East Timor Facts for Kids

East Timor is an island country located on the eastern part of the islands of Lesser Sunda.

Formally East Timor is known as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
The country is made up of three islands which are Atauro, Jaco and Oecusse, half of the eastern part of the Timor Island and another small part that is separated from it by the western corner of Timor island located in Indonesia.
On the Southern side East Timor is bordered by Australia.
On the northeast corner, East Timor is surrounded by the Timor Sea while Wetar Strait bounds it on the north.
On the northwest corner of East Timor, there exists the Ombai Strait while on the southwest corner East Timor is bounded by the East Nusa Tenggara which is a province in Indonesia.
The longest river in East Timor is Laclo River which has a total length of 80 km (50 miles).
Other rivers found in this country are Leometik River, Fatumolin River, Loes River, Berita River and Gleno River among others.
The largest lake in East Timor is the Lake Ira Lalaro which is also the largest freshwater lake in the country.
The tallest mountain in East Timor is mount Tatamailau which has a height of 2,986 meters. The mountain is located in Ainaro district which is 771 kilometers from the capital city.
Other mountains found in this country are: Hotafahi(2,677 m), Lebolia (2,558 m ), Saboria (2,512 m), Berebei (2,501 m), Berelaca (2,495 m),Hotosaga (2,488 m) and Raimodoi (2,430 m).
The capital city of East Timor is Dili which is also referred as the City of Peace.
The city was founded in 1520 by the Portuguese and was afterwards declared a city in 1864.
The city covers a total area of 48.27 square kilometers (18.64 square miles).
The total number of people living in this city is estimated to be about 222,323 plus individuals.
The city is elevated 11m (36 feet) above the sea level.
The total population living in East Timor is estimated to be approximately 1.32 million people making it the 158th country in the world in terms of population.
40.91 percent of the total population is between the ages of 0 to 14 years, 20.32 percent is between the ages of 15 to 24 years, 29.95 percent is between the ages of 25 to 54 years, 4.94 percent is between the ages of 55 to 64 years while only a small percent of 3.87 is 65 years and above.
The life span of people living in this country is about 68.53 years according to 2015 research.
The climatic condition in East Timor is usually dry starting from the month of May of every year up to the month of November with mean temperatures ranging between 20 degrees and 33 degrees.
The wet season starts from November whereby the monsoon cloud accumulates.
The total area covered by East Timor is about 15,410 square Kilometers.
The shoreline of East Timor has a total length of 706 kilometers (439 miles). About 49.1 percent of East Timor’s land is covered by forest while 10.1 percent is land that can be easily ploughed and used for crop cultivation. 4.9 percent has used for growing permanent crops, 10.1 is reserved for permanent livestock keeping while the remaining 25.8 percent is used for other purposes.
The official languages in East Timor are Portuguese and the Tetun.
Other commonly spoken languages are Habun, Idalaka, Kawaimina, Kemak, Lovaia, Makalero, Makasai, Mambai, Tokodede, Wetarese, Dawan, Bunak, Bekais and Galoli language.
The most commonly religion followed in East Timor is the Roman Catholic doctrine where about 96.9 percent of the people in this country submit to it. About 2.2 percent of the people are Protestants while only a small percent of the 0.3 follow the Islam religion. The other remaining 0.5 percent follow other religions.
The natural resources found in East Timor are natural gas, manganese, marble, gold and petroleum.
The currencies used in East Timor are the United States dollar, the East Timor centavo coins and the Indonesia rupiah.
East Timor attained self-independence from the Portuguese on 28th November of 1975. Nine days after independence, Indonesia conquered the country and declared it to be Indonesia’s 27th province. East Timor then gained their independence from Indonesia on 20th May of 2002 thus making it the youngest nation on earth.
East Timor was first occupied by human beings around 42,000 years ago