from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find work
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US
and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the
Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial
money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor the
Dominican Republic for illicit financial transactions
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@East Timor
Introduction East Timor
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 East 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 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 East
Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. Between the referendum
and the arrival of a multinational peacekeeping force in late
September 1999, anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and
supported by the Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale,
scorched-earth campaign of retribution. The militias killed
approximately 1,300 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into
West Timor as refugees. The majority 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 the Australian-led
peacekeeping troops of the International Force for East Timor
(INTERFET) deployed to the country and brought the violence to an
end. On 20 May 2002, East Timor was internationally recognized as an
independent state.
Geography East Timor
Location:
Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda
Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago; note -
East Timor includes the eastern half of the island of Timor, the
Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of
Timor, and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco
Geographic coordinates:
8 50 S, 125 55 E
Map references:
Southeast Asia
Area:
total: 15,007 sq km
land: NA
water: NA
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Connecticut
Land boundaries: total: 228 km border countries: Indonesia 228 km
Coastline: 706 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: NA exclusive economic zone: NA continental shelf: NA exclusive fishing zone: NA
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; distinct rainy and dry seasons
Terrain:
mountainous
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Timor Sea, Savu Sea, and Banda Sea 0 m
highest point: Foho Tatamailau 2,963 m
Natural resources:
gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble
Land use: arable land: 4.71% permanent crops: 0.67% other: 94.62% (2001)
Irrigated land:
1,065 sq km (est.)
Natural hazards:
floods and landslides are common; earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical
cyclones
Environment - current issues:
widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to
deforestation and soil erosion
Environment - international agreements:
NA
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
People East Timor
Population: 1,040,880 note: other estimates range as low as 800,000 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 37.1% (male 196,108/female 189,753)
15–64 years: 59.9% (male 318,173/female 305,479)
