East Timor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
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 Emblem
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Motto: Unidade, Acção, Progresso (Portuguese)
"Unity, Action, Progress" |
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Anthem: Pátria (Portuguese)
"Fatherland" |
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| Capital and largest city
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Dili 8°33′S 125°34′E / 8.55°S 125.56°E |
| Official languages | |
| National languages |
15 languages
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| Working languages | |
| Religion
(2015 census)
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| Demonym(s) |
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| Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
| José Ramos-Horta | |
| Xanana Gusmão | |
| Legislature | National Parliament |
| Independence | |
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• Portuguese Timor
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16th century |
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• Independence declared
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28 November 1975 |
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• Annexation by Indonesia
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17 July 1976 |
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• Administered by UNTAET
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25 October 1999 |
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• Independence restored
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20 May 2002 |
| Area | |
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• Total
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14,874 km2 (5,743 sq mi) (154th) |
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• Water (%)
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Negligible |
| Population | |
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• 2021 estimate
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1,340,513 (153rd) |
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• 2015 census
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1,183,643 |
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• Density
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78/km2 (202.0/sq mi) (137th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
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• Total
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 $5.0 billion (173rd) |
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• Per capita
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$3,637 (157th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
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• Total
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$1.98 billion (183rd) |
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• Per capita
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$1,425 (151st) |
| Gini (2014) | 28.7 low |
| HDI (2021) | 0.607 medium · 140th |
| Currency | United States dollarb East Timor Centavo (USD) |
| Time zone | UTC+9 (Timor-Leste Time) |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +670 |
| ISO 3166 code | TL |
| Internet TLD | .tlc |
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East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, of which the western half is administered by Indonesia, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-western half, and the minor islands of Atauro and Jaco. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is 14,874 square kilometres (5,743 sq mi). Dili is its capital and largest city.
East Timor came under Portuguese influence in the sixteenth century, remaining a Portuguese colony until 1975. Internal conflict preceded a unilateral declaration of independence and an Indonesian invasion and annexation. Resistance continued throughout Indonesian rule, and, in 1999, a United Nations–sponsored act of self-determination led to Indonesia relinquishing control of the territory. On 20 May 2002, as Timor-Leste, it became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century. That same year, relations with Indonesia were established and normalized, with Indonesia also supporting East Timor's accession into ASEAN.
The national government runs on a semi-presidential system, with the popularly elected president sharing power with a prime minister appointed by the National Parliament. Power is centralised under the national government, although many local leaders have informal influence. The country maintains a policy of international cooperation, and is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, an observer of the Pacific Islands Forum, and an applicant for ASEAN membership. The country remains relatively poor, with an economy that relies heavily on natural resources, especially oil, and foreign aid.
The total population is over 1.1 million, and is heavily skewed towards young people due to a high fertility rate. Education has led to increasing literacy over the past half-century, especially in the two official languages of Portuguese and Tetum. High ethnic and linguistic diversity is reflected by the 30 indigenous languages spoken in the country. The majority of the population is Catholic, which exists alongside strong local traditions, especially in rural areas.
Contents
History
For a long time, Portugal controlled the East Timor and called it the Colony of Portuguese Timor. In 1975, the Portuguese army left, and East Timor was invaded (taken over) by the Indonesian army in 1975. The invasion was very violent. The army stayed there until 1999, when they gave up control of the territory with the help of the United Nations.
At the time, the United States government said it did not know Indonesia was going to invade East Timor. But secret documents, released from 2002 to 2005, show that Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State of the United States, did know, and supported the invasion.
When it got its independence on 20 May 2002, it became the first country to become independent in the twenty-first century (since the year 2001). In 2006, when Montenegro became independent, East Timor was no longer the newest one.
East Timor is a small country located between Australia and Indonesia, 3,000 years ago, East Timor was a mountainous island composed of migrant indigenous people from New Guinea, Australia and Melanesia.
There were some migrants from Austronesia searching for a new life on this island. Some of the people arrived from South China and North Indochina looking for trade because East Timor had resources which could be exported, like sandalwood, honey, slaves and wax.
During the Second World War, the Japanese occupied the region, encountered strong resistance to their attempts to force the population to grow foods for their troops and export. At the time 30% of the population died.
On 25 April 1974, the Portuguese Armed Forces headed by General António de Spínola organized a Military Coup against Salazar’s regime called the Revolution of Carnations. After this revolution, Portugal decided to give freedom to the colonized countries.
