Yesterday May 20th, was the 12 anniversary of East Timor’s Independence! While I have seen the country’s name before, I really don’t know much else about the country. So the first thing that I did, yes, even before going to Wikipedia, was to search Goggle images for a map of East Timor…..
From this map we can see that East Timor, like a few other countries shares half of an island and is located northwest of Australia. From Wikipedia:
East Timor i/ˌiːst ˈtiːmɔr/ or Timor-Leste /tiˈmɔr ˈlɛʃteɪ/, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste,[6] is a country in Southeast Asia.[7] It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The country’s size is about 15,410 km2 (5,400 sq mi).[8]
East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor until Portugal’s decolonisation of the country. In late 1975, East Timor declared its independence but later that year was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesia’s 27th province the following year. In 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory, and East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on May 20, 2002. After independence, East Timor became a member of the United Nations and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. It is one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being the Philippines. Read More
The country’s economy and infrastructure have been wrecked by its decades long fight for independence. Around 37% of the country’s population live on less than $1.25 U.S. money per day, which is below the international poverty line! And 58% of the population is illiterate. Currently, the country places 134th on the Human Development Index. The bright spot is that East Timor is expected to have the sixth-largest percentage growth in GDP in the world for 2013.
After Portuguese decolonization in 1974, the country was occupied by Indonesia in 1975 and a war for Independence was fought from that point until 1999 – again from Wikipedia…
….Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor was marked by violence and brutality. A detailed statistical report prepared for the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor cited a minimum bound of 102,800 conflict-related deaths in the period 1974–1999, namely, approximately 18,600 killings and 84,200 “excess” deaths from hunger and illness.[26] The East Timorese guerrilla force, Falintil, fought a campaign against the Indonesian forces from 1975 to 1999. The 1991 Dili Massacre was a turning point for the independence cause internationally, and an East Timor solidarity movement grew in Portugal, Australia, and the United States.
Again like so many other countries, East Timor suffered a great number of casualties on its march to Independence.
I will end with something that I like and that’s some geography!!
….the island of Timor is part of the Maritime Southeast Asia, and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. To the north of the island are the Ombai Strait, Wetar Strait, and the greater Banda Sea. The Timor Sea separates the island from Australia to the south, and the Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara lies to East Timor’s west.
When I was going to write about East Timor’s location I saw that it was the east most island in the Indonesian archipelago, now I see that it is the Easter most of the Lesser Sunda Islands. I also wanted to know the name of the water body that separates the island from Australia and now I know! It is the Timor Sea!
Much of the country is mountainous, and its highest is Tatamailau (also known as Mount Ramelau) at 2,963 metres (9,721 ft). The climate is tropical and generally hot and humid. It is characterised by distinct rainy and dry seasons. The capital, largest city, and main port is Dili, and the second-largest city is the eastern town of Baucau.
So once again the question may be raised, “Why write about East Timor? It is my opinion that we Americans, myself included, are very ethnocentric our whole lives revolve around us, and I feel that anything that we do to broaden our knowledge of both the physical and cultural geography of the world makes us better citizens of the world!! Oh, remember there will be a quiz tomorrow!!