Timor-Leste
Southeast Asia's youngest nation, on a divided island
Timor-Leste, or East Timor, occupies the eastern half of a rugged island at the far southeastern edge of the archipelago, the first new sovereign state of the twenty-first century. Shaped by centuries of Portuguese rule and a brutal Indonesian occupation, it emerged into independence in 2002 after a long and bloody struggle. Predominantly Catholic and mountainous, it is a small, young, and resource-dependent nation finding its footing between the cultures of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The country is dominated by a central spine of steep mountains, rising to Tatamailau, with a tropical climate of pronounced wet and dry seasons and an often eroded, drought-prone landscape. It shares the island of Timor with the Indonesian province to its west and includes the enclave of Oecusse. Offshore oil and gas in the Timor Sea provide most government revenue, while coffee is the leading agricultural export and much of the population farms for subsistence.
Portugal colonized eastern Timor for some four centuries, and when it withdrew in 1975, Indonesia invaded and annexed the territory amid heavy loss of life. After a UN-backed independence referendum in 1999 and a period of international administration, Timor-Leste became fully independent in 2002. Portuguese and the local Tetum are official languages. The capital, Dili, faces the sea beneath the hills, and the nation has applied to join ASEAN.