Geography
Located in Southeast Asia, the island of Timor is part of 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.
Much of the country is mountainous, and its highest point 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. East Timor lies between latitudes 8° and 10°S, and longitudes 124° and 128°E.
The easternmost area of East Timor consists of the Paitchau Range and the Lake Ira Lalaro area, which contains the country's first conservation area, the Nino Konis Santana National Park. It contains the last remaining tropical dry forested area within the country. It hosts a number of unique plant and animal species and is sparsely populated. The northern coast is characterised by a number of coral reef systems that have been determined to be at risk.
Flora and fauna
Timor and its offshore islands such as Atauro, a former place of exile increasingly known for its beaches and coral, as well as Jaco along with Wetar and the other Barat Daya Islands to the northeast constitute the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion. The natural vegetation was tropical dry broadleaf forests with an undergrowth of shrubs and grasses supporting a rich wildlife. However much of the original forest has been cleared for farming, especially on the coasts of Timor and on the smaller islands like Atauro. Apart from one large block in the centre of Timor only patches remain. This ecoregion is part of the Wallacea area with a mixture of plants and animals of Asian and Australasian origin; it lies in the western part of Wallacea, in which Asian species predominate.
Many trees are deciduous or partly deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season, there are also evergreen and thorn trees in the woodland. Typical trees of the lowland slopes include Sterculia foetida, Calophyllum teysmannii and Aleurites moluccanus.
During the Pleistocene epoch, Timor was the abode of extinct giant monitor lizards similar to the Komodo dragon. Like Flores, Sumba and Sulawesi, Timor was also once a habitat of extinct dwarf stegodonts, relatives of elephants.
Fauna of today includes a number of endemic species such as the distinctive Timor shrew and Timor rat. The northern common cuscus, a marsupial of Australasian origin occurs as well, but is thought to be introduced. The island have a great number of birds, mainly of Asian origin with some of Australasian origin. There is a total of 250 species of which twenty four are endemic, due to the relative isolation of Timor, including five threatened species; the slaty cuckoo-dove, Wetar ground dove, Timor green pigeon, Timor imperial pigeon, and iris lorikeet.
Saltwater crocodiles are found in the wetlands whereas reticulated pythons can be found in forests and grasslands of Timor. However, the population sizes and status are unknown.
Frog species in Timor include Duttaphrynus melanostictus, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Limnonectes timorensis, Litoria everetti, and Polypedates leucomystax. A new species of microlyhid frog belonging to the genus Kaloula has also recently been discovered in Timor.
Late Cretaceous fossils of marine vertebrates are known from East Timor deposits. These include mosasaurs such as Globidens timorensis, lamniforme sharks, coelacanths and the choristodere Champsosaurus.
Politics and government
The political system of East Timor is semi-presidential, based upon the Portuguese system. The constitution establishes both this separation of executive powers between the president and the prime minister; and the separation of powers between the executive, legislature, and judiciary. Individuals are not allowed to participate in both the legislature and the executive branch. The legislature is intended to provide a check on the executive; in practice the executive has maintained control of the legislature under all political parties, reflecting the dominance of individual leaders within political parties and coalitions. The executive, through the council of ministers, also holds some formal legislative powers. The judiciary operates independently, although there are instances of executive interference. Some courts shift between locations, to improve access for those in more isolated areas. Despite political rhetoric, the constitution and democratic institutions have been followed by politicians, and changes of government are peaceful. Elections are run by an independent body, and turnout is high, ranging from around 70% to 85%. The political system has wide public acceptance.
The head of state of East Timor is the president of the republic, who is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, and can serve a maximum of two terms. Formally, the directly elected president holds relatively limited powers compared to those in similar systems, with no power over the appointment and dismissal of the prime minister and the council of ministers. However, as they are directly elected, past presidents have wielded great informal power and influence. The president does have the power to veto government legislation, initiate referendums, and to dissolve parliament in the event that it is unable to form a government or pass a budget. If the president vetoes a legislative action, the parliament can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority. The prime minister is chosen by the parliament, with the president appointing the leader of the majority party or coalition as prime minister of East Timor and the cabinet on the proposal of the latter. As head of government, the prime minister presides over the cabinet.
