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The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor, is an island nation in Southeast Asia, consisting of the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, a political exclave of East Timor situated on the western side of the island, surrounded by West Timor.

Formerly controlled by neighbouring Indonesia, which annexed it as a province in 1975, East Timor broke away in 1999 and achieved full independence on May 20, 2002. When East Timor joined the United Nations in 2002, it decided to be officially referred to by its Portuguese name, Timor-Leste, as opposed to its English name.

It is one of only two majority Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being the Philippines.

Places to go:

Dili
The capital of East Timor is a pleasant, lazy city centred on a sweeping harbour, with parkland edging the waterfront on either side. There has always been a markedly different pace of life in Dili compared to Kupang, the major city on the western, Indonesian, end of the island.

Until the Indonesian takeover in 1975, Dili was the capital of the former colony of Portuguese Timor, and it still has the feel of a tropical Portuguese outpost. Badly damaged during the Indonesian mayhem in 1999, transitional elevated prices have gradually spiralled back to more sensible levels.

Baucau
Baucau, the second-largest town in East Timor, is still charming, despite the ravages of 1999. The two-hour drive east along the coast from Dili via Manatuto is gorgeous, with clear water and beaches along the way

Oecussi
The isolated former Portuguese coastal enclave of Oecussi, also known as Ambeno, is politically part of East Timor, but is geographically and culturally part of West Timor. It was about 95% destroyed in 1999 and the small population is scattered throughout the province in hamlets.

Pantemakassar, more commonly called Oecussi town, is significant to the East Timorese as the first permanent Portuguese settlement in Timor. It is a sleepy coastal town sandwiched between the hills and the coast. The reef about ten metres off-shore in the clear water offers spectacular snorkelling.

Suai
The forests in the region of Saui were important sources of sandalwood, teak and vanilla during Portuguese times, but unsustainable logging practices during Indonesian rule have whittled away this valuable resource.

Culture

Culturally speaking, the significative fact is the ethno-cultural heterogeneity of the Timorese, evidenced by the various languages and dialects as well as the material productions, expressed in various forms of architectonic constructions that differ according to the regions. Animists by nature, not even the considered Christians can be considered totally converted. Mythology and legends are frequent in the rich oral tradition that tells about the pre-colonial period and the posterior evolution of the kingdoms.

Neither Hinduism nor the Islam had influence in the Timorese beliefs. That achievement was reserved to the Christian missionaries.

The Muslims, as in the beginning the Portuguese, should have inhabited the island for the short period of time sufficient to cut the sandalwood and embark it.

Not but a minority of Christian natives (serani in Tetum) can be considered to be exempt of animist beliefs, but Christianism is strengthening in East Timor and inhales prestige among the people since the Indonesian occupation, against which the diocese of Dili oftenly manifests in defense of Timorese lives.

As for the non-Christian, they remain in a more or less primitive religion feeling as moreover the mental culture. Religion consists in superstitions in a medley of fearness and adoration of the spirits of the dead, materialized through stones, animals, wells, streams or objects endowed with mysterious magical power, beneficent or malignant. They call them lulik, which means sacred and intangible.