# Geography of Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste includes the mountainous eastern half of Timor, the Ocussi-Ambeno region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the islands of Atauro and Jaco. The country is located northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian Archipelago. 'Timor' is a Portuguese derivation of 'Timor', the Malay word for "Orient"; the island of Timor is part of the Malay Archipelago and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Timor-Leste is the only Asian nation to lie entirely within the Southern Hemisphere. The Loes River is the longest with a length of 80 km (50 mi). This river system covers an area of 2,184 km$^2$ (843 sq mi). It is a small country with a land size of 14,919 km$^2$ (5,760 sq mi). The exclusive economic zone is 70,326 km$^2$ (27,153 sq mi).

## Statistics
### Area

   * Total: 14,874 km$^2$
   * Land: 14,874 km$^2$
   * Water: 0 km$^2$

### Land boundaries

   * Total: 2,538 km (1,577 mi)
   * Border countries: Indonesia (253 km or 157 mi)

### Coastline

    706 km (439 mi)

### Maritime claims

   * Territorial sea: 12 nmi
   * Contiguous zone: 24 nmo
   * Exclusive economic zone: 70,326 km$^2$ (27,153 sq mi) and 200 nmi

### Elevation extremes

* Lowest point: Timor Sea, Savu Sea, and Banda Sea 0 m
* Highest point: Tatamailau (2,963 m or 9,721 ft)

#### Natural resources

    Gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble

#### Land use

   * Arable land: 10.1%
   * Permanent crops: 4.9%
   * Permanent pasture: 10.1%
   * Forest: 49.1%
   * Other: 25.8% (2011)

#### Irrigated land

    346.5 km$^2$ (134 sq mi) (2003)

## Climate

    The islands have a tropical savanna climate, bordering on a tropical monsoon climate; hot and humid with distinct rainy and dry seasons. Tropical cyclones do occur along with floods.
Climate data for Dili (1914-1963) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.0 (96.8) | 35.5 (95.9) | 36.6 (97.9) | 36.0 (96.8) | 35.7 (96.3) | 36.5 (97.7) | 34.1 (93.4) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.0 (93.2) | 34.5 (94.1) | 36.0 (96.8) | 35.5 (95.9) | 36.6 (97.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.1 (88.0) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.1 (86.2) | 30.3 (86.5) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.1 (88.0) | 30.9 (87.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.8 (80.2) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.4 (77.7) | 26.0 (78.8) | 27.2 (81.0) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.6 (79.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 24.1 (75.4) | 24.1 (75.4) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.5 (74.3) | 22.8 (73.0) | 21.9 (71.4) | 20.8 (69.4) | 20.1 (68.2) | 20.5 (68.9) | 21.5 (70.7) | 23.0 (73.4) | 23.6 (74.5) | 22.4 (72.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 19.0 (66.2) | 16.2 (61.2) | 16.5 (61.7) | 18.2 (64.8) | 13.2 (55.8) | 14.5 (58.1) | 12.4 (54.3) | 11.8 (53.2) | 13.4 (56.1) | 16.1 (61.0) | 18.0 (64.4) | 16.7 (62.1) | 11.8 (53.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 139.5 (5.49) | 138.7 (5.46) | 132.7 (5.22) | 104.3 (4.11) | 74.9 (2.95) | 58.4 (2.30) | 20.1 (0.79) | 12.1 (0.48) | 9.0 (0.35) | 12.8 (0.50) | 61.4 (2.42) | 144.9 (5.70) | 908.8 (35.77) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 13 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 80 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 80 | 82 | 80 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 77 | 75 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 189.1 | 161.0 | 235.6 | 234.0 | 266.6 | 246.0 | 272.8 | 291.4 | 288.0 | 297.6 | 270.0 | 220.1 | 2,972.2 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 6.1 | 5.7 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.8 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 9.6 | 9.0 | 7.1 | 8.1 |
| Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst ||||||||||||||

## Environment
### Natural hazards

    Landslides are common; earthquakes; and tsunamis.

### Environment - current issues

    Widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion.

### Environment - international agreements

    Biodiversity, climate change, climate change-Kyoto Protocol, desertification