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Representatives in the unicameral National Parliament are elected by popular vote to a five-year term. The number of seats can vary from a minimum of fifty-two to a maximum of sixty-five. Parties must achieve 3% of the vote to enter parliament, with seats for qualifying parties allocated using the D'Hondt method. Elections occur within the framework of a competitive multi-party system. Upon independence, power was held by the Fretilin political party, which was formed shortly before the Indonesian invasion and led its resistance. Given its history, Fretilin viewed itself as the natural party of government and supported a multi-party system, expecting the development of a dominant-party system. Support from the United Nations and the international community, both before and after independence, allowed the nascent political system to survive shocks such as the 2006 crisis.
Candidates in parliamentary elections run in a single national district in a party-list system. One in three of all candidates presented by political parties must be women. This system promotes a diversity of political parties, but gives voters little influence over the individual candidates selected by each party. Women hold more than a third of parliamentary seats, with parties required by law to run female candidates, but they are less prominent at other levels and within party leadership.
Political divisions exist along class lines and along geographical lines. There is broadly a divide between eastern and western areas of the country, stemming from differences that arose under Indonesian rule. Fretilin in particular is strongly linked to the Eastern areas. Political parties are more closely associated with prominent personalities more than with ideology. The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction became the main opposition to Fretilin, following its establishment to allow Xanana Gusmão to run for Prime Minister in the 2007 parliamentary elections. While both major parties have been relatively stable, they remain led by an "old guard" of individuals who came to prominence during the resistance against Indonesia.
Politics and administration is centred in the capital Dili, with the national government responsible for most civil services. Oecusse, separated from the rest of the country by Indonesian territory, is a special administrative region with some autonomy. The National Police of East Timor and Timor Leste Defence Force have held a monopoly on violence since 2008 and very few guns are present outside of these organisations. While there are allegations of abuse of power, there is some judicial oversight of police and public trust in the institution has grown. An active civil society functions independently of the government, as do media outlets. Civil society organisations are concentrated in the capital, including student groups. Due to the structure of the economy, there are no powerful trade unions. The Catholic Church has strong influence in the country.
Economy
East Timor has a market economy that used to depend upon exports of a few commodities such as coffee, marble, petroleum, and sandalwood. East Timor's economy grew by about 10% in 2011 and at a similar rate in 2012.
East Timor now has revenue from offshore oil and gas reserves, but little of it has gone to develop villages, which still rely on subsistence farming. Nearly half the population lives in extreme poverty.
The Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund was established in 2005, and by 2011 it had reached a worth of US$8.7 billion. East Timor is labelled by the International Monetary Fund as the "most oil-dependent economy in the world". The Petroleum Fund pays for nearly all of the government's annual budget, which has increased from $70 million in 2004 to $1.3 billion in 2011, with a $1.8 billion proposal for 2012. East-Timor's income from oil and gas stands to significantly increase after its announcement to cancel a controversial agreement with Australia, which has given Australia half of the income from oil and gas since 2006.
The economy is dependent on government spending and, to a lesser extent, assistance from foreign donors. Private sector development has lagged due to human capital shortages, infrastructure weakness, an incomplete legal system, and an inefficient regulatory environment. After petroleum, the second largest export is coffee, which generates about $10 million a year. Starbucks is a major purchaser of East Timorese coffee.
9,000 tonnes of coffee, 108 tonnes of cinnamon and 161 tonnes of cocoa were harvested in 2012 making the country the 40th ranked producer of coffee, the 6th ranked producer of cinnamon and the 50th ranked producer of cocoa worldwide.
According to data gathered in the 2010 census, 87.7% of urban (321,043 people) and 18.9% of rural (821,459 people) households have electricity, for an overall average of 38.2%.
The agriculture sector employs 80% of the active population. In 2009, about 67,000 households grew coffee in East Timor, with a large proportion being poor. Currently, the gross margins are about $120 per hectare, with returns per labour-day of about $3.70. There were 11,000 household growing mungbeans as of 2009, most of them subsistence farmers.
The country was ranked 169th overall and last in the East Asia and Pacific region by the Doing Business 2013 report by the World Bank. The country fared particularly poorly in the "registering property", "enforcing contracts" and "resolving insolvency" categories, ranking last worldwide in all three.
As regards telecommunications infrastructure, East Timor is the second to last ranked Asian country in the World Economic Forum's Network Readiness Index (NRI), with only Myanmar falling behind it in southeast Asia. NRI is an indicator for determining the development level of a country's information and communication technologies. East Timor ranked number 141 overall in the 2014 NRI ranking, down from 134 in 2013.
