established the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) which included an authorized police presence of over 1600 personnel. The ISF and UNMIT restored stability allowing for presidential and parliamentary elections in 2007 in a largely peaceful atmosphere. In February 2008 a rebel group staged an unsuccessful attack against the president and prime minister. The ringleader was killed in the attack and most of the rebels surrendered in April 2008. Since the unsuccessful attacks the government has enjoyed one of its longest periods of post-independence stability.


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Location: Southeastern Asia northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago; note - Timor-Leste includes the eastern half of the island of Timor the Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco

Geographic coordinates: 8 50 S 125 55 E

Map reference

Area
Rank: 160
Comparative: slightly larger than Connecticut

Land boundaries

Coastline: 706 km

Maritime claims

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

Terrain: mountainous

Elevation

Natural resources: gold petroleum natural gas manganese marble

Land use

Irrigated land: 140 km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: floods and landslides are common; earthquakes; tsunamis; tropical cyclones

Geography
Note: 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


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Population: 1,143,667
Rank: 159
Growth rate: 2.49% (2012 est.)
Growth rate rank: 30
Below poverty line: 41% (2009 est.)

Nationality

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

Languages: Tetum (official) Portuguese (official) Indonesian English

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

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 2.49% (2012 est.)
Rank: 30

Birth rate: 35.2 births/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 27

Death rate: 6.4 deaths/1000 population (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 152

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 108

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 56

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 157

Total fertility rate: 5.32 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Rank: 16

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density: 0.1 physicians/1000 population (2004)

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access:
Unimproved:

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 40.6% (2002)
Rank: 4

Education expenditures: 16.8% of GDP (2009)
Rank: 1

Literacy

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

Government type: republic

Capital

Administrative divisions: 13 administrative districts; Aileu Ainaro Baucau Bobonaro (Maliana) Cova-Lima (Suai) Dili Ermera (Gleno) Lautem (Los Palos) Liquica Manatuto Manufahi (Same) Oecussi (Ambeno) Viqueque

Dependent areas

Independence: 28 November 1975 (independence proclaimed from Portugal); note - 20 May 2002 is the official date of international recognition of Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesia

National holiday: Independence Day 28 November (1975)

Constitution: 20 May 2002 (effective date)

Legal system: civil law system based on the Portuguese model; note - penal and civil law codes to replace the Indonesian codes were passed by Parliament and promulgated in 2009 and 2011 respectively

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship

Suffrage: 17 years of age; universal

Executive branch

Legislative branch: unicameral National Parliament (the number of seats can vary from 52 to 65; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms in a modified proportional representation system)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice - constitution calls for one judge to be appointed by National Parliament and rest appointed by Superior Council for Judiciary; note - until Supreme Court is established Court of Appeals is highest court

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party or PD [Fernando de ARAUJO]; National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction or CNRT [Xanana GUSMAO]; National Democratic Union of Timorese Resistance or UNDERTIM [Cornelio DA Conceicao GAMA]; National Unity Party or PUN [Fernanda BORGES]; People's Party of Timor or PPT [Jacob XAVIER]; Revolutionary Front of Independent Timor-Leste or FRETILIN [Mari ALKATIRI]; Social Democratic Association of Timor or ASDT; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Zacarias Albano da COSTA]; Sons of the Mountain Warriors or KOTA [Manuel TILMAN] (also known as Association of Timorese Heroes); (only parties in Parliament are listed)

International organization participation: ACP ADB AOSIS ARF ASEAN (observer) CPLP EITI (compliant country) FAO G-77 IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ITU MIGA NAM OPCW PIF (observer) UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO Union Latina UNMISS UNWTO UPU WCO WHO WMO

Diplomatic representation

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 - pointing to the upper hoist-side corner of the flag - is in the center of the black triangle; yellow denotes the colonialism in Timor-Leste's past; black represents the obscurantism that needs to be overcome; red stands for the national liberation struggle; the white star symbolizes peace and serves as a guiding light

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Since its 1999 independence Timor-Leste has faced great challenges in rebuilding its infrastructure strengthening the civil administration and generating jobs for young people entering the work force. The development of oil and gas resources in offshore waters has greatly supplemented government revenues. This technology-intensive industry however has done little to create jobs for the unemployed in part because there are no production facilities in Timor-Leste. Gas is piped to Australia. In June 2005 the National Parliament unanimously approved the creation of a Petroleum Fund to serve as a repository for all petroleum revenues and to preserve the value of Timor-Leste's petroleum wealth for future generations. The Fund held assets of US$9.3 billion as of December 2011. The economy continues to recover from the mid-2006 outbreak of violence and civil unrest which disrupted both private and public sector economic activity. Government spending increased markedly from 2009 through 2012 primarily on basic infrastructure including electricity and roads. Limited experience in procurement and infrastructure building has hampered these projects. The underlying economic policy challenge the country faces remains how best to use oil-and-gas wealth to lift the non-oil economy onto a higher growth path and to reduce poverty. Timor-Leste had a balanced budget in 2012 with government expenditures of $1.7 billion focusing on development of public infrastructure. On the strength of its oil-wealth the economy has achieved real growth of approximately 10% per year for the last several years among the highest sustained growth rates in the world.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 152

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 8

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 117

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: coffee rice corn cassava (manioc) sweet potatoes soybeans cabbage mangoes bananas vanilla

Industries

Industrial production growth rate: 8.5% (2004 est.)
Rank: 22

Labor force: 418,200 (2009)
Rank: 158

Unemployment rate: 20% (2006 est.)
Rank: 156

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 41% (2009 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index: 38 (2002 est.)
Rank: 107

Budget
Surplus or deficit: 0% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 41

Taxes and other revenues: 40.3% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 51

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 13.5% (2011 est.)
Rank: 190

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 11.04% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 75

Stock of narrow money: $162.7 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 178

Stock of broad money: $322.4 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 182

Stock of domestic credit: $280 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 180

Market value of publicly traded shares: $N/A

Current account balance: $1.161 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 37

Exports: $17.8 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 209
Commodities: oil coffee sandalwood marble

Imports: $439.1 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 187
Commodities: food gasoline kerosene machinery

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: the US dollar is used 1 (2012 est.)


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Electricity
Production: 131.7 million kWh (2011 est.)
Production rank: 190
Consumption: 67.59 million kWh (2011 est.)
Consumption rank: 202
Exports: 0 kWh (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 140
Imports: 0 kWh (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 142

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 83,740 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 51
Crude oil exports: 96,270 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 37
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 130
Crude oil proven reserves: 553.8 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 50

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products production rank: 201
Products consumption: 2,755 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 186
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Products exports rank: 137
Products imports: 2,205 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Products imports rank: 178

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Production rank: 200
Consumption: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 201
Exports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 67
Imports: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Imports rank: 139
Proven reserves: 200 billion m³ (1 January 2006 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 46

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 395,300 Mt (2010 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 183

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 3,100 (2011)
Main lines in use rank: 214
Mobile cellular: 614,200 (2011)
Mobile cellular rank: 162

Telephone system

Broadcast media: 1 public TV broadcast station broadcasting nationally and 1 public radio broadcaster with stations in each of the 13 administrative districts; one commercial TV broadcast station broadcasting a few commercial radio stations and roughly a dozen community radio stations (2009)

Internet
Country code: .tl
Hosts: 252 (2012)
Hosts rank: 195
Users: 2,100 (2009)
Users rank: 211

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: NA

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; 18-month service obligation (2008)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 6 (2012)
Rank: 173

Heliports: 8 (2012)

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways
Rank: 149

Waterways

Merchant marine
Rank: 151

Ports and terminals: Dili


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Disputes international: three stretches of land borders with Timor-Leste have yet to be delimited two of which are in the Oecussi exclave area and no maritime or Economic Exclusion Zone boundaries have been established between the countries; maritime boundaries with Indonesia remain unresolved; many refugees who left Timor-Leste in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse repatriation; in 2007 Australia and Timor-Leste signed a 50-year development zone and revenue sharing agreement in lieu of a maritime boundary

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: NA