East Timor

 

(tē'môr) or Timor-Leste (–lĕsh'tā) , Tetum Timor Lorosae, republic, officially Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (2002 est. pop. 800,000), 5,950 sq mi (15,410 sq km), in the Lesser Sundas, Malay Archipelago, off the SE Asia mainland. The country occupies the somewhat narrower, eastern half of Timor island, the exclave of Ambeno (or Oecussi) on the northwest coast of Timor, and offshore islands. Dili, on the north coast, is the capital and largest city, as well as the country's main port. Other large cities include Dare, outside Dili, and Baucau, the site of the main airport, on the northeast coast. The terrain is largely hilly and mountainous, reaching its highest point on Mt. Tatamailau (6,562 ft/2,963 m).

People and Economy

The inhabitants are predominantly of Malay, Polynesian, and Papuan descent; there is a Chinese minority. The vast majority of the people are Roman Catholic, and there are small numbers of Muslims and Protestants. Portuguese and Tetum, the main local language, are official languages. Although Portuguese is no longer widely spoken, since independence it has been reintroduced into the government, courts, and schools. English and Bahasa Indonesia are “working languages,” and there are about 16 indigenous languages.

Although East Timor, whose economy is largely agricultural, was one of the world's poorest nations at independence, it has offshore oil and gas fields in the Timor Gap off East Timor's southern coast that are under development and have begun to produce revenue. Nonetheless, unemployment, estimated at 50%, remains a significant problem. Coffee (the main export), rice, corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cabbage, mangoes, bananas, and vanilla orchids are grown, and stretches of grassland support cattle. Industry is limited to printing, light manufacturing, and the production of handicrafts and woven cloth. Coffee, sandalwood, and marble are among East Timor's exports, and food, gasoline, kerosene, and machinery are imported. Most trade is with Indonesia, although natural gas is piped to Australia.

Government

East Timor is governed under the constitution of 2002. The president, who is head of state, is popularly elected and may serve two five-year terms. The government is headed by the prime minister, who is appointed by the president. Members of the unicameral National Parliament are elected by popular vote for five-year terms. The number of seats can vary from 52 to 65. Administratively, the country is divided into 13 districts.

History

The Portuguese visited Timor in the early 16th cent. and were the first Europeans to establish themselves in Timor, at Lifau in what is now Ambeno in 1556. Their claim to the island was disputed by the Dutch, who arrived in 1613. By a treaty of 1859, modified in 1893 and finally made effective in 1914, the border between the Dutch and Portuguese territories was settled. The colonial powers exploited the island's sandalwood, which was largely exhausted by the early 1900s. In World War II, Timor was occupied (early 1942) by the Japanese. In 1950, Dutch Timor and the rest of the surrounding Dutch East Indies became the Republic of Indonesia.

In 1975, when Portugal's former colonies were being granted independence, fighting broke out between rival independence parties in Portuguese Timor. The leftist Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) triumphed, and on November 28th FRETILIN established the Democratic Republic of East Timor, with Francisco Xavier do Amaral as its president. Nine days later, Indonesia invaded and claimed sovereignty, administering the area as Timor Timur province, but the annexation was not accepted internationally. The population was decimated by food shortages, disease, and military violence, with perhaps as many as 120,000 people dying by 1979. Sporadic warfare with FRETILIN guerrillas continued, and in Aug., 1998, Indonesia and Portugal reached an agreement that would give East Timor the right to local self-government. Indonesia was reluctant to withdraw its forces, however, and talks broke down.

In Mar., 1999, Portugal and Indonesia agreed to let the East Timorese choose between autonomy within Indonesia or independence. Indonesia expected to win ratification of its rule, but in August, in a UN-supervised referendum, voters chose independence. The territory descended into chaos as pro-Indonesian militias and the army engaged in a campaign of terror and brutality, killing supporters of independence, looting and burning buildings, and causing thousands to flee their homes. In September, after intense international pressure, Indonesia asked the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to East Timor. In October, the United Nations agreed to assume the administration and defense of East Timor, which became a non-self-governing territory. Although Indonesia tried some officials and security personnel in connection with the violence, nearly all ultimately were acquitted or had their convictions overturned.

