DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF EAST TIMOR Official name: República Democrática de Timor-Leste / Republika Demokratika Timor Lorosa'e (Democratic Republic of East Timor) Location: South-East Asia

International organisations: The United Nations
Borders: Indonesia
Coastline: Timor Sea
Land area: 15,007 Km2
Population: 900,000 (estimate)
Ethnicity: Almost the whole population identify as Timorese. There is a small Chinese minority.
Languages: Portuguese and Tetum are official languages. The great majority speak Tetum or related indigenous languages as their first language. Those educated before 1975 speak Portuguese as their second language, those educated since 1975 use Bahasa Indonesia. Portuguese is generally the language of government and business, though English is increasingly common.
Religion: Catholic Christian 90%, Sunni Moslem 5%
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. East Timor is divided into 13 districts.

Capital: Dili Constitution: The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor came into effect on 20 May 2002. (According to the Constitution it came into effect on 28 November 1975, the date of East Timor's first declaration of independence.)

Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The President's functions are largely ceremonial.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: East Timor has a unicameral legislature, the National Parliament (Parlamento Nacional), which has 88 members elected for five-year terms. 75 members are elected on a national basis by proportional representation, and one member is elected from each of East Timor's 13 districts.
Electoral authority: The Independent Election Commission of East Timor administers national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 3, Civil Liberties 3

Political history

East Timor was a Portuguese colony from the 15th century until 1975, when the Portuguese announced their intention to depart. In November 1975 a radical Timorese party, Fretilin, seized power and declared the Democratic Republic of East Timor. Civil war broke out, and Indonesia used this as a pretext to invade and annex the territory. East Timor remained an Indonesian province until 1999, though sporadic guerilla resistance continued. The annexation was not recognised by the United Nations.

In August 1999 Indonesian President J B Habibie allowed a referendum in East Timor, in which the people voted overwhelmingly for independence. The Indonesian army and its Timorese militia allies then ran amok, destroying most of the territory and killing thousands of people. Following United Nations armed intervention led by Australia, the Indonesians withdrew. The territory was placed under United Nations administration, and full independence was attained in May 2002.

East Timor politics are dominated by the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (Fretilin), which won a sweeping victory in the 2001 legislative elections. Fretilin has abandoned its Marxist ideology but is still a radical party and intolerant of the opposition, whom it sees as Indonesian collaborators. Other parties include the Democratic Party, the Social-Democratic Party, the Timorese Social-Democratic Association and the Timorese Democratic Union.