East Timor's Geography | Timorese Geography

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 water: NA

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Connecticut

Land boundaries: total: 228 km border countries: Indonesia 228 km

Coastline: 706 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: NA exclusive economic zone: NA continental shelf: NA exclusive fishing zone: NA

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: 4.71% permanent crops: 0.67% other: 94.62% (2001)

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: NA

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



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