A constituent assembly, charged with writing a constitution for East Timor, was elected in Sept., 2001. In Apr., 2002, José Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmão (later known as Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão), a former guerrilla leader, defeated Xavier do Amaral for the presidency, and the following month East Timor became an independent nation. FRETILIN won a majority of seats in the parliament, and Mari Alkatiri became prime minister. An agreement resolving most border issues was signed with Indonesia in 2005; peacekeeping forces were withdrawn the same year.

Oil and gas fields in the waters between East Timor and Australia made the settlement of their ocean boundary contentious, but in an agreement signed in 2006 East Timor postponed settlement of the issue for 50 years in exchange for an increased percentage of oil and gas revenues. A report by an independent truth and reconciliation commission concerning the effects of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, including an estimate of up to 183,000 deaths as a result of Indonesia's policies, was submitted to the United Nations in Jan., 2006, drawing protests from Indonesia and chilling relations with Jakarta.

In Feb., 2006, soldiers from W East Timor struck in protest over pay and perceived bias against them as westerners (generally regarded as more pro-Indonesian); in March some 600 soldiers were dismissed as a result. Protests by the former soldiers spiraled into rioting in April and gang violence in May, as former soldiers fought supporters of Prime Minister Alkatiri, whose resignation the soldiers demanded. Foreign peacekeepers returned to East Timor in late May, but stability was slow to be restored to the country. In late June, Alkatiri, under pressure, finally agreed to resign, but the situation remained somewhat unsettled, and there was concern over possible long-term tensions between W and E Timorese.

José Ramos-Horta, the former foreign minister and co-winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, was appointed prime minister in July. In 2007 presidential election, Ramos-Horta defeated Francisco Guterres, the FRETILIN candidate, after a runoff in May. June legislative elections left no party in control; In August, Gusmão became prime minister of the coalition government, and FRETILIN, which had won the largest number of votes, went into opposition. Unrest in FRETILIN-dominated areas followed the government's establishment.

Repúblika Demokrátika Timór Lorosa'e República Democrática de Timor-Leste Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
Flag Coat of arms
Motto "Unidade, Acção, Progresso"  (Portuguese) "Unity, Action, Progress"
Anthem Pátria
Capital (and largest city)		Dili 8°34′S, 125°34′E
Official languages		Tetum and Portuguese
Government		Republic
-	President	José Ramos Horta
-	Prime Minister	Xanana Gusmão
Independence		from Portugal
-	Declared	November 28, 1975
-	Recognized	May 20, 2002
Area
-	Total	km² (158th)  sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	July 2005 estimate	947,000 (155th)
-	Density	64/km² (132nd)  /sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2005 estimate
-	Total	$1.68 billion (206)
-	Per capita	$800 (188)
FSI (2007)		94.9 (Alert) (20th)
HDI (2004)		0.513 (medium) (142nd)
Currency		U.S. Dollar³ (USD)
Time zone		(UTC+9)
Internet TLD		.tl4
Calling code		[[+670]]
1	Indonesian and English are recognised by the Constitution as "working languages".
2	Indonesia invaded East Timor on December 7, 1975 and left in 1999.
3	Centavo coins also used.
4	.tp is being phased out.

East Timor (officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The small country of 15,007 km² (5,376 mi²) is located about 640 km (400 mi) northwest of Darwin, Australia.

East Timor was colonised by Portugal since 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 was promptly invaded and occupied by Indonesia, and declared that country's 27th province the following year. In 1999, following the UN-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory and East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the twenty-first century and of the third millennium on May 20, 2002. Alongside the Philippines, East Timor is one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia.

