Country Card: Timor-Leste

By Thanapat Sakulpattanacharoen

Abstract

Timor-Leste is a small island nation located in Southeast Asia. It has one of the poorest economies in the world but, at the same time, the highest freedom index score in the region. This article explores Timor-Leste’s history, demography, economy, and politics while posing possible challenges Timor-Leste may encounter in the future.

Quick Facts

  • Import: Goods – $873 million; Service – $229 million (2021) (WTO)

    • Major imported products: Refined petroleum, motor cars, cement, rice, meat (2020) (WTO)

    • Merchandise trade partners: Indonesia – 31.9%, China – 15.1%, Singapore – 13.1% (2017) (WTO)

  • Export: Goods – $616 million; Service – $17 million (2021) (WTO)

    • Major exported products: Coffee, worn clothing, and worn articles (2020) (WTO)

    • Merchandise trade partners: Indonesia – 25.4%, USA – 22.3%, EU – 19.7% (2017) (WTO)

From Colony to Nation

Emerging as the first new sovereign state of the 21st century in May 2002, Timor-Leste, despite its location, exhibits a distinct feature of mixed characteristics apart from its neighbours. It is mainly influenced by its unique history, whose importance can be traced back to the settlement of Europeans around the 16-17th century (Britannica, 2023). However, the island remained insignificant until the late 20th century (Kammen, 2018, p. 34), in which two crucial junctures paved the way for the independence of Timor-Leste: the 1974 Portuguese revolution and the 1999 referendum on independence.

Timor Island has always been occupied by the Europeans, with the current border between East Timor (Timor-Leste; then Portuguese Timor) and West Timor (Now Indonesia; then Dutch Timor) brought about by a treaty between the two European nations in 1859. After a short period of Japanese occupation, the Portuguese remained the occupiers of the Portuguese Timor. Upon the Portuguese revolution in 1974 and soon after the dissolution of the Portuguese colonial empire, Timor-Leste declared independence on November 28, 1975. The independence was short-lived. Nine days after the declaration, Indonesia invaded East Timor out of fear of an allegedly Marxist movement inside the country. During the occupation and Timorese resistance, about one-third of the population, more than 250 thousand people, died (Government of Timor-Leste, n.d.).  The United Nations called for the withdrawal of Indonesia’s troops but to no avail (Southgate, 2019, p. 25).

Waves of international attention set off intermittently, from the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991 to the Nobel Peace Prize awards in 1996. Ultimately, with the new Indonesian president, B.J. Habibie, a referendum was offered to the East Timorese. On August 30, 1999, with a 90% voter turnout, 78.5% of the East Timorese favoured independence from Indonesia. From October 1999, it was under the UN administration. Timor-Leste’s Constitution came into force on May 20, 2002, and was front then became the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste  (Government of Timor-Leste, n.d.).

Culture & People

Despite having only about 1.4 million inhabitants and a land mass of 14,874 sq. km (IMF, 2023; CIA, 2023), Timor-Leste is very diverse due to its history, being a melting pot between many indigenous groups from Austronesian and Melanesian descendants, as well as Portuguese, Roman Catholic, and Indonesian cultures. Although there are many languages in the region, Tetum and Portuguese are regarded in the constitution as two official languages, with Indonesian and English as working languages. Because of this, the literacy rate of Tetum and Portuguese, as well as English, went up while Indonesians decreased after the end of the occupation (Taylor-Leech, 2013). Instead, the common identity of Timorese is religious beliefs. In 2015, around 99.5% of Timorese identified as Christian (roughly 97.6% Catholicism, 2% Protestantism), while the remainder identified as Muslims (0.24%), and others (0.23%) (INETL, I.P, 2023).

Economy

Showing low economic importance since the colonial era, Timor-Leste, since its independence, continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world (BTI, 2022, p. 6). According to the IMF (2023), the estimated nominal GDP and GDP per capita of Timor-Leste in 2023 are $2.023 billion and $1,497.40 respectively, ranking 188 out of 213 countries/territories. It relies heavily on energy resources in the Timor Sea, with fuels and mining products accounting for over 90 percent of export commodities in 2017 (WTO, n.d.). Excluding oil and gas, Timor-Leste imported 25 times as many goods as it exported, resulting in a negative $1 billion in the annual balance of payments. (BTI, 2022, p. 4). All these factors contribute to the poverty of the country. The data from the government Living Standards Survey in 2014 (BTI, 2022, p. 18) suggests over 41% of Timorese live under the poverty line. Moreover, the majority of individuals in rural areas, where about 70% of the population resides, depend on agriculture, where the coffee industry is the largest non-oil export (CIA, 2023).

