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 attack the government has enjoyed one of its longest periods of post-independence stability including successful 2012 elections for both the parliament and president. In late 2012 the UN Security Council voted to end its peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste and both the ISF and UNMIT departed the country by the end of the year.

Geographic coordinates: 8 50 S 125 55 E

Area
Rank: 160
Land: 14,874 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Connecticut

Land boundaries
Border countries: (1) Indonesia 228 km

Coastline: 706 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

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

Terrain: mountainous

Elevation
Extremes highest point: Foho Tatamailau 2,963 m

Natural resources: gold petroleum natural gas manganese marble

Land use
Permanent crops: 4.03%
Other: 85.88% (2011)

Irrigated land: 346.5 km² (2003)

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

Population: 1,201,542
Rank: 160
Growth rate: 2.44% (2014 est.)
Growth rate rank: 35
Below poverty line: 41% (2009 est.)

Nationality
Adjective: Timorese

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

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

Religions: Roman Catholic 96.9% Protestant / Evangelical 2.2% Muslim 0.3% other 0.6% (2005)

Age structure
15-24 years: 19.8% (male 120,256/female 117,268)
25-54 years: 29.3% (male 170,179/female 182,278)
55-64 years: 4.8% (male 29,867/female 28,156)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 21,214/female 23,044) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 87.8 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 6.5 %
Potential support ratio: 15.4 (2014 est.)

Median age
Male: 17.9 years
Female: 19.1 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.44% (2014 est.)
Rank: 35

Birth rate: 34.48 births/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 30

Death rate: 6.18 deaths/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 158

Net migration rate: -3.87 migrant(s)/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 189

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 4.25% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: DILI (capital) 180,000 (2011)

Environment
Current issues: widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 22.1

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 56
Male: 41.84 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 35.54 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 164
Male: 65.87 years
Female: 69.01 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.11 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Rank: 15

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 22.3% (2009/10)

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 0.1 physicians/1000 population (2004)

Hospital bed density: 5.9 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea hepatitis A and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria (2013)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 2.7% (2008)
Rank: 178

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 45.3% (2010)
Rank: 1

Education expenditures: 9.4% of GDP (2011)
Rank: 7

Literacy
Total population: 58.3%
Male: 63.6%
Female: 53% (2010 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 12 years
Female: 11 years (2010)

Country name
Conventional short form: Timor-Leste
Local long form: Republika Demokratika Timor Lorosa'e [Tetum]; Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste [Portuguese]
Local short form: Timor Lorosa'e [Tetum]; Timor-Leste [Portuguese]
Former: East Timor Portuguese Timor

Government type: republic

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 8 35 S 125 36 E
Time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

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

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

National holiday: Proclamation of Independence Day 28 November (1975)

Constitution: drafted 2001 approved 22 March 2002 entered into force 20 May 2002 (2013)

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

Suffrage: 17 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Head of government: Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana GUSMAO (since 8 August 2007); note - he formerly used the name Jose Alexandre GUSMAO; Vice Prime Minister Fernando 'Lasama' de ARAUJO (since 8 August 2012)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers
Elections: the president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last election was held on 17 March 2012 with a run-off on 16 April 2012; following parliamentary elections the president appoints the leader of the majority party or majority coalition as the prime minister
Election results: Taur Matan RUAK elected president; percent of second-round vote - Taur Matan RUAK 61.2% Francisco GUTTERES 38.8%

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)
Elections: elections were held on 7 July 2012 (next to be held in July 2017)
Election results: percent of vote by party - CNRT 36% FRETILIN 30% PD 10% Frenti-Mudanca 3% others 21%; seats by party - CNRT 30 FRETILIN 25 PD 8 Frenti-Mudanca 2

Judicial branch
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court president appointed by the president of the republic from among the other court judges to serve a 4-year term; other Supreme Court judges appointed - 1 by the Parliament and the others by the Supreme Council for the Judiciary a body presided by the Supreme Court president and includes mostly presidential and parliamentary appointees; other Supreme Court judge tenure NA
Subordinate courts: Court of Appeal; district courts; magistrates' courts: note - the UN Justice System Programme launched in 2003 and in 2008 is helping strengthen the country's justice system

