TIMOR

island of the Malay Archipelago, easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands between the Savu and Timor seas. Western Timor, with an area of 6,120 square miles (15,850 square km), is administered as part of Nusa Tenggara Timur provinsi (province), Indonesia. The eastern half of the island, 5,743 square miles (14,874 square km) in area, was a Portuguese overseas territory until 1975, when one of the major political parties there, Fretilin (Frente Revolucionria de Timor Leste Independente [Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor]), gained control of much of the territory and declared its independence (November 28) as the Democratic Republic of East Timor. The area was subsequently invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces (beginning December 7) and in 1976 was declared by Indonesia to be an integral part of Indonesia (as the province of Timor Timur [East Timor]). This entity now comprises the eastern half of the island and the former enclave of O-Cusse (now Okussi) on the western half. Timor is mountainous, with some coastal plains that merge into regularly flooded mangrove swamps. The highest point is Mount Tata Mailau (Ramelau; 9,721 feet ). Timor's climate is dry during the southeast monsoon and wet during the short, irregular west monsoon (December to March). The annual precipitation (58 inches [1,475 mm]) and the start of the wet season vary greatly. There are forests of eucalyptus, bamboo, moss-hung casuarina, and sandalwood; coconut-palm groves; tall-grass and low-tree savannas; and, at higher levels, grazing lands. Marsupials, crocodiles, cockatoos, pigeons, doves, deer, monkeys, and snakes are typical wild animals. The coastal inhabitants are largely of Indonesian-Malay stock, who have driven the predominantly Melanesian aboriginals to the mountains. Some Islamic and Christian inroads have been made, but animism and ancestor worship predominate. Head-hunting has only recently been suppressed. Each village has a sacred house with a custodian priest and a surrounding taboo area. Because of former coastal warfare, villages and isolated houses are surrounded by stockades. Houses are usually raised on piles. The Portuguese began trading with Timor, probably for sandalwood, about 1520. In 1613 the Dutch established themselves in Kupang, on a sheltered bay at the southwestern tip of the island, and the Portuguese moved to the north and east. Treaties effective in 1860 and 1914 between Portugal and The Netherlands divided the island and set the boundaries that existed until 1975. Following the invasion and occupation of East Timor by Indonesian troops in 1975, the East Timorese population was decimated by famine, disease, war, and execution. Many thousands of them were forced by the Indonesians into resettlement camps under military guard. Denying its role in the war, Indonesia characterized the situation as civil war. Although the Fretilin guerrilla movement continued throughout the 1980s to resist annexation, Indonesia faced little international opposition to its policies on the island. Dili, or Dilly, on the northern coast, was the capital and port of Portuguese Timor and is the seat of the Indonesian province of Timor Timur, which appears to be identical to the former Portuguese territory, in that it includes the enclave surrounding the town of Okussi, on the northwestern coast, as well as the offshore islands of Kambing (Ataro) and Jako (Jaco). East Timor was occupied by Japan during World War II. Before 1975 more than 80 percent of export revenues were derived from coffee; other exports included hides, tea, rubber, and copra. Kupang is the capital city and port of Nusa Tenggara Timur province, formerly Dutch, or Netherlands, Timor. Except for a British interregnum (181215), western Timor was Dutch-occupied until the Japanese occupation during World War II. Briefly (194649) included in the Dutch-sponsored state of East Indonesia, the territory became part of Indonesia in 1950. Economic progress was impossible on the remote, semiarid island until after Dutch pacification in the early years of the 20th century. Shifting cultivation and the production of dry rice, corn (maize), and sweet potatoes constituted the traditional agriculture. Soil erosion and deforestation are now better controlled, and irrigation aids the cultivation of wet rice. The main native manufactures are cotton cloth and finely patterned baskets. Iron weapons and tools are forged, and brass ornaments are cast by the lost-wax process. Pop. (1980) 1,382,207.