Did you know there's a country that Indonesia tried to erase but failed at doing so
Everybody usually forgets about it, and their case is pretty weird because they exist on only half an island next to Indonesia
Whenever people think of Southeast Asia, everyone seems to forget to include Timor-Leste
I think there's three elements to it. The size, it's very small at only around 15,000 square kilometers, the 154th smallest country in the world
Although the whole island is the 44th largest island, but half of it is ruled by Indonesia, like I said
Then we have the location, since it sits in a transition zone between Southeast Asia and Oceania
And while often grouped with Asia due to political and historical ties
its location near Australia and Melanesia leads to it being geographically or culturally associated with Oceania too
It's kind of stuck in a weird limbo between them, and thus often forgotten
And then because it was a Portuguese colony until very late in history and so its own identity and
culture only started becoming known to the world much later than most But Timor is actually a pretty interesting place with a fascinating history So let learn a little bit about its history and also its geography
First of all, what does the country's name mean? Because the official name of it is Timor-Leste, in Portuguese, meaning East Timor
It's named after the island it is in, called Timor itself. And the country is, as you can see, on the eastern side of the island
minus this little exclave, which we'll mention in a minute. What's interesting is that Timur itself is derived from the word Timur, meaning east in Malay
So we get a tautological place name, meaning east-east. A fun fact, in Tetum, the native language used alongside Portuguese
the country is called Timur Loroza, and Loroza means east, too, but it's often literally translated as where the sun rises
making Timur a parallel to Japan called the land of the rising sun
Now, what about its geography? We can already tell where it is, but what about its details
Timur is the largest of the lesser Sunda islands in the Malai archipelago
The country shares the island with Indonesia One unusual feature is Oekus which is a Timurese exclave separated from the rest of the country by Indonesian territory In addition to the mainland Timor also
includes the island of Atauro to the north and the small island of Jako at the eastern tip
They have maritime borders with both Indonesia and Australia. Its coastline stretches for about
700 kilometers and it has a relatively large exclusive economic zone compared to its land size
Geographically, the country is kind of dominated by mountains. Ridges of old, inactive volcanic mountains run along much of the island
Nearly half has steep slopes, making agriculture and infrastructure development pretty difficult
The highest point is Tatamailau, also known as Mount Hamelau, which rises almost 3000 meters
The south coast is a little less mountainous and includes some coastal plains
Most rivers are actually seasonal and they shrink significantly during the dry months
The capital city of Bili is located on the northern coast, while Baukau is the second
largest situated further east. Their climate is kind of tropical but it has pretty stable temperatures throughout the years
There's a clear wet season, usually from December to May, and a dry season for the rest of the year
The country coastal ecosystems are especially rich The waters are part of the Coral Triangle which is one of the most biodiverse marine regions in the world with extensive coral reefs So now that we
know why it's called what it's called, where it is, and some details about its geography, let's get
into the history. Timor's history should be, in my opinion, split into four eras. First, native
slash pre-colonial, then Portuguese rule, Indonesian occupation, and then modern independence. Because
Does each of them help us understand the modern context of the country a little better
Human life in Timur goes back at least 42,000 years. Archaeological finds show that people were living on the island very early
The first known settlers likely arrived as part of the Australomelanesian migrations
bringing with them ancestors of today's Papuan languages, likely coming from what is today Taiwan
Later new groups arrived, many with common origin but having gone somewhere else first
Austronesian people came by sea bringing new languages and agricultural practices and over time they mix with the earlier
inhabitants. Timur's origin stories often describe settlers sailing around the island and landing in the south
Sometimes said to have come from places like the Malay Peninsula or Sumatra. Like most places
agriculture gradually developed and became central to life on the island. And before Europeans arrived Timur was now