timor

• Geography

GEOGRAPHICAL INFO

 

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is a country in Oceania comprising the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The small country of 5,376 square miles is located about 400 miles (640 km) northwest of Darwin, Australia.The name "Timor" derives from timur, the word for "east" in Indonesian and Malay which became Timor in Portuguese. The Portuguese name Timor-Leste and the unofficial Tetum name Timór Lorosa'e are sometimes used in English, and the United Nations officially calls it Timor-Leste in English. Lorosa'e literally means "rising sun".

 

Capital: Dili

Official languages: Tetum, Portuguese

Currency U.S. Dollar (USD) 

 

Geography

The island of Timor is part of the Malay archipelago and the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. To the north of the mountainous island are the Ombai Strait and Wetar Strait, to the south the Timor Sea separates the island from Australia, while to the west lies the Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara. The highest point of East Timor is Mount Ramelau (Mount Tatamailau) at 2,963 meters (9,721 ft).The local climate is tropical and generally hot and humid, characterised by distinct rainy and dry seasons. The capital, largest city and main port is Dili, and the second-largest city is the eastern town of Baucau. Dili has the only functioning international airport, though there are airstrips in Baucau and Oecusse used for domestic flights. Dili's airport runway is unable to accommodate large aircraft

 

Climate

East Timor has extreme wet and dry seasons. From May to November, the north coast receives virtually no rain, causing agricultural activity to all but cease. The cooler central mountains and south coast get an occasional shower during this time, and are greener as a result. Everything turns green when the wet comes, but the rains often turn to floods and the dry-season rivers of dust become torrents.