East Timor General Information Area: 14,609 sq km (5641 sq miles). Population: 750,000 (official estimate 1999). Population density: 51.3 per sq km. Capital: Dili. Population: N/A. GEOGRAPHY: East Timor makes up the eastern half of the island of Timor (the western half belongs to Indonesia) which is situated off the northern coast of Western Australia. Also included within East Timor is the Oekussi Ambeno enclave on the northwest coast of the island, as well as the islands of Ataúro (Pulo Cambing) and Jaco (Pulo Jako). East Timor is mountainous in the interior. Government: Republic. Declared full independence 20 May 2002 after the UN Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) had run the country for nearly three years during its transition to independence. Prior to UNTAET, the country had been under Indonesian control since 1975. President: Xanana Gusmao since May 2002. Prime Minister: Mari Alkatiri since May 2002. Language: Tetum is the main dialect and is the official language along with Portuguese; English is often used for administrative purposes (due to the high numbers of English-speaking relief and UN workers still working in East Timor). More than 30 other languages are also used in East Timor. Religion: Christian majority with 86 per cent Catholic. Islam and Animist religions are also practised. Time: GMT + 8. Electricity: 220 V, 50 Hz. Electricity supplies may be erratic with many power cuts. Telephone International calls can be made from and to Dili. The code for Dili is 390. Mobile telephone It may be possible to use the Telstra network (website: www.telstra.com.au/mobilenet) in and around Dili and other main urban areas. In some parts of the country, however, telephone communication is at present only possible with satellite telephones. Fax Facilities exist in Dili in major organisations and hotels. Internet Facilities are not available to the public at the present time. Post A limited postal service does exist. Press The Timor Post is published daily in English; Tais Timor is published every fortnight in English. BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change. BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice): MHz 15.36 9.740 6.195 3.915 Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov): MHz 17.74 11.71 9.645 6.110 Passport/Visa Note: Information on tourist visas is currently not available. The following visa information was obtained from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth website.   Passport Required? Visa Required? Return Ticket Required? British Yes 1 Yes Australian Yes 1 Yes Canadian Yes 1 Yes USA Yes 1 Yes OtherEU Yes 1 Yes Japanese Yes 1 Yes VISAS: 1: Visas are currently not necessary as long as travellers have a valid passport. Upon arrival, an entry permit valid for 90 days will be issued. If the traveller can prove that he/she has valid grounds for staying in East Timor, they can then obtain an extension. Money Currency: The US Dollar is the official currency. For local transactions, the Indonesian Rupiah, the Thai Baht and the Australian Dollar may also be used. Currency exchange: Travellers should take plenty of hard currency in cash. Both the Australian ANZ bank and the Portuguese Banco Nacional Ultramarino have branches in Dili. Cirrus/Maestro credit cards can be used to withdraw US Dollars from an ATM. Credit & debit cards: These can only currently be used in the very few, expensive hotels in East Timor. Check with your credit or debit card company for further details of merchant acceptability and other services which may be available. Travellers cheques: Travellers cheques are not widely exchangeable. Only some top-of-the-range hotels may be able to exchange them. Currency restrictions: Information not currently available. Exchange rate indicators The following figures are included as a guide to the movements of the US Dollar against Sterling: Date May ’02 Aug ’02 Nov ’02 Feb ’03 £1.00= 1.46 1.52 1.58 1.59 Banking hours: Information not currently available. Duty Free General: Information not available at the time of writing. Public Holidays Jan 1 2003 New Year’s Day. Apr 18 Good Friday. May 1 Labour Day. May 20 Independence Day. Aug 15 Assumption. Aug 30 Constitution Day. Sep 20 Liberation Day. Nov 1 All Saints’ Day. Nov 12 Santa Cruz Day (memorial day for the 1991 massacre in the cemetery of the Santa Cruz church). Dec 8 Immaculate Conception. Dec 25 Christmas. Jan 1 2004 New Year’s Day. Apr 9 Good Friday. May 1 Labour Day. May 20 Independence Day. Aug 15 Assumption. Aug 30 Constitution Day. Sep 20 Liberation Day. Nov 1 All Saints’ Day. Nov 12 Santa Cruz Day (memorial day for the 1991 massacre in the cemetery of the Santa Cruz church). Dec 8 Immaculate Conception. Dec 25 Christmas. Health   Special Precautions Certificate Required Yellow Fever No 1 Cholera Yes 2 Typhoid and Polio 3 N/A Malaria 4 N/A 1: A yellow fever vaccination certificate is advisable for travellers coming from infected areas. The countries and areas included in the yellow fever endemic zones are considered by East Timor as infected areas. For a map of yellow fever endemic zones, see the Health appendix. 2: Following WHO guidelines issued in 1973, a cholera vaccination certificate is no longer a condition of entry to East Timor. However, cholera is a serious risk in this country and precautions are essential. Up-to-date advice should be sought before deciding whether these precautions should include vaccination as medical opinion is divided over its effectiveness. See the Health appendix. 3: Poliomyelitis is endemic. Typhoid occurs frequently. 