Political parties and leaders:

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
In the us chancery: 4,201 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 504Washington DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 966-3,202
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 966-3,205
From the us embassy: Avenida de Portugal Praia dos Coqueiros Dili
From the us mailing address: US Department of State 8,250 Dili Place Washington DC 20,521-8,250
From the us telephone: (670) 332-4,684
From the us fax: (670) 331-3,206

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 anthem
Lyrics and music: Fransisco Borja DA COSTA/Afonso DE ARAUJO

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. On the strength of its oil-wealth the economy has achieved real growth between 8-12% per year for the last several years among the highest sustained growth rates in the world.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 125

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 10

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 68

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 22.3%
Investment in fixed capital: 16.5%
Investment in inventories: 0%
Exports of goods and services: 74%
Imports of goods and services: -29.5%: (2013 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 81.6%
Services: 15.8% (2013 est.)

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

Industries: printing soap manufacturing handicrafts woven cloth

Industrial production growth rate: 6.2% (2013 est.)
Rank: 42

Labor force: 418,200 (2009)
Rank: 159
By occupation industry: 10%
By occupation services: 26% (2010)

Unemployment rate: 20% (2006 est.)
Rank: 157

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

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 27% (2007)

Distribution of family income gini index: 38 (2002 est.)
Rank: 110

Budget
Expenditures: $1.7 billion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -1.6% of GDP (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 76

Taxes and other revenues: 26.1% of GDP (2013 est.)
Rank: 115

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 11.8% (2012 est.)
Rank: 149

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 12.21% (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 62

Stock of narrow money: $205.8 million (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 178

Stock of broad money: $407 million (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 181

Stock of domestic credit: $-681 million (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 182

Market value of publicly traded shares: $N/A

Current account balance: $1.161 billion (2007 est.)
Rank: 38

Exports: $17.8 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 202
Commodities: oil coffee sandalwood marble

Imports: $378 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 188
Commodities: food gasoline kerosene machinery

Exchange rates: the US dollar is used

Electricity
Production: 131.7 million kWh (2012 est.)
Production rank: 194
Consumption: 67.59 million kWh (2012 est.)
Consumption rank: 203
Exports: 0 kWh (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 205
Imports: 0 kWh (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 208

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 79,490 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 54
Crude oil exports: 87,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 39
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 130
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 198

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 201
Products consumption: 2,755 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 184
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 137
Products imports: 1264 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 190

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Production rank: 200
Consumption: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 201
Exports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 195
Imports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 138
Proven reserves: 200 billion m³ (1 January 2006 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 46

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 211,100 Mt (2011 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 3,000 (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 215
Mobile cellular: 621,000 (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 163

Telephone system
Domestic: system suffered significant damage during the violence associated with independence; limited fixed-line services; mobile-cellular services have been expanding and are now available in urban and most rural areas
International: country code - 670; international service is available (2012)

Broadcast media: 1 public TV broadcast station broadcasting nationally and 1 public radio broadcaster with stations in each of the 13 administrative districts; 1 commercial TV broadcast station 3 commercial radio stations and roughly 20 community radio stations (2012)

Internet
Country code: .tl
Hosts: 252 (2012)
Hosts rank: 194
Users: 2,100 (2009)
Users rank: 211

Military expenditures:
Rank: 22

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; 18-month service obligation; no conscription but as of May 2013 introduction of conscription was under discussion (2013)

Airports: 6 (2013)
Rank: 176
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2
With unpaved runways: 2 (2013)

Heliports: 8 (2013)

Roadways
Rank: 149
Paved: 2,600 km
Unpaved: 3,440 km (2005)

Merchant marine
Rank: 153
By type: passenger/cargo 1 (2010)

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; in 2007 Australia and Timor-Leste signed a 50-year development zone and revenue sharing agreement in lieu of a maritime boundary

Illicit drugs: NA