East Timor

East Timor

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Repúblika Demokrátika de Timor Leste/Democratic Republic of East Timor Area 14,874 sq km/5,743 sq mi Capital Dili Language Tetum (national language), Portuguese (official language) Religion Roman Catholic (86%), Islam, Animism Time difference GMT+9 Major holidays not yet announced


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Ainaro, Bacau, Maliana, Suai, Viqueque Major ports Dili, Carabela, Com Physical features comprises the largely mountainous eastern half of the island of Timor in the Malay Archipelago, together with two islands, Atauro and Jaco, and an enclave around Ocusse on the northwest coast Airports two international airports and eight grass runways Railways none Roads 1,414 km/878.6 mi paved


GOVERNMENT

Head of state José Ramos-Horta from 2007 Head of government Estanislau da Silva from 2007 Political system emergent democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative regions 13 districts divided into 65 sub-districts Political parties Frente Revolucionária do Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin; Revolutionary Front of an Independent East Timor), nationalist; Partido Democrático (PD; Democratic Party), left-wing; União Democrática Timorense (UDT; Timorese Democratic Union), centrist Death penalty abolished in 1999 Armed forces 1,250 (2006 est) Health spend (% GDP) 5.8 (2002)


ECONOMY

Currency US dollar GDP (US$) 349 million (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 0.9 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 729 million (2005 est) GNI per capita (US$) 480 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 6% (2006 est) Unemployment 6% (2001) Labour force (% of total workers) 80% agriculture; 4% industry; 16% services (2004 est) Major trading partners Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, USA, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Italy Resources coffee, rice, maize, livestock, fishing, offshore oil and gas fields due to be exploited from 2004 Industries textiles, coffee processing, water-bottling, soap, perfumes, processed food; there are also craft industries. Exports coffee, marble. Principal market: Australia 40.7% (2004) Imports petroleum products, rice and other foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, electrical machinery and equipment. Principal source: Indonesia 42.8% (2004) Arable land 8.2% (2006 est) Agricultural products coffee, maize, cassava, copra, rice, sweet potatoes, cotton, tobacco


POPULATION

Population 1,007,000 (2006 est) Population growth rate 5.5% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 68 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 8 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 41%, 15–59 54%, 60+ 5% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 78% Timorese (comprising 12 ethnic groups and including mixed-race), 20% Indonesian, 2% Chinese Life expectancy 57 (men); 59 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 80 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 43% (men); 43% (women) (2001 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 0.6 (2004 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 73 (urban); 51 (rural) (2002)


CHRONOLOGY

1520 Portuguese traders first landed in Timor looking for the sandalwood tree. 1860 The Dutch secured control of West Timor, leaving the Portuguese in control of East Timor. 1974 Nicolau Lobato formed the Timorese Social Democratic Association, which became the communist Frente Revolucionária do Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin; Revolutionary Front of an Independent East Timor) in September 1975, to fight for independence. 1975 Fretilin seized control of East Timor and declared independence, pre-empting a planned Portuguese withdrawal. Indonesia reacted by invading. An estimated 100,000–200,000 Timorese, out of a total population of around 650,000, were killed in the military crackdown and the subsequent spread of famine and disease. Resistance, led by Fretilin, continued. 1976 Indonesian president, T N J Suharto, signed the Bill of Integration incorporating East Timor as Indonesia's 27th province, Timor Timur. The United Nations (UN) refused to recognize the annexation and called for Indonesia's withdrawal. 1990 Indonesian government rejected proposals for unconditional peace negotiations by Xanana Gusmão, commander-in-chief of Fretilin's army, the Falintil. 1991 Indonesian army killed 100–180 peaceful pro-independence demonstrators during funeral ceremony for separatist sympathizer at cemetery in Dili; later executed 60–100 ‘subversives’. 1992 Fretilin leader Gusmão arrested and taken to Jakarta; tried and found guilty (in 1993) of conspiracy and rebellion; sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. 1994 Under UN auspices, Fretilin Secretary for International Relations, José Ramos-Horta, met Indonesia's foreign minister, Ali Alatas, in inaugural official talks on island's status. 1995 Serious rioting in Dili, involving Timorese Roman Catholics and Muslim immigrants from Indonesia; defused through intervention of Roman Catholic Bishop of Dili, Carlos Belo. 1996 Ramos-Horta and Belo jointly awarded Nobel Prize for Peace for efforts to achieve peaceful resolution to East Timor conflict. 1998 Indonesian president, B J Habibie, who replaced autocratic and unpopular T N J Suharto, offered partial autonomy to East Timor, but ruled out independence. 1999 Following UN-brokered talks, Indonesia agreed to hold a referendum, offering East Timorese voters the choice between ‘special autonomy’ within Indonesia or independence; East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence. Pro-Indonesian militias embarked on weeks of violence. Australian-led peacekeeping force, International Force for East Timor (INTERFET), arrived to secure East Timor's independence and restore order. Indonesian government eventually conceded. 2000 INTERFET was replaced by UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET); 150,000 East Timorese remained in refugee camps in West Timor. Provisional eight-member power-sharing government, composed equally of UNTAET officials and East Timorese, was formed. 2001 Large voter turnout marked East Timor's first democratic elections. Fretilin won 55 of 88 seats in East Timor's constituent assembly. 2002 Assembly approved draft constitution to run government along parliamentary lines. East Timor and Indonesia signed two agreements aimed at easing relations. Xanana Gusmão elected as president; East Timor celebrated its formal independence; it became the 191st member of the UN. 2004 Production at Bayu Undan offshore gas field began; project expected to earn $100 million a year. After two-year legal process under which 18 people tried by Indonesian court for human rights abuses in East Timor during 1999, only militia leader Eurico Guterres was convicted. 2005 Landmark border agreement with Indonesia signed in Dili; remaining Australian peacekeepers left. The Truth Commission, set up with Indonesia to examine the violence that marked East Timor's independence in 1999, held its first meeting; it had no right to prosecute. 2006 Deal signed with Australia to divide vast earnings from oil and gas deposits in Timor Sea. Report presented to UN on alleged atrocities during Indonesia's 24-year occupation concluded it had caused the deaths of more than 100,000 East Timorese. Clashes involving former soldiers led to factional violence that killed least 25 people and displaced about 150,000; foreign troops arrived again in Dili and Prime Minister Alkatiri resigned, replaced by Jose Ramos-Horta. UN peacekeeping mission, UN Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT), set up. 2007 Jose Ramos-Horta won presidential elections. Fretilin won largest percentage in parliamentary elections; lacked majority needed to govern alone. Xanana Gusmao named prime minister, triggering violent protests.


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