At $800,^[1] the per capita GDP (Purchasing Power Parity adjusted) of East Timor is one of the lowest in the world. Its Human Development Index (HDI), however, corresponds to a medium degree of human development and places East Timor 142nd among the world's nations.

Etymology

The island is known as East Timor in English, Timor-Leste in Portugese, and Timór Lorosa'e in Tetum. "Timor" derives from timur, the word for "east" in Indonesian and Malay which became Timor in Portuguese and hence English. Lorosa'e is also the word for "east" in Tetum (literally "rising sun").

The Portuguese name Timor-Leste (pron. IPA: [ti'moɾ 'lɛʃtɨ]) (or Timor Leste, without a hyphen), and the unofficial Tetum name are sometimes used in English ^{[citation needed]}. The United Nations officially calls the island Timor-Leste in English.^[2]

History

Main article: History of East Timor

Early history

Timor was originally populated as part of the human migrations that have shaped Australasia more generally. It is believed that descendants from at least three waves of migration still live in the country. The first were related to the principal indigenous groups of New Guinea and Australia, and arrived before 40,000 years ago. Around 3000 BC, a second migration brought Austronesians, who later continued eastward and colonized Island Oceania, and are possibly associated with the development of agriculture on Timor. Finally, proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina.^[3][4] The mountainous nature of the country meant that these groups could remain separate, and explains why there is so much linguistic diversity in East Timor today.

Timor was incorporated into Chinese and Indian trading networks of the fourteenth century as an exporter of aromatic sandalwood, slaves, honey and wax. Early European explorers report that the island had a number of small chiefdoms or princedoms in the early sixteenth century. One of the most significant is the Wehale kingdom in central Timor, with its capital at Laran, West Timor, to which the Tetum, Bunaq and Kemak ethnic groups were aligned.

Portuguese colonization

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to colonize South-East Asia when they arrived in the sixteenth century. They established outposts in Timor as well as in several of the surrounding islands. However, during the House of Habsburg's rule over Portugal (1580-1640), all the surrounding outposts were lost and eventually came under Dutch control by the mid-seventeenth century. The area became a colony in 1702 with the arrival of the first governor from Lisbon. In the eighteenth century, the Netherlands gained a foothold on the Western half of the island, and formally received West Timor in 1859 through the Treaty of Lisbon. The definitive border was established by the Hague Treaty of 1916, and it remains the international boundary between the successor states East Timor and Indonesia.

In late 1941, Portuguese Timor was briefly occupied by Dutch and Australian troops in an attempt to preempt a Japanese invasion of the island. The Portuguese Governor protested the invasion, and the Dutch forces returned to the Dutch side of the island. When the Japanese landed and drove the small Australian force out of Dili, the mountainous interior became the scene of a guerrilla campaign, known as the Battle of Timor, waged by Allied forces and Timorese volunteers against the Japanese. The struggle resulted in the deaths of between 40,000 and 70,000 Timorese. Following the end of the war, Portuguese control was reinstated.

The process of decolonisation in Portuguese Timor began in 1974, following the change of government in Portugal in the wake of the Carnation Revolution. Owing to political instability and more pressing concerns over the decolonisation of Angola and Mozambique, Portugal effectively abandoned East Timor and it unilaterally declared itself independent on November 28, 1975. Nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces before the declaration could be internationally recognised.

Indonesian occupation

Indonesia alleged that the East Timorese FRETILIN party, which received some vocal support from the People's Republic of China, was communist. Fearing a Communist domino effect in Southeast Asia—and in the wake of its failed South Vietnam campaign—the United States, along with its ally Australia, supported the pro-Western Indonesian government's actions.

An Indonesian invasion was launched over the western border on 7 December, 1975. Two days before the invasion of Dili and subsequent annexation, U.S. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met President Suharto in Jakarta where Ford made it clear that "We will understand and will not press you on the issue. We understand the problem and the intentions you have." Kissinger added: "It is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly [because] the use of US-made arms could create problems."^[5] U.S. arms sales to Indonesia continued well into the Clinton Administration, although the U.S. did eventually discontinue its support of Suharto's regime. As "Timor Timur", the territory was declared the twenty-seventh province of Indonesia in July 1976. Its nominal status in the UN remained that of a "non-self-governing territory under Portuguese administration."