The Portuguese colonial administration granted concessions to Oceanic Exploration Corporation to develop petroleum and natural gas deposits in the waters southeast of Timor. However, this was curtailed by the Indonesian invasion in 1976. The resources were divided between Indonesia and Australia with the Timor Gap Treaty in 1989. East Timor inherited no permanent maritime boundaries when it attained independence. A provisional agreement (the Timor Sea Treaty, signed when East Timor became independent on 20 May 2002) defined a Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) and awarded 90% of revenues from existing projects in that area to East Timor and 10% to Australia. An agreement in 2005 between the governments of East Timor and Australia mandated that both countries put aside their dispute over maritime boundaries and that East Timor would receive 50% of the revenues from the resource exploitation in the area (estimated at A$26 billion, or about US$20 billion over the lifetime of the project) from the Greater Sunrise development. In 2013, East Timor launched a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to pull out of a gas treaty that it had signed with Australia, accusing the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) of bugging the East Timorese cabinet room in Dili in 2004.
There are no patent laws in East Timor. A Timor Railway System has been in proposal but the current government has yet to advocate the proposal due to lack of funds and expertise.
Demographics
| Historical populations | ||
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| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1980 | 555,350 | — |
| 1990 | 747,557 | +34.6% |
| 2001 | 787,340 | +5.3% |
| 2004 | 923,198 | +17.3% |
| 2010 | 1,066,582 | +15.5% |
| 2015 | 1,167,242 | +9.4% |
| Source: 2015 census | ||
East Timor recorded a population of 1,167,242 in its 2015 census.
The CIA's World Factbook lists the English-language demonym for Timor-Leste as Timorese, as does the Government of Timor-Leste's website. Other reference sources list it as East Timorese.
The word Maubere, formerly used by the Portuguese to refer to native East Timorese and often employed as synonymous with the illiterate and uneducated, was adopted by Fretilin as a term of pride. Native East Timorese consist of a number of distinct ethnic groups, most of whom are of mixed Austronesian and Melanesian/Papuan descent. The largest Malayo-Polynesian ethnic groups are the Tetum (100,000), primarily in the north coast and around Dili; the Mambai (80,000), in the central mountains; the Tukudede (63,170), in the area around Maubara and Liquiçá; the Galoli (50,000), between the tribes of Mambae and Makasae; the Kemak (50,000) in north-central Timor island; and the Baikeno (20,000), in the area around Pante Macassar.
The main tribes of predominantly Papuan origin include the Bunak (80,000), in the central interior of Timor island; the Fataluku (40,000), at the eastern tip of the island near Lospalos; and the Makasae (70,000), toward the eastern end of the island. As a result of interracial marriage which was common during the Portuguese era, there is a population of people of mixed East Timorese and Portuguese origin, known in Portuguese as mestiços. There is a small Chinese minority, most of whom are Hakka. Many Chinese left in the mid-1970s.
Languages
East Timor's two official languages are Portuguese and Tetum. English and Indonesian are sometimes used, and are designated as working languages. Tetum belongs to the Austronesian family of languages spoken throughout Southeast Asia.
The 2010 census found that the most commonly spoken mother tongues were Tetum Prasa (mother tongue for 36.6% of the population), Mambai (12.5%), Makasai (9.7%), Tetum Terik (6.0%), Baikenu (5.9%), Kemak (5.9%), Bunak (5.3%), Tokodede (3.7%), and Fataluku (3.6%). Other indigenous languages largely accounted for the remaining 10.9%, while Portuguese was spoken natively by just under 600 people.
Under Indonesian rule, the use of Portuguese was banned and only Indonesian was allowed to be used in government offices, schools and public business. During the Indonesian occupation, Tetum and Portuguese were important unifying elements for the East Timorese people in opposing Javanese culture. Portuguese was adopted as one of the two official languages upon independence in 2002 for this reason and as a link to Lusophone nations in other parts of the world. It is now being taught and promoted with the help of Brazil, Portugal, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. The government believes that Portuguese will be the dominant and most widely used language in East Timor in the next few years, as proficiency in the Portuguese language is accelerating rapidly.
Indonesian and English are defined as working languages under the Constitution in the Final and Transitional Provisions, without setting a final date. Aside from Tetum, Ethnologue lists the following indigenous languages: Adabe, Baikeno, Bunak, Fataluku, Galoli, Habun, Idaté, Kairui-Midiki, Kemak, Lakalei, Makasae, Makuv'a, Mambae, Nauete, Tukudede, and Waima'a. It is estimated that English is understood by 31.4% of the population. As of 2012, 35% speak, read, and write Portuguese, which is up significantly from less than 5% in the 2006 UN Development Report.