Politics & Analysis

With Dili as a capital city, Timor-Leste divides its administrative division into 12 municipalities, including one special administrative region and operates under a semi-presidential republic system (CIA, 2023). In contrast to its economic status, Timor-Leste is the most free country in Southeast Asia according to Freedom House's score (2023). Similarly, voter turnouts in general elections are very high, ranging from 70% to 85% (IFES, n.d.), despite the low literacy rate in the early stage of the country and the internet penetration rate of 49.6% in 2023 (Kemp, 2023). In general, Timor-Leste has had peaceful transfers of power since its independence and respects the overall plurality, although recent concerns regarding safety in the community have gone up (Freedom House, 2023; The Asia Foundation, 2022, p. 12).

Political development and the formation of Timor-Leste’s national identity stem from its history, which also affects its foreign policy and relationship with other states. Overcoming the past, Timor-Leste now has a good trade relationship with Indonesia (WTO, n.d.). It is less simple for Australia, as they share the Timor Sea in which it exists oil fields crucial for Timor-Leste’s survival, but Australia has supported Timor-Leste internationally after independence and remains Timor-Leste's principal development and security partner (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, n.d.). Internationally, Timor-Leste was granted an observer status in ASEAN and is supported to becoming a full member (Government of Timor-Leste, 2023). Other than ASEAN, Timor-Leste is also a member of G7+, a group of fragile states, as well as the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).


All in all, Timor-Leste is a democratic country with a young and increasing population (BTI, 2022, p. 3). But at the same time, it is fragile due to its oil-dependent condition and rising concern over employment in the private sector (BTI, 2022, p. 7). The main questions of Timor-Leste from now thus revolve around its future when oil reserves are exhausted, and its ability to elevate the living standards of its people. Timor-Leste is bound to expand its market to another sector in order to preserve the self-determination its people fought for for decades.

References

BTI. (2022). Timor-Leste Country Report. BTI 2022. https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/TLS

CIA. (2023, October 16). Timor-Leste. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/timor-leste/

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (n.d.). Australia’s development partnership with Timor-Leste. Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved October 23, 2023, from https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/timor-leste/development-assistance/development-partnership-with-timor-leste

Freedom House. (2023, March). Timor-Leste: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report. Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/country/timor-leste/freedom-world/2023

Government of Timor-Leste. (n.d.). History. Government of Timor-Leste. Retrieved October 23, 2023, from http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=29

Government of Timor-Leste. (2023, September 6). The 43rd ASEAN Summit kicks off with a commitment to strengthening the organisation and a call for support for Timor-Leste’s full membership «Government of Timor-Leste. Government of Timor-Leste. http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=33903

IFES. (n.d.). Country Profile: Timor-Leste. International Foundation for Electoral System. Retrieved October 23, 2023, from https://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/63/

IMF. (2023). World Economic Outlook Database. IMF. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/October

INETL, I.P. (2023, March 9). Census 2015 Priority Table Population By Nationality, Citizenship And Religion. INETL, I.P. https://inetl-ip.gov.tl/2023/03/09/census-2015-priority-table-population-by-nationality-citizenship-and-religion/

Kammen, D. (2018). Progress and propaganda in Timor-Leste: Visions of the future in comparative historical perspective (J. M. Bovensiepen, Ed.). JSTOR; ANU Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv9hj8cj.7

Kemp, S. (2023, February 14). Digital 2023: Timor-Leste. DataReportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-timor-leste

Southgate, L. (2019). The Indonesian Invasion of East Timor. ASEAN Resistance to Sovereignty Violation, 25–70. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529202205.003.0002

Taylor-Leech, K. (2013). Finding space for non-dominant languages in education: language policy and medium of instruction in Timor-Leste 2000–2012. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2013.766786

The Asia Foundation. (2022). Timor-Leste: Safety, Security, and Justice Perceptions Survey, 2022. In The Asia Foundation. https://asiafoundation.org/publication/timor-leste-safety-security-and-justice-perceptions-survey-2022/

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023, October 19). East Timor. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/East-Timor

WTO. (n.d.). Accession status: Timor-Leste. WTO. Retrieved October 23, 2023, from https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/a1_timor_leste_e.htm