27 Facts About Timor-Leste

East Timor (/ˈtiːmɔːr/ ( listen)), also known as Timor-Leste (/tiˈmɔːr ˈlɛʃteɪ/; Portuguese pronunciation: [ti'moɾ 'lɛʃ.tɨ]; Tetum: Timór Lorosa'e), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (Portuguese: República Democrática de Timor-Leste, Tetum: Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste), is a Southeast Asian nation occupying half the island of Timor, is ringed by coral reefs teeming with marine life. 

Dili's landmarks recall the country's struggles for independence from Portugal in 1975 and then from Indonesia in 2002.

The iconic 27-meter-tall Cristo Rei de Dili statue stands high above the city, offering sweeping views of the surrounding bay.

East Timor (Timor-Leste) is a Southeast Asian island nation bordered by Indonesia.

The country's name translates as "Eastern-East," as "timor" is derived from the Indonesian and Malay words "timur" (east) and "leste" (east) in Portuguese.

Archaeological remains discovered in East Timor indicate that the area has been inhabited for at least 42,000 years, making it one of the region's oldest modern human activity sites.

East Timor comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, some small offshore islands, and the West Timor enclave of Ambeno.

During the 1600s, Portugal colonised East Timor. They held almost complete power until 1975.

During World War II, Japan invaded East Timor and occupied the country until 1945. Over 60,000 East Timorese died as a result of the occupation and subsequent battles with Australian troops.

East Timor declared independence from Portugal in 1975. However, it was invaded and declared Indonesia's 27th province just nine days later.

After gaining independence from Indonesia in 2002, East Timor became the first new nation of the twenty-first century.

East Timor is thus Asia's newest country.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two East Timorese. East Timorese activists José Ramos-Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo were jointly awarded the prize in 1996 "for their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor."

East Timor's flag is red with a black triangle, a yellow triangle, and a white five-pointed star in the centre. The black represents colonial repression, the yellow represents the struggle for independence, and the red represents the people's suffering. The white star represents optimism for the future.

East Timor is one of 27 countries without a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It also does not have any properties on the Tentative List of sites slated for nomination.

East Timor is located in the Coral Triangle, a marine area in the western Pacific Ocean with an abundance of corals (nearly 600 different species of reef-building corals alone). The region also supports six of the world's seven marine turtle species and over 2,000 reef fish species.

East Timor has the most biodiverse waters on the planet. Scientists discovered 643 new species in the waters around Atauro Island in 2016, many of which are thought to be entirely new.

In East Timor's waters, at least 22 species of cetaceans (aquatic mammals such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises) have been discovered. Spinner dolphins and blue whales have been among them.

East Timor has around 32 indigenous languages in addition to the four main languages of Tetun, Portuguese, Indonesian, and English.

Dugongs can also be found in the waters of East Timor. Some locals regard dugongs as sacred animals and do not hunt them. They are still classified as a "Vulnerable" species due to a variety of other threats.

The national anthem of East Timor, "Patria" (Fatherland), was first used when the country declared independence from Portugal in 1975. Francisco Borja Da Costa, the song's lyricist, was killed in the Indonesian invasion just days later.

East Timor is one of Southeast Asia's only two predominantly Christian countries, the other being the Philippines.

East Timor is one of the world's least visited countries. In 2017, it only received about 74,000 tourists. In comparison, Indonesia received close to 13 million.

The 27m (89ft) high Cristo Rei statue of Jesus is a popular tourist attraction in East Timor. The statue, which has 570 steps leading up to it, was a gift from the Indonesian government in 1996.

East Timor is one of Asia's poorest countries in terms of GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP). It is also East Asia's poorest country.

According to the 2021 Global Hunger Index, East Timor is the world's second-hungriest country, with "alarming" levels of hunger.

As a result, East Timor is one of the world's least obese countries. When it comes to the prevalence of obesity among adults over the age of 18, the country ranks 186th out of 191 countries.