The East Timorese guerrilla force, Falintil, fought a campaign against the Indonesian forces from 1975 to 1999, some members being trained in Portugal by Portuguese special forces.^{[citation needed]}

Indonesian rule in East Timor was often marked by extreme violence and brutality, such as the Dili massacre and the Liquiçá Church Massacre. From 1975 until 1993, attacks on civilian populations were only nominally reported in the Western press. Death tolls reported during the occupation varied from 60,000 to 200,000.^[6] A detailed statistical report prepared for the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor cited a lower range 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.^[7] Since each data source used under-reports actual deaths, this is considered a minimum. Amnesty International estimated deaths at 200,000^[8].

Ben Kiernan has written in War, Genocide, and Resistance in East Timor, 1975–99: Comparative Reflections on Cambodia that "the crimes committed ... in East Timor, with a toll of 150,000 in a population of 650,000, clearly meet a range of sociological definitions of genocide used by most scholars of the phenomenon, who see both political and ethnic groups as possible victims of genocide. The victims in East Timor included not only that substantial 'part' of the Timorese 'national group' targeted for destruction because of their resistance to Indonesian annexation—along with their relatives, as we shall see—but also most members of the twenty-thousand strong ethnic Chinese minority prominent in the towns of East Timor, whom Indonesian forces singled out for destruction, apparently because of their ethnicity 'as such.'"^[9][10]

Independence

Following a UN-sponsored agreement between Indonesia, Portugal and the United States and a surprise decision by the Indonesian President B. J. Habibie, a UN-supervised popular referendum was held on August 30, 1999. The East Timorese voted for full independence from Indonesia, but violent clashes, instigated primarily by the Indonesian military (see Scorched Earth Operation) and aided by Timorese pro-Indonesia militias led by Eurico Guterres, broke out soon afterwards. A peacekeeping force (INTERFET, led by Australia) intervened to restore order.

Militias fled across the border into Indonesia, from which they attempted sporadic armed raids, particularly along the southern half of the main border held by the New Zealand Army. As these raids were repelled and international moral opinion forced Indonesia to withdraw tacit support, the militias dispersed. INTERFET was replaced by a UN force of International Police, the mission became known as UNTAET, and the UNTAET Crime Scene Detachment was formed to investigate alleged atrocities. The result of these actions caused Osama Bin Laden to place a fatwa on Australia and Australian interests.^[11][12]

Following a visit by Xanana Gusmão to Lisbon, Portugal agreed to recognise East Timor's independence on May 20 2002. On September 27, East Timor joined the United Nations.

2006 crisis

Main article: 2006 East Timorese crisis

Unrest started in the country in April 2006, following riots in Dili. A riot broke out during a rally in support of 591 East Timorese soldiers who had been dismissed for deserting their barracks; 500 people were killed and over 20,000 fled their homes. Fierce fighting between pro-government troops and disaffected Falintil troops broke out in May 2006.^[13] While unclear, the motives behind the fighting appeared to be the distribution of oil funds and the poor organization of the Timorese army and the police, including former Indonesian police and former Timorese rebels. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri called the violence a "coup" and welcomed offers of foreign military assistance from several nations.^[14] By May 25 2006, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Portugal sent troops to Timor, attempting to quell the violence.^[15]

On June 22, 2006, President Xanana Gusmão delivered an ultimatum on a national television broadcast, saying that he would resign as President the following day if Prime Minister Alkatiri did not resign. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri replied that he would only resign if Fretilin wanted him to do so. On 25 June, a meeting of Fretilin leaders confirmed Alkatiri's status as Prime Minister and in response, Foreign and Defence Minister José Ramos Horta resigned from office.^[16] Pressure was mounting on Mari Alkatiri as 8 more ministers threatened to resign the next day, June 26. On the same day, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri resigned, stating, "I declare I am ready to resign my position as prime minister of the government... so as to avoid the resignation of His Excellency the President of the Republic".^[17] José Ramos Horta was appointed as his successor on July 8, 2006.^[18]

