Timor

Timor(Portuguese:Ilha de Timor,Tetum:Illa Timór,Indonesian:Pulau Timor) is anislandat the southern end ofMaritime Southeast Asia, in the north of theTimor Sea. The island isdividedbetween thesovereign statesofTimor-Lestein the eastern part andIndonesiain the western part. The Indonesian part, known asWest Timor, constitutes part of theprovinceofEast Nusa Tenggara. Within West Timor lies anexclaveof Timor-Leste calledOecusse District. The island covers an area of 30,777 square kilometres (11,883 square miles). The name is a variant oftimur,Malayfor "east"; it is so called because it lies at the eastern end of theLesser Sunda Islands. MainlandAustraliais less than 500 km away, separated by the Timor Sea.
Anthropologists identify eleven distinctethno-linguistic groupsin Timor. The largest are theAtoniof western Timor and theTetumof central and eastern Timor.Most indigenous Timorese languages belong to theTimor–Babarbranch of theAustronesian languagesspoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Although lexical evidence is lacking,thenon-Austronesian languagesof Timor are thought to be related to languages spoken onHalmaheraand inWestern New Guinea.Some are so mixed that it is difficult to tell which family they descend from.
The official languages of Timor-Leste areTetumandPortuguese, while in West Timor it isIndonesian, although Uab Meto is the local Atoni language spoken throughoutKupang,South Central TimurandNorth Central TimurRegencies. Indonesian, a standardized dialect of Malay, is also widely spoken and understood in Timor-Leste.
Christianityis the dominant religion throughout the island of Timor, at about 90% of the population. However, it is unequally distributed as West Timor is 58% Protestant and 37% Catholic, and Timor-Leste is 98% Catholic and 1% Protestant.Islamandanimismmake up most of the remainder at about 5% each across the island.
Timor is located north ofAustraliaandOceania, and is one of the easternmostSunda Islands. Together withSumba,Babarand associated smaller islands, Timor forms the southern outerarchipelagoof theLesser Sunda Islandswith the inner islands ofFlores,AlorandWetarto the north, and beyond themSulawesi.
Timor is the principal island of theOuter Banda Arc, which is being uplifted by arc-continent collision with theAustralian continent. Timor consists mostly of rocks from the Australian continental margin that are accreted to the Banda Arc. It occupies a forearc position in front of the active volcanic arc that forms the islands in the Flores region to the north. The orientation of the main axis of the island also differs from its neighbors. These features have been explained as the result of being on the northern edge of theIndo-Australian Plateas it meets theEurasian Plateand pushes intoSoutheast Asia.The climate includes a long dry season (April-November) with hot winds blowing over from Australia. Rivers on the island include theNorthandSouth Laclo Riversin Timor-Leste. The mountains, which reach up to nearly 3000m elevation are one of the most mature parts of the Banda Range, which stretches from Sumba to Seram. Mutis is the highest mountain in West Timor and Ramelau is the highest mountain in Timor Leste.
The largest towns on the island are the provincial capital ofKupangin West Timor, Indonesia and the Portuguese colonial towns ofDilithe capital, andBaucauin Timor-Leste. Poor roads make transport to inland areas difficult, especially in Timor-Leste.Sources of revenue include gas and oil in the Timor Sea, coffee growing and tourism.
Timor is an aerially exposed portion of theBanda Forearcformed by collision ofEurasianoceaniccrustand continental crust of theAustralian plate. This is a unique convergent margin where a thick continental margin is forced under thinner oceanic crust. The result is a largeaccretionary wedgeof imbricatedthrustsheets composed ofCretaceousandTertiarydistal material of the Australian continental margin thrust on top of Australiancontinental shelfdeposits. Timor is well known for its structural complexity. Debate continues about the nature of deformation of continental crust. Some researchers advocate shallow thin-skinned deformation, while others favor shallow thin-skinned with some basement deformation.
Timor also has potential for significantpetroleumdevelopment. Onshore and offshore exploration efforts have been attempted with varying success. Timor host dozens of naturaloil and gas seepswith most exploration concentrated on the north end of the Island where oil seeps are prevalent. Carbon rich shales from the island have been found with TOC up to 23%. Such shales buried deep in the subsurface could act as high-qualitysource rocks.Jurassicmarine shoreface andturbiditesands of the Plover and Militia Formations are provenreservoirsin the North Australian Shelf. Over pressured Upper Jurassic silt and mudstones shales may also provide adequate seals for hydrocarbons. Research focusing on the structure of deformed basement rocks provides insight into possible onshore and offshore structural and stratigraphic traps for future petroleum development.
West Timor is part of theEast Nusa Tenggaraprovince. It was formerly split into the City of Kupang (akabupatenor regency-level administrative area) and fourregencies(kabupaten); from west to east these are:Kupang,Timor Tengah Selatan(South Central Timor),Timor Tengah Utara(North Central Timor) andBelu. However, a fifth regency –Malaka– was in 2012 formed from the southern half of Belu Regency. Note that the administrative area has shrunk asRote Ndao Regency(Rote and Ndoa islands to the southwest) andSabu Raijua Regency(the Savu Islands further west) were split off in 2002 and 2009 respectively from Kupang Regency.  The island accounts for 35.5% of the provincial population.
Timor-Leste is divided into thirteen municipalities, which in turn are subdivided into 65 administrative posts, 442sucos(villages), and 2,225aldeias(hamlets).
