East Timor

East Timor

Subject: Geography

Context- East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, holds the second and final round of its presidential election on Tuesday, with frontrunner and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta running against incumbent leader Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres.

Concept-

History:

• The territory was colonised by Portugal in the 18th century and remained under is control until 1975.
• When the Portuguese withdrew, troops from Indonesia invaded and annexed East Timor as its 27th province.
• The East Timorese voted for independence in a 1999 UN-supervised referendum, but that unleashed even more violence until peace-keeping forces were allowed to enter.
• The country was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2002.
• East Timor has applied to be a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It currently holds observer status.

Geography:

• East Timor comprises the eastern half of Timor island, the western half of which is part of Indonesia.
• It spans a 15,000 square km (5,792 square mile) land area – slightly smaller than Israel – and it’s 1.3 million people are predominantly Roman Catholic.
• Located in between Southeast Asia and Oceania, the island of Timor is part of Maritime Southeast Asia, and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands.
• To the north of the island are the Ombai Strait, Wetar Strait, and the greater Banda Sea.
• The Timor Sea separates the island from Australia to the south.