4: Malaria risk exists throughout the year. Other risks: Dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis occur. Tuberculosis and hepatitis A are prevalent and rabies may also be present. Food & drink: All water should be regarded as a potential health risk. Water used for drinking, brushing teeth or making ice should have first been boiled or otherwise sterilised. Milk is unpasteurised and should be boiled. Powdered or tinned milk is available and is advised, but make sure that it is reconstituted with pure water. Avoid dairy products that are likely to have been made from unboiled milk. Only eat well cooked meat and fish, preferably served hot. Salad and mayonnaise may carry increased risk. Vegetables should be cooked and fruit peeled. Health care: Medical services in East Timor are extemely limited. There are currently no optical or dental services. It is essential to take out comprehensive medical and travel insurance which includes emergency repatriation cover. Travel - International Note: Travellers are advised against travel to East Timor, unless they are travelling on essential business (UN operations or relief or reconstruction work). The country is still not entirely stable and personal attacks are on the increase, both by day and by night. Terrorism may be a threat. All travel is difficult outside of the capital, Dili. For further advice visitors should contact their local government travel advice department. AIR: Airnorth (website: www.airnorth.com.au) flies daily from Darwin, Australia to Dili. Qantas (website: www.qantas.com.au) also flies to Dili. Approximate flight times: From Darwin to Dili is 2 hours 15 minutes. International airports: Comoro Airport (DIL), Dili. Some international flights use Bacau Airport in the province of Bacau. Departure tax: US$10. ROAD: Roads and driving conditions are very poor (including in Dili) and drivers must take extreme caution. To drive, travellers need a valid driver’s licence or permit either from their country or issued in East Timor, and detailing which class of vehicle they are entitled to drive. Third-party motor vehicle insurance is not available. Travel - Internal SEA: There is one weekly ferry between Oekusi and Dili. ROAD: Bus links are very bad at the moment. Most of the buses that existed prior to 1999 were destroyed in the fighting; the few that survived are in very bad technical shape and chronically overcrowded. The roads are generally in very bad condition and driving can be very hazardous. Car hire is available in Dili. Mountain bikes may be a viable form of transport outside of the capital. Accommodation HOTELS AND MOTELS: Hotel rooms and other accommodation are still very limited and very expensive, especially for independent travellers. A government tax of ten per cent is added to all bills. Introduction East Timor is made up of 13 provinces. Colonial architecture, Portuguese fortresses and other remains from the 100-year-long Portuguese occupation can be found all over the country. However, many towns and villages were destroyed during the Indonesian occupation and the fighting in 1999, which are slowly being rebuilt. Many houses are still built on stilts in the traditional way, using local materials such as grass, bamboo, tree trunks and palms leaves. DILI: The capital of Portuguese East Timor, Dili is today the administrative capital of the new country. Colonial architecture abounds in Dili, along with a Portuguese castle dating from 1627. Another attraction is the State Museum of East Timor, founded in 1995, with one-tenth of its collection still surviving. The collection includes religious woodcarvings, wood figures, traditional crafts, musical instruments and paintings. Most of the city was destroyed in 1999, with any surviving buildings bearing considerable war wounds. UNTAET led restoration works by rebuilding the most important government and official buildings. There are many catholic churches in Dili and a famous, large statue of Christ on a hilltop near Cape Fatucama. Outside the city, there are numerous beautiful beaches, the most popular of which being Areia Branca (‘white sand’). BAUCAU: The second largest city in East Timor, Baucau is still charming despite the devastation it has incurred, with Portuguese colonial architecture and caves used by the Japanese during the occupation in World War II. Due to its location, Bacau is always comfortably cool and the beaches 5km (3 miles) from the city are breathtaking. The four-hour journey between Dili and Bacau is well worth taking, offering some of the finest coastal views. Elsewhere: Oecussi province belongs to East Timor politically, yet is a part of Indonesian West Timor culturally and geographically; it was 95 per cent destroyed during the fighting and the remaining inhabitants mostly live in small hamlets and villages. Its capital, Pantemakassar, was the first Portuguese settlement and as such has special meaning for the East Timorese. A sleepy little town, it lies between the coast and the mountains. Coral reefs off the nearby coast offer the opportunity for diving and snorkelling. Mountain biking and hiking are possible in the interior or in the mountains. Social Profile Food & Drink: The staple diet for most East Timorese is similar to that of Indonesians – rice and spices – although at present there may be difficulty in obtaining a variety of foods outside main urban areas due to the unstable political situation, the financial situation of many of the people and internal logistical difficulties. In Dili, there is a number of restaurants and cafes serving ‘western’ cuisine, catering to the foreigners living and working there. Shopping: Batik and embroidered fabrics in traditional patterns and colours are a good souvenir buy; others include wood carvings and silverwork. Social Conventions: Most social courtesies are fairly formal. Many conventions will be similar to those of Indonesia (despite their political and religious differences) and many old East Timorese conventions will doubtless come to the fore in the coming years. Business Profile Economy: Subsistence agriculture, forestry and fishing sustain most of the population. The sole export products are coffee beans and sandalwood. The economy as a whole was chronically underdeveloped as a result of centuries of neglect by the Portuguese. The Indonesians built some basic infrastructure (roads, power, telecommunications), but most of that was destroyed or removed by the Indonesians themselves and their client militias in the aftermath of the August 1999 vote for independence (see History and Government section). Since then, East