Timor and its offshore islands such asAtauro, a former place of exile increasingly known for its beaches and coral, as well asJacoalong with Wetar and the otherBarat Daya Islandsto the northeast constitute theTimor and Wetar deciduous forestsecoregion. The natural vegetation wastropical dry broadleaf forestswith an undergrowth of shrubs and grasses supporting a rich wildlife. However much of the original forest has been cleared for farming,especially on the coasts of Timor and on the smaller islands like Atauro. Apart from one large block in the centre of Timor only patches remain.This ecoregion is part of theWallaceaarea with a mixture of plants and animals ofAsianandAustralasianorigin; it lies in the western part of Wallacea, in which Asian species predominate.
Many trees aredeciduousor partly deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season, there are alsoevergreenand thorn trees in the woodland. Typical trees of the lowland slopes includeSterculia foetida,Calophyllum teysmanniiandAleurites moluccanus.
During thePleistoceneepoch, Timor was the abode of extinctgiantmonitor lizardssimilar to theKomodo dragon. LikeFlores,SumbaandSulawesi, Timor was also once a habitat of extinctdwarfstegodonts, relatives ofelephants.
Fauna of today includes a number of endemic species such as the distinctiveTimor shrewandTimor rat. Thenorthern common cuscus, amarsupialof Australasian origin occurs as well, but is thought to be introduced.The island have a great number of birds, mainly of Asian origin with some of Australasian origin. There is a total of 250 species of which twenty four are endemic, due to the relative isolation of Timor, including five threatened species; theslaty cuckoo-dove,Wetar ground dove,Timor green pigeon,Timor imperial pigeon, andiris lorikeet.
Saltwater crocodilesare found in the wetlands whereasreticulated pythonscan be found in forests and grasslands of Timor. However, the population sizes and status are unknown.
Frog species in Timor includeDuttaphrynus melanostictus,Hoplobatrachus tigerinus,Limnonectes timorensis,Litoria everetti, andPolypedates leucomystax.A new species ofmicrolyhidfrog belonging to the genusKaloulahas also recently been discovered in Timor.
Late Cretaceousfossils of marine vertebrates are known from Timor-Leste deposits. These includemosasaurssuch asGlobidenstimorensis,lamniformesharks,coelacanthsand thechoristodereChampsosaurus.
The earliest historical record about Timor island is the 13th-century ChineseZhu Fan Zhi, where it is calledTi-wuand is noted for its sandalwood. Later on, in the 14th-century JavaneseNagarakretagama, Canto 14,Timuris identified as an island withinMajapahit's realm. Timor was incorporated into ancientJavanese, Chinese and Indian trading networks of the 14th century as an exporter of aromaticsandalwood,slaves,honeyandwax, and was settled by both thePortuguese, in the end of the 16th century, and theDutch, based in Kupang, in the mid-17th century.
As the nearest island with a European settlement at the time, Timor was the destination ofWilliam Blighand seamen loyal to him following the infamousmutiny on theBountyin 1789. It was also where survivors of the wreckedHMSPandora, sent to arrest theBountymutineers, landed in 1791 after that ship sank in theGreat Barrier Reef.
The island has been politically divided in two parts for centuries. The Dutch and Portuguese fought for control of the island until it was divided bytreatyin 1859, but they still did not formally resolve the matter of the boundary until 1912.West Timor, was known asDutch Timoruntil 1949 when it becameIndonesian Timor, a part of the nation ofIndonesiawhich was formed from the oldNetherlands East Indies; whileEast Timorwas known asPortuguese Timor, a Portuguese colony until 1975. It includes theexclaveofOecussi-Ambenoin West Timor.
Although Portugal was neutral duringWorld War II, in December 1941, Portuguese Timor was occupied byAustralianand Dutch forces, which were expecting aJapaneseinvasion. This Australian military intervention dragged Portuguese Timor into the Pacific War but it also slowed the Japanese expansion. When the Japanese did occupy Timor, in February 1942, a 400-strong Dutch-Australian force and large numbers of Timorese volunteers engaged them ina one-year guerrilla campaign. After the allied evacuation in February 1943 the East Timorese continued fighting the Japanese, with comparatively littlecollaborationwith the enemy taking place. This assistance cost the civilian population dearly: Japanese forces burned many villages and seized food supplies. The Japanese occupation resulted in the deaths of 40,000–70,000 Timorese.
Following themilitary coup in Portugalin 1974 the Portuguese began to withdraw from Timor. Thesubsequent internal unrestand fear of the communistFretilinparty led to aninvasion by Indonesia, who opposed the concept of an independent East Timor. In 1975, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia and became known asTimor Timuror 'Tim-Tim' for short. It was regarded by Indonesia as the country's 27th province, but this was never recognised by theUnited Nations(UN) orPortugal.
The people of East Timor, throughFalintilthe military wing of Fretilin, resisted 35,000 Indonesian troops in a prolonged guerrilla campaign, but the whole island remained under Indonesian control untila referendum held in 1999under a UN-sponsored agreement betweenIndonesiaandPortugalin which its people rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia. The UN then temporarily governed East Timor until it became independent as Timor-Leste in 2002 under the presidency of Falintil leaderXanana Gusmão. Political strife continued, as the new nation coped with poverty. Nevertheless, the UN presence was much reduced.
A group of people on the Indonesian side of Timor have been reported active since 2001 trying to establish aGreat Timorstate.However, there is no real evidence that the people of West Timor, most of whom are ethnicallyAtoni, the traditional enemy of the East Timorese, have any interest in such a union.Furthermore, the current government of Timor-Leste recognizes the existing boundary.
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