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 Portuguese 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 Timor Timur (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 Timor-Leste voted for independence from Indonesia. However, in the next three weeks, anti-independence Timorese militias - organized and supported by the Indonesian military - commenced a large-scale, scorched-earth campaign of retribution. The militias killed approximately 1,400 Timorese and forcibly pushed 300,000 people into western Timor as refugees. Most 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, Australian-led peacekeeping troops deployed to the country and brought the violence to an end. On 20 May 2002, Timor-Leste was internationally recognized as an independent state. In 2006, internal tensions threatened the new nation's security when a military strike led to violence and a breakdown of law and order. At Dili's request, an Australian-led International Stabilization Force (ISF) deployed to Timor-Leste, and the UN Security Council established the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), which included an authorized police presence of over 1,600 personnel. The ISF and UNMIT restored stability, allowing for presidential and parliamentary elections in 2007 in a largely peaceful atmosphere. In February 2008, a rebel group staged an unsuccessful attack against the president and prime minister. The ringleader was killed in the attack and most of the rebels surrendered in April 2008. Since the unsuccessful attacks the government has enjoyed one of its longest periods of post-independence stability.

Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago; note - Timor-Leste 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

slightly larger than Connecticut

tropical; hot, humid; distinct rainy and dry seasons

gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble

floods and landslides are common; earthquakes; tsunamis; tropical cyclones

widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion

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

Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian), Papuan, small Chinese minority

Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian, English

Roman Catholic 98%, Muslim 1%, Protestant 1% (2005)

35.2 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

6.4 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

DILI (capital) 166,000 (2009)

300 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

5.32 children born/woman (2012 est.)

0.1 physicians/1,000 population (2004)

urban: 76% of population

rural: 40% of population

total: 50% of population

urban: 24% of population

rural: 60% of population

total: 50% of population

13 administrative districts; Aileu, Ainaro, Baucau, Bobonaro (Maliana), Cova-Lima (Suai), Dili, Ermera (Gleno), Lautem (Los Palos), Liquica, Manatuto, Manufahi (Same), Oecussi (Ambeno), Viqueque

28 November 1975 (independence proclaimed from Portugal); note - 20 May 2002 is the official date of international recognition of Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesia

Independence Day, 28 November (1975)

20 May 2002 (effective date)

civil law system based on the Portuguese model; note - penal and civil law codes to replace the Indonesian codes were passed by Parliament and promulgated in 2009 and 2011, respectively

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

17 years of age; universal

unicameral National Parliament (the number of seats can vary from 52 to 65; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms in a modified proportional representation system)

Supreme Court of Justice - constitution calls for one judge to be appointed by National Parliament and rest appointed by Superior Council for Judiciary; note - until Supreme Court is established, Court of Appeals is highest court

Democratic Party or PD [Fernando de ARAUJO]; National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction or CNRT [Xanana GUSMAO]; National Democratic Union of Timorese Resistance or UNDERTIM [Cornelio DA Conceicao GAMA]; National Unity Party or PUN [Fernanda BORGES]; People's Party of Timor or PPT [Jacob XAVIER]; Revolutionary Front of Independent Timor-Leste or FRETILIN [Mari ALKATIRI]; Social Democratic Association of Timor or ASDT; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Zacarias Albano da COSTA]; Sons of the Mountain Warriors or KOTA [Manuel TILMAN] (also known as Association of Timorese Heroes); (only parties in Parliament are listed)

ACP, ADB, AOSIS, ARF, ASEAN (observer), CPLP, EITI (compliant country), FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PIF (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WMO

red, with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) superimposed on a slightly longer yellow arrowhead that extends to the center of the flag; a white star - pointing to the upper hoist-side corner of the flag - is in the center of the black triangle; yellow denotes the colonialism in Timor-Leste's past; black represents the obscurantism that needs to be overcome; red stands for the national liberation struggle; the white star symbolizes peace and serves as a guiding light

Since its 1999 independence, Timor-Leste has faced great challenges in rebuilding its infrastructure, strengthening the civil administration, and generating jobs for young people entering the work force. The development of oil and gas resources in offshore waters has greatly supplemented government revenues. This technology-intensive industry, however, has done little to create jobs for the unemployed in part because there are no production facilities in Timor-Leste. Gas is piped to Australia. In June 2005, the National Parliament unanimously approved the creation of a Petroleum Fund to serve as a repository for all petroleum revenues and to preserve the value of Timor-Leste's petroleum wealth for future generations. The Fund held assets of US$9.3 billion as of December 2011. The economy continues to recover from the mid-2006 outbreak of violence and civil unrest, which disrupted both private and public sector economic activity. Government spending increased markedly from 2009 through 2012, primarily on basic infrastructure, including electricity and roads. Limited experience in procurement and infrastructure building has hampered these projects. The underlying economic policy challenge the country faces remains how best to use oil-and-gas wealth to lift the non-oil economy onto a higher growth path and to reduce poverty. Timor-Leste had a balanced budget in 2012 with government expenditures of $1.7 billion focusing on development of public infrastructure. On the strength of its oil-wealth, the economy has achieved real growth of approximately 10% per year for the last several years, among the highest sustained growth rates in the world.

$10.63 billion (2012 est.)

$9.662 billion (2011 est.)

$8.736 billion (2010 est.)

40.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

0% of GDP (2012 est.)

12.1% (31 December 2012 est.)

11.04% (31 December 2011 est.)

$196 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$162.7 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$386.9 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$322.4 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$300 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$280 million (31 December 2011 est.)

coffee, rice, corn, cassava (manioc), sweet potatoes, soybeans, cabbage, mangoes, bananas, vanilla

$2.375 billion (2011 est.)

$1.161 billion (2007 est.)

$18 million (2011 est.)

$17.8 million (2010 est.)

oil, coffee, sandalwood, marble

$689 million (2011 est.)

$439.1 million (2010 est.)

food, gasoline, kerosene, machinery

the US dollar is used, 1 (2012 est.)

131.7 million kWh (2011 est.)

67.59 million kWh (2011 est.)

83,740 bbl/day (2011 est.)

96,270 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

553.8 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

2,755 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2,205 bbl/day (2008 est.)

200 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

395,300 Mt (2010 est.)

1 public TV broadcast station broadcasting nationally and 1 public radio broadcaster with stations in each of the 13 administrative districts; one commercial TV broadcast station broadcasting, a few commercial radio stations, and roughly a dozen community radio stations (2009)

Timor-Leste Defense Force (Forcas de Defesa de Timor-L'este, Falintil (F-FDTL)): Army, Navy (Armada) (2010)

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; 18-month service obligation (2008)

three stretches of land borders with Timor-Leste have yet to be delimited, two of which are in the Oecussi exclave area, and no maritime or Economic Exclusion Zone boundaries have been established between the countries; maritime boundaries with Indonesia remain unresolved; many refugees who left Timor-Leste in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse repatriation; in 2007, Australia and Timor-Leste signed a 50-year development zone and revenue sharing agreement in lieu of a maritime boundary