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| Official name: |
Republica Democratica Timor-Leste (RDTL) |
| Capital: |
Dili |
| Population: |
924,642. The total male population is 467,757 or 51.6%. The total female population is 456,885 or 49.4% (as of September 2004). Total population under the age of 15 years old is 44%. |
| Climate: |
Dry season: May to November Wet season: December to April |
| Religion: |
90% Catholic. Small number of Muslims and Protestants |
| Official Languages: |
Tetum and Portuguese. Bahasa and English are additional working languages within the civil service.The Timorese speak about 30 languages or dialects. According to a 2001 Household Survey, 82% of the population spoke Tetum, while 43% could speak Bahasa Indonesian. Only 5% spoke Portuguese, while 2% spoke English. |
| Currency: |
US Dollar |
| Main export: |
Coffee and offshore oil and gas in the Timor Sea |
| President: |
Jose Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmao |
| Prime Minister: |
Mari Alkatiri |
| Governing Party: |
Fretilin |
| Life expectancy: |
57 years – Male: 55.6 years; Female: 59.2 years |
| Education: |
Net enrolment ration for primary education is 76% |
| Literacy rate: |
More than half of the population is illiterate (49% male and 64% female) |
| Food security: |
76% of the population lives in rural districts where most are engaged in subsistence agriculture. However, productivity is low and basic food has to be imported. |
| Income poverty: |
Timor-Leste is the poorest nation in Asia. Approximately, 41% of the population lives in income poverty – living on less than $0.55 per person per day. |
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A brief history of Timor-Leste (formerly known as East Timor)
- Anthropological investigations claim that the first people to arrive in Timor were of the Vedo-Australoide type, similar to the Veda of Ceylon, in approximately 40,000 BC.
- A second wave consisted of Melanesians, who arrived in 3000 BC.
- A third wave of people, who arrived around 2500 BC, were ‘proto-malays’ – people from South China and North Indochina.
Portuguese rule
- The Portuguese reached the coast of Timor, near the coast of Oecussi, around 1515.
- In the 1700s a Portuguese Governor was posted in Dili and it was at this time that the commercial exploitation of resources began, such as sandalwood, coffee, sugar cane and cotton.
- In 1900, a series of Timorese rebellions against the Portuguese occupation began, including the revolt of in Manufahi led by Dom Boaventura. After 12 years of fighting the Portuguese, Boaventura’s forces were finally crushed by troops in 1912.
- With the start of World War II, the Australians and Dutch, aware of Timor’s importance as a buffer zone, landed in Dili despite Portuguese protests.
- In 1942, Japan invaded Timor and remained in the territory until September 1945.
- By the end of the war, Timor-Leste was destroyed. Some 60,000 East Timorese lost their lives as a result of the Japanese occupation. Most of the plantations of coffee, cocoa and rubber had been abandoned.
- In the 1960s, the Portuguese tried to help recover Timor-Leste but development was slow.
- On 14 December 1960, the United Nations declared Timor-Leste a non-self governing territory under Portuguese administration.
Indonesian invasion
- In 1974, the transition to democracy in Portugal had an impact on all its colonies and for the first time, the East Timorese were given freedom to form their own political parties.
- In 1974, following a series of changing political alliances, the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the Frente Revolucionara do Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin) formed a coalition in preparation for independence.
- On 11 August 1975, the UDT, supported by the Indonesian government, launched a coup to seize power away from the Portuguese and Fretilin.
- Most UDT members fled to West Timor and the Portuguese administration left Dili for the island of Atauro, leaving Fretilin in control of Timor-Leste.
- On 28 November 1975, Fretilin declared Timor-Leste as the Republica Democrática de Timor Leste (RDTL).
- However, ten days later, on 7 December 1975, Indonesian troops launched a full-scale invasion on the RDTL. About 60,000 people were killed.
- In November 1991, the Indonesian army opened fire on a group of thousands of demonstrators, killing 200 in what has become known as the Santa Cruz Massacre.
- The following year, Indonesia captured and imprisoned Timor’s resistance leader, Xanana Gusmao.
- After years of international pressure and concern, Indonesia finally agreed to allow the people Timor-Leste to choose their own destiny. In May 1999, an agreement between Portugal and Indonesia was signed to hold a referendum or Popular Consultation, which gives the Timorese the chance to vote for or against independence from Indonesia. The agreement was reached under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.
Independence
- On 30 August 1999, the 78% of this tiny territory’s population voted overwhelmingly for independence.
- Within days of the result of the vote being released, pro-integration militia groups went on a violent rampage, killing more than a thousand people and demolishing most of the country’s infrastructure.
- A multinational force – INTERFET – moved into Timor-Leste to restore order.
- On 25 October 1999, the UN Security Council established the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to administer the country before handing over to an elected Timorese government.
- 30 August 2001, Timor-Leste held its first election. Political representatives were elected to convene the Constitute Assembly and draw up the country’s Constitution.
- 14 April 2002 marked the first presidential election with former resistance fighter, Xanana Gusmao winning the majority of the votes.
- On 20 May 2002, Timor-Leste celebrated its independence following hundreds of years of struggle.
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