Timor’s principal source of income has been international aid. However, the new country’s originally poor economic prospects have now been transformed by the discovery of large oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea, which lies between Timor itself and the north coast of Australia. Under the terms of a deal negotiated between East Timor and Australia, Dili will receive 90 per cent of the revenues from the fields, providing an annual revenue of around US$180 million from 2006. (Additional oil and gas deposits have also been discovered in the same area.) Until then, East Timor will remain one of the world’s poorest nations, with a per capita annual income of US$430. Within a generation, however, it may well be bracketed with other small petro-states such as Brunei and Qatar. Commercial Information: Limited information and advice is available from the Department for Economic Affairs and Planning (e-mail: economic.affairs@gov.east-timor.org; website: www.gov.east-timor.org). Climate Tropical monsoon climate. It is very hot and dry from July to November with the western monsoon bringing the rains from December to March. It is cooler and more humid in the mountain region. Required clothing: Lightweights with rainwear throughout the year. Warmer clothes are needed for cool evenings and mountain areas. History and Government History: In May 2002, after 450 years of continuous foreign occupation, East Timor became the world’s newest independent state. The island of Timor lies towards the eastern end of the chain of Indonesian islands running from Malaya, through Sumatra and Java, to new Guinea. The island is divided into two parts. Most of the western half remains part of Indonesia. The eastern half forms the bulk of the national territory of Timor, with its capital, Dili, on the northern coast, a small enclave in the western half around the town of Oecussi, and the small island of Atauro, 30km (19 miles) north of Dili. The pre-occupation history of Timor is sketchy. The migration of various peoples along the South-East Asian monsoon track from northwest to southeast evidently led to the population of the island by a civilisation that had no written records but worked in iron and had a relatively sophisticated system of agriculture. The island was linked into a regional trading system centred on Java, which extended as far as China and India. The Portuguese first arrived on the island in the early 16th century and by the 1550s had occupied the eastern part. The Dutch took control of the western part, which became part of the Dutch East Indies and, after independence, Indonesia. During World War II, Portugal, then governed by a fascist dictatorship, was formally neutral – a status which extended to its colonies. However, this did not prevent allied units from moving into East Timor at the end of 1941, apparently to pre-empt a Japanese invasion. The Japanese did indeed invade, in February 1942, defeating the combined Dutch/Australian forces and occupying the territory until its liberation in 1945. Portugal regained possession and remained in control until the 1974 Portuguese Revolution. In 1975, the new left-wing Portuguese government relinquished all of its colonies. East Timor then enjoyed just a few days of independence, before the Indonesians, who had long coveted the territory, annexed it as their 27th province. There was little local resistance and the international community largely acquiesced. The main Timorese independence movement, FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionario de Este Timor Independente), which was originally formed to fight the Portuguese, now had to gear up again to combat a new and even more brutal occupier. In the savage counter-insurgency campaign that followed, the Indonesian army killed over 100,000 East Timorese. With the capture of the legendary FRETILIN leader, Xanana Gusmão, in 1992, the prospects for the movement appeared bleak. It was not until the 1997 Asian economic crisis and the subsequent removal of veteran Indonesian President Suharto (see Indonesia section) that the growing international criticism of the Indonesian campaign began to have some effect. In June 1999, President Habibie of Indonesia suddenly announced that a referendum would be held in East Timor, offering independence or autonomy within Indonesia. The referendum was held in August 1999 and 80 per cent opted for independence. By way of revenge, the Indonesian army, along with local militias that they had armed and financed, indulged in an orgy of destruction and killing that displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed the territory’s already fragile economic base. A UN transitional administration (UNTAET) set up shop in East Timor, pending the conduct of national elections. The assembly poll, which was held in August 2001, returned as expected a large majority for FRETILIN candidates. The Presidency, contested in April 2002, was won by Xanana Gusmão, with a huge majority. Mari Alkatiri, also of FRETILIN, is the new premier. The new country faces a massive reconstruction task (see Economy section). The fledgling Government is also looking to develop international contacts – with the UN, ASEAN and the South Pacific Forum – as quickly as possible. Membership of the IMF and World Bank was secured in July 2002. Relations with its two most powerful neighbours, Indonesia and Australia, are also a high priority. Government: Between Indonesian withdrawal in October 1999 and formal independence in May 2002, East Timor was administered by UNTAET (UN Transitional Administration in East Timor). A constitution was agreed between UNTAET and the provisional East Timorese government in March 2002. This allows for an 88-member Parliament, the Assembleia Constituinte, which holds legislative authority and is elected to serve a five-year term – 75 members are elected by proportional representation, the other 13 in single-seat constituencies. Executive power is vested in the President, who is also elected for a five-year term. Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.