In the build-up to the April 2007 presidential elections there were renewed outbreaks of violence in February and March 2007, particularly in the city of Same. At this point people that had fled the 2006 violence in Dili were still displaced, living in camps around the country. José Ramos Horta was inaugurated as President on May 20, 2007 following his election win in the second round. ^[19]

United Nations history

• UNAMET United Nations Mission in East Timor June—October 1999
• UNTAET United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor October 1999—May 2002
• UNMISET United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor May 2002—May 2005
• UNOTIL United Nations Office in Timor Leste May 2005—August 2006
• UNMIT United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste August 2006 - present

Government departments

• Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste (police)
• East Timor Ministry for State and Internal Administration

Politics

Main article: Politics of East Timor

The Head of state of the East Timorese republic is the president, who is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. Although the role is largely symbolic, the president does have veto power over certain types of legislation. Following elections, the president appoints the leader of the majority party or majority coalition as the prime minister. As head of government, the prime minister presides over the Council of State or cabinet.

The unicameral Timorese parliament is the National Parliament or Parlamento Nacional, whose members 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, though it exceptionally has eighty-eight members at present, due to this being its first term of office. The East Timorese constitution was modelled on that of Portugal. The country is still in the process of building its administration and governmental institutions.

Districts, subdistricts, and sucos

Main articles: Districts of East Timor, Subdistricts of East Timor, and Sucos of East Timor

East Timor is divided into thirteen administrative districts:

1. Lautém 2. Baucau 3. Viqueque 4. Manatuto 5. Dili

6. Aileu 7. Manufahi 8. Liquiçá 9. Ermera

10. Ainaro 11. Bobonaro 12. Cova-Lima 13. Oecussi-Ambeno

The districts are subdivided into 65 subdistricts, 443 sucos and 2,336 towns, villages and hamlets. [1]PDF (213 KiB)

Geography

Main article: Geography of East Timor

The island of Timor is part of the Malay archipelago and the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. To the north of the mountainous island are the Ombai Strait and Wetar Strait, to the south the Timor Sea separates the island from Australia, while to the west lies the Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara. The highest point of East Timor is Mount Ramelau (also known as Mount Tatamailau) at 2,963 meters (9,721 ft).

The local climate is tropical and generally hot and humid, 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. Dili has the only functioning international airport, though there are airstrips in Baucau, Suai and Oecusse used for domestic flights. Dili's airport runway is unable to accommodate large aircraft.^[20]

Economy

Main article: Economy of East Timor

Prior to and during colonisation, Timor was best known for its sandalwood. In late 1999, about 70% of the economic infrastructure of East Timor was laid waste by Indonesian troops and anti-independence militias, and 260,000 people fled westward. Over the next three years a massive international program led by the UN, manned by civilian advisers, 5,000 peacekeepers (8,000 at peak) and 1,300 police officers, led to substantial reconstruction in both urban and rural areas. By mid-2002, all but about 50,000 of the refugees had returned. This successful UN effort was headed by Special Representative of the Secretary-General Sérgio Vieira de Mello, later to become High Commissioner for Human Rights (and subsequently killed in Baghdad, August 2003).

The country faces great challenges in continuing to rebuild the infrastructure and strengthen the infant civil administration. One promising long-term project is the joint development with Australia of petroleum and natural gas resources in the waters southeast of Timor.

The Portuguese colonial administration granted a concession to Oceanic Exploration Corporation of Denver, Colorado to develop the petroleum deposits of the Timor Sea. Before the concession could begin to be developed, the Indonesian invasion made it impossible.