East Timor is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth) and of the Latin Union.
According to the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, there are six endangered languages in East Timor: Adabe, Habu, Kairui-Midiki, Maku'a, Naueti, and Waima'a.
Education
East Timor's adult literacy rate in 2010 was 58.3%, up from just 37.6% in 2001. Illiteracy was at 95 per cent at the end of Portuguese rule.
The National University of East Timor is the country's main university. There are also four colleges.
Since independence, both Indonesian and Tetum have lost ground as mediums of instruction, while Portuguese has increased: in 2001 only 8.4% of primary school and 6.8% of secondary school students attended a Portuguese-medium school; by 2005 this had increased to 81.6% for primary and 46.3% for secondary schools. Indonesian formerly played a considerable role in education, being used by 73.7% of all secondary school students as a medium of instruction, but by 2005 it was used by most schools only in Baucau, Manatuto, as well as the capital district.
Religion
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According to the 2010 census, 96.9% of the population is Roman Catholic; 2.2% Protestant; 0.3% Muslim; and 0.5% practice some other or no religion.
The number of churches has grown from 100 in 1974 to over 800 in 1994, with Church membership having grown considerably under Indonesian rule as Pancasila, Indonesia's state ideology, requires all citizens to believe in one God and does not recognise traditional beliefs. East Timorese animist belief systems did not fit with Indonesia's constitutional monotheism, resulting in mass conversions to Christianity. Portuguese clergy were replaced with Indonesian priests and Latin and Portuguese mass was replaced by Indonesian mass. While just 20% of East Timorese called themselves Catholics at the time of the 1975 invasion, the figure surged to reach 95% by the end of the first decade after the invasion. In rural areas, Roman Catholicism is practised along with local traditions. With over 90% Catholic population, East Timor is currently one of the most densely Catholic countries in the world.
While the Constitution of East Timor enshrines the principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state in Section 45 Comma 1, it also acknowledges "the participation of the Catholic Church in the process of national liberation" in its preamble (although this has no legal value). Upon independence, the country joined the Philippines to become the only two predominantly Roman Catholic states in Asia, although nearby parts of eastern Indonesia such as West Timor and Flores also have Roman Catholic majorities.
The Roman Catholic Church divides East Timor into three dioceses: the Diocese of Díli, the Diocese of Baucau, and the Diocese of Maliana.
Culture
The culture of East Timor reflects numerous influences, including Portuguese, Roman Catholic and Indonesian, on Timor's indigenous Austronesian and Melanesian cultures. East Timorese culture is heavily influenced by Austronesian legends. For example, East Timorese creation myth has it that an aging crocodile transformed into the island of Timor as part of a debt repayment to a young boy who had helped the crocodile when it was sick. As a result, the island is shaped like a crocodile and the boy's descendants are the native East Timorese who inhabit it. The phrase "leaving the crocodile" refers to the pained exile of East Timorese from their island.
Arts
There is also a strong tradition of poetry in the country. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, for example, is a distinguished poet, earning the moniker "poet warrior".
Architecturally, Portuguese-style buildings can be found, along with the traditional totem houses of the eastern region. These are known as uma lulik ("sacred houses") in Tetum and lee teinu ("legged houses") in Fataluku. Craftsmanship and the weaving of traditional scarves (tais) is also widespread.
An extensive collection of Timorese audiovisual material is held at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Cuisine
The cuisine of East Timor consists of regional popular foods such as pork, fish, basil, tamarind, legumes, corn, rice, root vegetables, and tropical fruit. East Timorese cuisine has influences from Southeast Asian foods and from Portuguese dishes from its colonisation by Portugal. Flavours and ingredients from other former Portuguese colonies can be found due to the centuries-old Portuguese presence on the island.
Images for kids
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A demonstration for independence from Indonesia held in Australia during September 1999
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The fourteen municipalities of East Timor
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Demonstration against Australia in December 2013
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Nominal GDP of East Timor (previous and data)
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Igreja da Imaculada Conceição church, in Viqueque
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Traditional Timorese dancers
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Players of the Timorese club Sport Dili e Benfica
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See also
In Spanish: Timor Oriental para niños
 | Severo Ochoa |
 | Sarah Stewart |
 | Mario J. Molina |
 | Rodolfo Llinás |
 | F. J. Duarte |
