East Timor

THE ISLANDS THAT MAKE up the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, popularly known as East Timor, are located in southeastern Asia at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. East Timor has had a turbulent history, beginning in the early 1500s with battles with the Dutch and ending with hard-won independence from Indonesia in 2002. Estimates of lives lost during the Indonesian conflict vary from 100,000 to 250,000. An additional 300,000 Timorese were forced into exile in West Timor during a scorched-earth campaign. Independence was ultimately achieved with the assistance of a delegation of United Nations peacekeeping forces, which ranged from 5,000 to 8,000 members.

The brutal years of battle virtually destroyed East Timor's infrastructure and left the country with a housing shortage, inadequate water and irrigation systems, and almost no electricity. Schools, hospitals, and businesses were also demolished. With help from the international community, East Timor has rebuilt its infrastructure, and 250,000 exiles have returned. Economic prospects recently brightened with the discovery of offshore oil deposits. East Timor's other natural resources include gold, petroleum, manganese, and marble; but they are largely undeveloped. The country is geographically vulnerable to frequent floods and landslides and periodic earthquakes, tsunamis, and tropical cyclones.

Because of the massive destruction of property in East Timor, data on social indicators are not always available, and comparisons across time are difficult since the country was only officially recognized in 2002 when it became the first new nation of the 21st century. Available information does show that at $400, East Timor has the lowest per capita income in the world.

Officials are coping with a poverty rate of 42 percent and an unemployment rate of 50 percent. Estimates of East Timor's population vary from 800,000 to 1,040,880. Life expectancy is 65.9 years, and the median age is 20.41 years. Some 37.1 percent of the population are under the age of 14, and three percent have reached the age of 65. The Timorese have a 67 percent chance of seeing the age of 40.

While health services have been partially restored, they are sorely inadequate to meet the needs of a population recovering from years of turmoil and conflict. UNICEF, the United Nations’ organization for children, estimates that in rural areas, 80 percent of the population lack access to safe water and 90 percent lack access to proper sanitation.

Reports for 2003 indicate that infant mortality in East Timor is high at 87 deaths per 1,000 live births. Mortality for children under the age of 5 is exceptionally high, although the rate dropped from 160 in 1990 to 124 in 2003. The 43 percent prevalence of malnutrition and the 13 percent rate of severe malnutrition among children under 5 play a significant role in the excessive child mortality. Some 47 percent of children suffer from moderate to severe stunting, and 12 percent suffer from moderate to severe wasting. Timorese children are vulnerable to infectious and parasitic diseases, and many have vitamin A and iron deficiencies.

Childhood immunization rates remain low in East Timor because the health system is still recovering and there is a general lack of knowledge about the benefits of immunizations. Rates range from 47 percent against polio to 83 percent against tuberculosis. Only seven percent of Timorese children receive essential oral rehydration therapy when it is needed.

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