Timor Sea petroleum resources were divided between Indonesia and Australia by the Timor Gap Treaty in 1989, [2] which established guidelines for joint exploitation of seabed resources in the area of the "gap" left by then-Portuguese Timor in the maritime boundary agreed between the two countries in 1972.[3] Revenues from the "joint" area were to be divided 50%-50%. Woodside Petroleum and ConocoPhillips began development of some resources in the Timor Gap on behalf of the two governments in 1992.

OCEX currently has a $30 billion lawsuit against ConocoPhillips pending in US District Court in New York. This lawsuit is the company's sole significant asset; to fund the suit, it relies on the deep pockets of its majority owner, James Neal Blue, who also owns General Atomics (maker of the RQ-1 Predator drone aircraft).

East Timor inherited no permanent maritime boundaries when it attained independence, repudiating the Timor Gap Treaty as illegal. 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.[4] The first significant new development in the JPDA since Timorese independence is the largest petroleum resource in the Timor Sea, the Greater Sunrise gas field. Its exploitation was the subject of separate agreements in 2003 and 2005. Only 20% of the field lies within the JPDA and the rest in waters not subject to the treaty (though claimed by both countries). The initial, temporary agreement gave 82% of revenues to Australia and only 18% to East Timor.[5]

The Government of East Timor has sought to negotiate a definite boundary with Australia at the halfway line between the countries, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Government of Australia preferred to establish the boundary at the end of the wide Australian continental shelf, as agreed with Indonesia in 1972 and 1991. Normally a dispute such as this could be referred to the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for an impartial decision, [6] but the Australian government had withdrawn itself from these international jurisdictions (solely on matters relating to maritime boundaries) shortly before Timorese independence.[7] [8] Nevertheless, under public and diplomatic pressure, the Australian government offered instead a last-minute concession on Greater Sunrise gas field royalties alone.[9] On July 7, 2005, an agreement was signed under which both countries would set aside the dispute over the maritime boundary, and East Timor would receive 50% of the revenues (estimated at A$26 billion or about US$20 billion over the lifetime of the project [10]) from the Greater Sunrise development. Other developments within waters claimed by East Timor but outside the JPDA (Laminaria-Corallina and Buffalo) continue to be exploited unilaterally by Australia, however.[11]

East Timor also has a large and potentially lucrative coffee industry, which sells organic coffee to numerous Fair Trade retailers and on the open market. ^{[citation needed]}

Currently three foreign banks have a branch in Dili: Australia's ANZ, Portugal's Banco Nacional Ultramarino, and Indonesia's Bank Mandiri.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of East Timor

The population of East Timor is about one million. It has grown considerably recently, because of a high birth rate, but also because of the return of refugees. The population is especially concentrated in the area around Dili.

The Timorese are called Maubere collectively by some of their political organizations, an originally derogatory name turned into a name of pride by Fretilin. They consist of a number of distinct ethnic groups, most of whom are of mixed Malayo-Polynesian and Melanesian/Papuan descent. The largest Malayo-Polynesian ethnic groups are the Tetun (or Tetum) (100,000), primarily in the north coast and around Dili; the Mambae (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 (50,000), in the central interior of Timor island; the Fataluku (30,000), at the eastern tip of the island near Lospalos; and the Makasae, toward the eastern end of the island. In addition, like other former Portuguese colonies where interracial marriage was common, there is a smaller population of people of mixed Timorese and Portuguese origin, known in Portuguese as mestiços. The East Timorese mestiços best-known internationally are Xanana Gusmão, the resistance fighter and national hero, and now Prime Minister of East Timor; and José Ramos Horta, the spokesman for the resistance movement in exile, and now President of East Timor. Mário Viegas Carrascalão, Indonesia's appointed governor between 1987 and 1992, is also a mestiço. East Timor has also tiny Chinese and Portuguese minorities (most of them left the area after the Indonesian invasion).

Religion

Upon independence, East Timor became one of only three predominantly Roman Catholic Christian countries in Asia (along with the