East Timor Geography Profile 2007

Location

Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago; note - East Timor includes the eastern half of the island of Timor, the Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco

Geographic coordinates

8 50 S, 125 55 E

Map references

Southeast Asia

Area

total: 15,007 sq km
land: NA sq km
water: NA sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than Connecticut

Land boundaries

total: 228 km
border countries: Indonesia 228 km

Coastline

706 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; distinct rainy and dry seasons

Terrain

mountainous

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Timor Sea, Savu Sea, and Banda Sea 0 m
highest point: Foho Tatamailau 2,963 m

Natural resources

gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble

Land use

arable land: 8.2%
permanent crops: 4.57%
other: 87.23% (2005)

Irrigated land

1,065 sq km (est.)

Natural hazards

floods and landslides are common; earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones

Environment - current issues

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

Environment - international agreements

party to: Climate Change, Desertification

Geography - note

Timor comes from the Malay word for "East"; the island of Timor is part of the Malay Archipelago and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands